As HCP access continues to erode, so too have the massive pharma sales forces that formerly called upon them. With so much of the product knowledge that doctors seek now available online, there's a significant opportunity for traditional pharma reps to play a far more relevant role in the product education process.

Sales management and trainers alike know that any amount of access can be optimized by preparing reps to participate in the types of conversations that physicians will value most, such as those related to new research, business practices and patient outcomes. Yet in many organizations, it’s estimated that only 20-25% of sales reps typically possess this level of skill.

As is the case with all major pharma companies, the competitive landscape is constantly changing as new drugs enter the market or go off patent. Just as important, staff must conform to strict rules on what kind of dialogues they are permitted to have with physicians, or they expose the company to sizable financial risk. Keeping reps sharp on essential information at scale – in a dynamic and highly regulated market – is more than just a formidable task.

Dancing with Giants: A Case Study

Over the past year, we’ve put our mobile platform to work for 5 of the world’s 10 largest pharma companies – including Abbott, AstraZeneca, Genentech, Novartis, Pfizer and others – to ensure that their sales forces are prepared to effectively engage with physicians on this level. For one customer – with 12, 000 employees, including thousands of clinical specialists, medical science liaisons and marketing staff worldwide ­– they must maintain up-to-the-minute knowledge on their 30+ drugs in addition to other potential medicines in the pipeline.

As a result, the company’s sales enablement group has made a strong commitment to training with emphasis on making certain reps have what they need to succeed – that they can deliver important product and market information in context during a live sales call – and that physician dialogues are in compliance with regulatory rules.

Given the fast-paced, constantly multi-tasking and on-the-go lifestyle of their sales reps, they must effectively build these critical skills without taking time away from prospective customers. Using Qstream, they push streams of scenario-based challenges, or Qstreams, to field-based personnel over spaced intervals every few days. Reps submit answers using any smartphone or tablet, and immediately see the correct answer and why. Game mechanics build a sense of fun and positive competition that users really love.

Reps literally answer Qstream challenges anywhere and anytime – during lunch or between appointments. For the dozen Qstream initiatives that this life sciences customer has completed to date, the platform’s onboard analytics engine has compiled real-time insights from the more than 22, 000 responses submitted – allowing this market leader to take fast corrective action if needed.

For example, Qstream analytics identify when certain clinical areas are not well assimilated, or indicate if a specific district’s team needs more training on the underlying disease state. Conversely, reports also have shown that greater than 85% of the clinical specialists who handle a particular medicine are retaining what they need to know after the product launch meeting and so, for them, no further training is required.

Making Less Access Work

For the customer, Qstream's unique approach has delivered the highest levels of engagement in training that the company has seen to date, according to project leaders. “It’s given our team the opportunity to sent out additional training information or just add Qstream challenges into the queue to reinforce a learning gap. What’s even better, people have really loved the experience.”

To be effective in this new era of “less access, ” pharma reps need to apply relevant information, quickly, accurately and concisely to make every available moment with an HCP count. This can be achieved not only by sharpening selling skills, but also with a more thorough understanding of clinical trial data, disease states, product safety, efficacy, access and other issues that pertain to the physician’s practice. The more confident a rep is with regard to these topics, the more successful they will be in engaging, informing and securing valuable, long-term relationships. Request a free trial today.