Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17703
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: Electronic Source
Silverman E
Doctors To Sales Reps: Take A Hike
Pharmalot 2010 May 7
http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/05/doctors-to-sales-reps-take-a-hike/
Full text:
We all know that more doctors are seeing fewer reps, but here are some numbers that underscore just how dramatic the trend has become – last year, the number of docs willing to see most reps fell nearly 20 percent, the number of prescribers refusing to see most reps increased by half and the number of management-planned sales calls that were nearly impossible to complete topped 8 million.
Just 58 percent of prescribers were accessible reps, which was defined as meeting with at least 70 percent of the reps who came knocking, according to ZS Associates, which monitored interactions involving 500,000 docs nationwide. This is down 18 percent from a study last spring showing 71 percent of docs met with at least 70 percent of reps. At the same time, the number of prescribers who saw fewer than 30 percent of reps rose to 9 percent from 6 percent. The report classified 33 percent of physicians as “rep-neutral,” meaning they see 31 percent to 69 percent of reps.
And more than 20 percent of prescribers considered “rep-accessible” in a study in late 2009 fell to a “rep-neutral” rating in this spring, while 11 percent rated “rep-neutral” shifted to “rep-inaccessible” during the same period. And docs classified as “rep-accessible” became more discriminating, ZS reports. In this category, 94 percent of primary care providers and 83 percent of specialists did not see even the best reps more than twice each month. “Best” wasn’t defined, though.
But don’t blame the reps, whose ranks have shrunk to roughly 81,780 in last year’s third quarter from 101,818 in 2005, a nearly 20 percent drop, according to SDI Health. “The findings exonerate many sales representatives,” says Chris Wright, who heads the pharma practice at ZS Associates, in a statement. “…certain prescribers simply won’t see any representatives – and they won’t do it under any circumstances. Sales management should accept that you can’t reach these doctors simply by telling the reps to ‘try harder.’ Instead, managers must modify the call plan to connect best with each individual physician.”
