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As More Doctors Refuse to See Sales Reps, Pharma Companies Are Turning More Frequently to MSLs, According to Cutting Edge Information
| Source: Cutting Edge Information
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwire - October 30, 2008) - Physicians are less likely to
meet with sales reps than they have been in the past, according to recent
analysis by Oliver Wyman. According to research, only 56% of physicians
will meet with doctors at all, and less than one quarter will sacrifice
more than two minutes of their time. The analysis also found that the vast
majority of doctors remain highly distrustful of the information they do
receive from reps.
This trend has forced major pharmaceutical companies to change their
tactics in the hopes of gaining trust, or at least access, from physicians.
According to "Pharmaceutical Sales Management"
(http://www.PharmaSalesManagement.com), a report from Cutting Edge
Information, several companies have restructured their sales force to
combat closing doors. Pfizer has reduced its reps-to-doctor ratio to two
while Eli Lilly has reduced territory size so fewer reps are calling on
each doctor. One large company has gone so far as to eliminate mirroring
entirely. In addition to building better relationships with doctors, reps
in non-mirrored territories are also held more accountable, as they can no
longer rely on other reps to detail difficult-to-access physicians.
As sales reps are becoming trusted less and less, companies are
increasingly relying on MSLs to provide a positive perspective on their
products.
"Because MSLs typically hold high-level scientific, pharmacy or medical
degrees, doctors feel they can talk to them on a peer-to-peer level," says
Elio Evangelista, Research Manager and lead author of Cutting Edge
Information's "The Changing MSL Role" (http://www.MSLPerformance.com/).
Because an MSL's focus is typically to sell the science rather than the
brand, doctors are less skeptical of the information provided. However,
they are being forced to balance their commercial assistance role with
other tasks. Regardless, MSL groups have become a strategic asset in
clinical advancement due to their relationships with doctors who run trials
of pipeline products.
Both "The Changing MSL Role" and "Pharmaceutical Sales Force Management"
provide structure, headcount, and staffing numbers, as well as top field
force strategies to gain access to physicians and increase their trust of
in-field staff. The results were compiled based on survey data and
interviews with executives in top pharmaceutical companies.