slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
One thing was noticeably absent from a recent visit that an Eli Lilly & Co. sales representative paid to a psychiatrist here: a sales pitch.
Michaelene Greenly provided free drug samples, a lunch of salad and iced tea, and a chance to order diagrams of how the brain works. What she didn't do: tout her drugs' benefits or ask the doctor to write more prescriptions. Nevertheless, Lilly's sales of the neuroscience drugs she promotes are rising.
"We used to come in with our own agenda: What can I accomplish today? We've turned that all around. It's what the doctor talks about," Ms. Greenly said.
Her soft sell reflects a major shift in how more pharmaceutical companies target physicians, as the industry remakes its commercial model in response to changing economic and regulatory conditions. Traditionally, armies of sales reps have fanned out to "detail" doctors with aggressive, well-rehearsed sales pitches and pressure to boost prescriptions. Multiple sales reps from one company might call on the same physician. That strategy over the past 15 years helped propel the industry to $300 billion in yearly U.S. sales today.
But the approach has been in flux. Physicians, under pressure from health plans to curb costs, have less time for, and patience with, persistent sales pitches. The government has been cracking down on aggressive, illegal marketing of drugs for unapproved uses. And drug makers, unable to bring enough new products to market to fully offset patent losses, have been forced to tighten belts.
As a result, the industry has slashed 33,000 sales jobs in the U.S. from its peak five years ago, when 105,000 representatives flooded the zone. Most recently, AstraZeneca PLC said it would cut its U.S. sales staff by 24%, or 1,150 jobs. The industry spent $14.5 billion on marketing in the U.S. in 2010, down about 15% from five years ago, according to Cegedim Strategic Data.
Both to adjust to and allow for these changes, some 18 of the top 40 drug makers have reorganized their sales forces to reduce duplication, one industry consultant says. In the wake of costly settlements by other drug makers over illegal marketing practices, British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC stopped evaluating salespeople based on the number of prescriptions written. Instead, companies are considering how well physicians rate their representatives.
cont at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577142763014776148.html
Michaelene Greenly provided free drug samples, a lunch of salad and iced tea, and a chance to order diagrams of how the brain works. What she didn't do: tout her drugs' benefits or ask the doctor to write more prescriptions. Nevertheless, Lilly's sales of the neuroscience drugs she promotes are rising.
"We used to come in with our own agenda: What can I accomplish today? We've turned that all around. It's what the doctor talks about," Ms. Greenly said.
Her soft sell reflects a major shift in how more pharmaceutical companies target physicians, as the industry remakes its commercial model in response to changing economic and regulatory conditions. Traditionally, armies of sales reps have fanned out to "detail" doctors with aggressive, well-rehearsed sales pitches and pressure to boost prescriptions. Multiple sales reps from one company might call on the same physician. That strategy over the past 15 years helped propel the industry to $300 billion in yearly U.S. sales today.
But the approach has been in flux. Physicians, under pressure from health plans to curb costs, have less time for, and patience with, persistent sales pitches. The government has been cracking down on aggressive, illegal marketing of drugs for unapproved uses. And drug makers, unable to bring enough new products to market to fully offset patent losses, have been forced to tighten belts.
As a result, the industry has slashed 33,000 sales jobs in the U.S. from its peak five years ago, when 105,000 representatives flooded the zone. Most recently, AstraZeneca PLC said it would cut its U.S. sales staff by 24%, or 1,150 jobs. The industry spent $14.5 billion on marketing in the U.S. in 2010, down about 15% from five years ago, according to Cegedim Strategic Data.
Both to adjust to and allow for these changes, some 18 of the top 40 drug makers have reorganized their sales forces to reduce duplication, one industry consultant says. In the wake of costly settlements by other drug makers over illegal marketing practices, British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC stopped evaluating salespeople based on the number of prescriptions written. Instead, companies are considering how well physicians rate their representatives.
cont at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577142763014776148.html
