conviction (part 2)

Have you seen what passes for a sales aid these days? Well, of course you have. You’re probably working on the latest outrage right now. What a misnomer! There are exceptions, sure, but most of these rags fail to deliver on either of the verbs in their moniker. They don’t sell. And they’re of no assistance to anybody. They make the rep sound stupid. They make the company look like it’s managed by morons. They don’t help the physician know what to expect from the drug. They don’t paint an accurate picture of the patient benefits. And…they don’t sell.

What’s that? Oh, it’s the rep that sells? Not the sales aid? No doubt there are a few reps who could sell a laxative to a neurosurgeon with just a  cucumber and some sandpaper, but the vast majority of your reps need help! They need a well-designed, thoughtful, concise, accurate, honest detail piece.

Why? Well, it’s not like a lot of work didn’t go into producing the detail. No doubt there’s a written brief somewhere. Countless rounds of design. Research. Approval signatures. Money spent. Blood spilled. It too often starts out with good intentions and ends up a piece of crap.

Here’s what I think. At every step down the slippery slope to mediocrity, there was a decision made that went against somebody’s better judgment. And that person didn’t have the grit to stand up and say—No way! Or, if she did, she was overruled. And here’s the biggest irony. At every step along the way, at each incremental defeat of reason, the “decision maker” with thumb prominently turned down was probably paying good money for the questioner’s expertise. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.

Here’s an example. Say a copywriter crafts a subhead to put across a particularly tricky piece of the communication strategy. The client is paying a whack of dollars for that copywriter’s output, appropriately so because that copywriter has spent years thoughtfully honing her ability through experience to the point where she really does know what she’s doing, which is why she was commissioned in the first place. Nevertheless, someone who is being paid to do something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT will be convinced that he is more suited to writing the subhead, and it will be changed. Dumbed down. Messed up. Over and out. How bizarre is that?

No one is served by this happening. And it happens all day, every day, in the world of pharma marketing. You know what I’m talking about. No wonder physicians could care less.

I’m a Rep, Trust me!

“Hey Man, What Happened To The Trust?”

It was the salad days of our industry.  I was a sales representative for Pharma Corp and life was great.  It was 1995 and Pharma Corp had a strong lineup of products in the infectious disease, cardiovascular and pain management areas.  The salary and the bonuses were terrific.  The docs I called on really welcomed me, as well as other reps into their offices because they wanted to learn more about our products, how they were best used and what to expect. 

Pharma Corp, like a lot of other industry companies, understood that doctors needed real and solid clinical information to help their decision process as well as services that helped them and their patients.  They looked to me, their Pharma Corp sales rep, to give them the straight story as well as important colleague insights about how to best use my products.

Of course I really knew my stuff.  I knew my products, the competition and the disease states inside out.  I also spent at least 2 hours per week reviewing the top clinical publications in each of my therapeutic categories.  That helped me bring important insight and information to my docs which they truly appreciated.  But the big thing that helped was that I was a straight shooter.  I didn’t speak with a “forked tongue”, I was always realistic in how and where my products should be used, I did what I promised.  In the end those things helped me bring good value and establish strong TRUST – you know, the cornerstone things that make for a good relationship. 

Here I am today, 24 years into this business and I am really stunned by what is happening.  The trust is no longer their.  Even though I still have good relationships with my docs, Pharma Corp and others in my industry have a huge problem.  Docs just don’t trust what I have to say anymore because they feel as though they have been misled or misinformed by the pharma industry.

God when the product messes hit, it was like a slap in the face to me.  Data were with withheld and/or misrepresented.  Patients died, doctors got sued and I got restricted from many of my office and hospital accounts because they believed that my industry broke the most important covenant – the “trust pact”.

Now I am scared to death.  I don’t know if I have a job much longer. The home office continues to bury their head in the sand and keeps sending out non-sensical sales and promotional materials.  And some of the newer reps that are coming on-board don’t have the background, understanding and knowledge to bring sound information and value to their customers.  Does anyone know how to help my company re-create the trust?  Is  there a different way in which we need to communicate with and engage our physicians? Hello, anyone out their listening and willing to help?  Is this the end of my industry?

– Nostalgic Rep