Our innovative training program is based on the outcome of research we have recently completed on relationship between medical representative and doctor. Our team has interviewed a large number of medical representatives and doctors and found out the reasons for changes in their behaviour. Some of the important findings of our research are:
          a) One  minute of an MR interaction with doctor results in a 12% prescribing change and three minutes with doctor
              results in a 54% prescribing change.
          b) Conversation with doctors lasts as short as 29 seconds. With right approach to the doctor made conversation last
              longer up to 16 minutes.
          c) 56% of doctors believe that discussions with MRs have no impact on their prescribing behavior.
          d) 42% of doctors prefer to spend less time with MRs in future
          e) Most of the doctors are of the opinion that MRs:
                       i) use more aggressive sales tactics,
                      ii) are more oriented to business than to treatment & medicine,
                     iii) have little to offer beyond basic product information & sample.
           f) 86% of MRs believe that doctors do not trust them fully.                                                                                   Top

Preamble
Today the Indian pharmaceutical industry's biggest challenge lies in reinventing communication. It has become extremely crucial to differentiate in the market place through your communication. Pharmaceutical companies have to primarily depend on personal selling to promote (communicate) their products in the market as the target audience and customers are different, who are not the end users but merely influencers. These influencers are medical practitioners referred to as 'doctors' or 'physicians' by general public. The medium of communication, i.e. the 'medical representative' is the face of the company and only he can create an impact. It is very important to see that the medical representative delivers the message appropriately. Pharmaceutical companies direct all their efforts to sell their products to these distinct class of customers and train the field sales force to take on the task of promoting products to highly skilled and knowledgeable customers (doctors). Hence pharmaceutical selling is distinct from other kinds of selling. We understand the importance of simple, creative, and effective communication in pharmaceutical selling. Communication to your customers, i.e. Doctors has to be short, concise and absolutely to the point. The time to build relationship is very crucial. We have developed a technique which takes the least time to communicate with doctors and offer the maximum impact.

Promotion efforts in pharmaceutical industry are typical, as it is not directed to the end user but the influencer – the physician. Promotion of pharmaceutical products can traditionally be done with four techniques viz, personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and publicity. Out of these four techniques, only personal selling is the most effective and primarily used techniques of promoting pharmaceutical products. Other techniques are used but they are used during special circumstances and are used to achieve short-term objectives of the company rather than long-term objectives. Thus, to promote prescription products to doctors through personal selling, use of supporting aids is required and “detailing charts” are widely and commonly used tools. Almost every company designs these detailing charts and thus, field force of pharmaceutical companies are armored with the detailing charts to take on the task of promoting company’s products. Apart from detailing chart, leave behind literature (LBL) and newsletters are provided by the companies to doctors.                                         Top

Conventional Pharmaceutical Product Detailing:
Virtually every pharmaceutical company provides induction training to its newly selected medical representatives. The training program includes various aspects of pharmaceutical promotion. Training includes imparting knowledge in the areas of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. During this training program medical representatives also face the simulated conditions, which resemble the actual marketing scenario. Medical representatives are asked to detail in front of people from training department who act as doctors. Medical representatives are asked to “crammer” the detailing “story” provided to them by the marketing, PMT and training departments. In the process, it so happens that medical representative crammer the “story” in such a way that when he goes to fieldwork, he starts explaining to doctor about the disease including etiology, epidemiology and mode of action of drug. Many medical representative start detailing with explaining, “What is hypertension and how it happens” to a cardiologist.This may be detrimental to the company as doctor is irked by medical representative of that company and feel offended. End result is losing of sales for the company as sometimes doctors’ stop prescribing products for that company. Thus detailing of pharmaceutical products is a special skill and medical representative must know which tune to play to which doctor.

What is special about RAPPORTEX training program?
We have made the detailing less stressful and painful process for MRs and a pleasant experience for doctors. We have discovered from our research that there are 16 types of RBS. MRs as well as DOCTORS use RBS in their communication. It is important for an MR  to know his and doctors RBS. For example, when you buy a car you get an ‘Operation & Service Manual’ along with the car which helps you to use and manage your car better. Similarly, we have prepared an ‘RBS manual’ of all types of doctors & MRs. This helps MRs to understand & manage doctors in a better way. During the training, RBS of every participant is identified and a report is provided. Participants learn how to measure & bridge the gaps in a step by step process. Each person trained by us gets a personalized Action Plan that is his roadmap to success, including specific behaviors they need to improve and measurable performance objectives.
 
This innovative training program is based on relationship building skills and helps pharmaceutical companies to deliver best value to their external customers i.e. doctors. The mindset and attitude of people concerned is changed to help build and maintain meaningful relationships with internal & external customers. Learning how to manage and communicate information to customers within a high-trust working relationship is the key to success. Pharma Marketing in the age of information involves fulfilling doctor’s expectations through strategic alliances, which represent highest form of partnering with them. This results in empowering the doctor and creating a genuine symbiosis between the doctor, the medical representative, and the pharmaceutical company. Our technique is very effective because it based on our finding that ‘doctors like to spend time with the MRs they trust’ & ‘doctors do not like detailing, they like more detailed information about the study results, not just the polished results’.                                                                                                                                   Top

 Our innovative training can help pharmaceutical sales people to learn how to: 

• Recognize their & doctors’ relationship building styles (RBS)
• Build meaningful relationships and rapport using style flexing
• Understand the language of the doctors
• Understand the motivations and wants of doctors properly
• Present the product (detailing) effectively
• Develop the right questions to use and when to use them
• Overcome the objections that they face with confidence and ease
• Deliver the sample – a moment doctors never forget
• Keep in touch with doctors - get referrals without hounding them

 Our sales training can also help salespeople to:                                                                                                       Top

• Exceed their sales targets and close more sales in less time
• Manage their diary more effectively to free up more time for selling
• Eliminate their frustrations and stress when it does not go their way
• Create a step-by-step consultative selling process that works
• Boost their self-confidence
• Eliminate all of the activities that are costing them sales, time and energy and implement a new system to make them more sales
   

• Avoid repetitive and monotonous detailing
• Helps MRs to build rapport with doctors easily
• Makes detailing process less stressful & painful for MRs
• Detailing based on RBS technique attracts doctors’ attention
• Saves time for MRs as well as Doctors, results in higher productivity
• Can leads to discussion with MR, thereby arousing interest about the product
• Helps to register “brand” of the company easily as it is linked with a relationship
• Medical Representative would enjoy “learning” during training period in the company
• Much greater job satisfaction for MRs, due to improved meaningful relationship with the doctors
• Facilitate the optimum use of selling skills

Click here to download RAPPORTEX brochure