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Pharmaceutical Firm
When Your Salespeople Need an Insider's Perspective on What's Keeping Customers Awake at Night
 Business Issue
The U.S. division of this international pharmaceutical firm faced a daunting challenge: launch a major new prescription drug into a crowded marketplace and capture market share in a critical window of time. Two less-expensive drugs already dominated the market. The sales staff needed to quickly become a team, and learn how to sell hospitals on the value of the new drug and convince them to stop using one of their current drugs of choice. When the firm brought 40 regional sales managers comprising the launch sales force together for the first time, it wanted to present a consistent sales and marketing approach and communicate it all the way down to the field rep level.
Process
The Advantage solution was four experiential programs that the regional sales managers used to develop powerful new team, performance management, coaching, and strategic selling behaviors and skills:
Gold of the Desert Kings, from Eagle's Flight, engaged the managers in a stimulating business game that broke the ice and taught powerful planning and team values.
The Symphony, a management tool from The Real Learning Company, presented a performance management template for planning and tracking the launch.
Porter Henry & Company's Field Sales Coaching helped managers build skills in analyzing their teams' coaching needs, and using strategic and tactical coaching to reinforce positive selling behaviors prior to the launch.
Celemi's Apples & Oranges Health Care financial literacy simulation gave managers the opportunity to "experience" a chief hospital administrator's job. Managers also learned how to win business by speaking to customer business issues - such as that the new drug would create positive cash flow for hospitals by reducing average length of hospital stay by 1.5 days.
Result
- Successful launch captured expected market share in six months and exceeded sales goals in the first year
- Firm's new offering is many hospitals' drug of choice
Managers used The Symphony model to create launch plans in 40 U.S. divisions and launch the drug in 300 territories. Results were extremely impressive. The product exceeded sales goals in the first year. Market share goals were met within six months.
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