TM MEDICINMAN October 2013 | www.medicinman.net Field Force Excellence Making sense IN ‘VUCA’ Times A new, action-oriented “business novel” with a blow-by-blow account of how a forwardlooking pharma company can achieve operational excellence in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) times. Editorial C ometh the hour cometh the man.” This popular phrase was used by Cliff Gladwin, the England cricketer, during the first Test Match against South Africa at Durban in 1948. England were 117 for 8 requiring 128 to win, when Gladwin walked out to bat. The last ball of the match hit Gladwin on the thigh and went for a leg-bye to win the match for England. In the September issue I wrote the editorial, VUCA – The New Normal. How will Pharma Industry in India Respond? Dr. Shridhar Lolla has come out with the book for the trouble stricken Indian pharmaceutical industry of which can be said – “cometh the VUCA cometh The Path.” Shridhar Lolla is a practitioner of Business Model Innovation, Focused Execution and Operational Excellence. Shridhar holds a PhD in engineering from IIT Delhi, a Masters degree from IT-BHU and a Bachelors degree from MANIT, Bhopal. He has worked with MNC engineering and technology firms like ABB and Kirloskar Electric. Shridhar runs the online hub of Operational Excellence at www. time2change.co.in. Email: lolla@cvmark.com The Path by Shridhar Lolla is a splendid effort co-created along with Indian Pharma’s 118 top notch practitioners. There is no doubt that Indian Pharma is experiencing a prolonged season of VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous times. Against this background comes an author with an army of experts who have put together an excellent book, “The Path – Leveraging Operations in a Complex and Chaotic World”. MedicinMan is privileged to connect with Dr. Shridhar Lolla and his team of outstanding professionals who have painstakingly identified the challenges faced by Indian pharmaceutical industry and have created The Path for emerging out of VUCA times. “The Path is set in a pharma company, shows the way to positively impact business results by improving management of complex and chaotic dynamics faced by manufacturing professionals day in and day out. Anup Soans | Editorial: Making Sense in ‘VUCA’ Times While there are many books that address this issue in different ways, almost all are in the engineering segment. By choosing the pharma industry and addressing not only the complexities of operations, but also the issue of availability and pricing of drugs, Dr. Lolla and his team successfully integrates several view points to present a solution” says K. Srinivasamurthy in his introduction to The Path. Dr. Shridhar Lolla is a management consultant, who focuses on operational excellence and the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and has been involved in one of the world’s biggest implementation of TOC. It is unconventional to review a book through the editorial, but conventions have failed us and this book offers an excellent alternative for Jugaad obsessed pharmaceutical companies – both MNC and Indian to put their manufacturing operations in order. And why should MedicinMan, which is dedicated to field force excellence, review a book like The Path? Because when the field force people hear about quality control lapses, it affects their confidence and morale adversely. This negative impact consciously and unconsciously affects their in-clinic interactions with doctors and thereby the sales of the pharma companies they represent. Purchase the paperback version of The Path by Shridhar Lolla from Amazon at this link: http://amzn.com/1482759144 The ebook version can be purchased at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/325264 Excellence in quality is the cornerstone of excellence in field force operations. When the field force knows that their company’s products are manufactured by USFDA approved facilities, it gives them the confidence to sell their products confidently. It makes them stay in their companies for longer periods of time, which is necessary to build the needed competencies to face the VUCA market environment day in and day out. The Path is a must read not only for Indian Pharma leaders but also for professionals at all levels, who want to learn and implement robust systems that ensure world class quality standards. - MM Meet the Editor Anup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the Editor of MedicinMan. Write in to him: Connect with Anup Soans on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Visit anupsoans.com. CONTENTS (Click to navigate) 1. The Price of Compromise...................................7 How Indian Pharma is Paying the Price for jugaad in Quality Control. Dr. Ashutosh Mundkur 2. Social Intelligence............................................9 The new paradigm in people management. Prof. Vivek Hattangadi 3. Real Value...........................................................11 5 ways in which pharma companies can create real value for their Doctors instead of mindlessly driving strategies that don’t work. MedicinMan Volume 3 Issue 10 | October 2013 Editor and Publisher Anup Soans CEO Chhaya Sankath COO Arvind Nair Chief Mentor K. Hariram Advisory Board Prof. Vivek Hattangadi; Jolly Mathews Editorial Board Dr. Aniruddha Malpani Salil Kallianpur; Dr. Shalini Ratan; Shashin Bodawala; Prabhakar Shetty; Vardarajan S; Dr. Mandar Kubal; Dr. Surinder Kumar 4. DPCO 2013 and its likely impact on Indian Pharma...................................................................14 International Editorial Board Companies that depend solely on CRM activities for revenue generation, will find it difficult to navigate in the new environment. K. Hariram 5. A Winning Smile.................................................16 The social psychology of smiling and how to use it to your advantage Rachana Narayan 6. RCPA Refresher..................................................18 How to leverage your relationship with the chemist to drive sales of your product. Chirag Shah 7. Simple Steps to Professional Success.............21 A tried and tested template for everyday success on the field. V. Srinivasan 3 | MedicinMan October 2013 Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay Executive Editor Joshua Soans MedicinMan Academy: Prof. Vivek Hattangadi, Dean, Professional Skills Development Letters to the Editor: anupsoans@medicinman.net xxx | yyy E Sales MEDICINMAN Pharma Marketing & Conference 2014 FFE | BRAND DRIFT | AWARDS th 7 - 8th February 2014 Courtyard Mumbai Marriott, FIELD FORCE EXCELLENCE å The most awaited Pharma of is here. conference theyear now! Registrations open BRAND DRIFT å Pharma’s Excellence Awards Biggest Players. the OneConference At that Matters. 4 | MedicinMan 2013 October Sponsorships Invited REGISTRATIONS OPEN FOR PHARMA DELEGATES Event** Express Early Bird (upto 30th Nov’13)* Early Bird (1st Dec’13 to10th Jan’14)* Regular (11th Jan’14 onwards)* 4,200/- 5,500/- 7,000/- 5,900/- 7,000/- 8,500/- BD + FFE 10,100/- 12,500/- 15,500/- AWARDS only 3,900/- 5,100/- 6,000/- Brand Drift 2014 (BD) only FFE 2014 (FFE) only FOR NON-PHARMA DELEGATES & SERVICE PROVIDERS Event** Express Early Bird (upto 30th Nov’13)* Early Bird (1st Dec’13 to10th Jan’14)* Regular (11th Jan’14 onwards)* 7,000/- 9,000/- 12,000/- 11,000/- 15,000/- 18,000/- BD + FFE 18,000/- 24,000/- 30,000/- AWARDS only 6,000/- 8,000/- 10,000/- Brand Drift 2014 (BD) only FFE 2014 (FFE) only To Register, get in touch with us: Anup Soans: +91-934-2232-949 | anupsoans@gmail.com Arvind Nair: +91-987-0201-422 | arvind@kmv.co.in NOMINATIONS INVITED MedicinMan Excellence Awards for Outstanding Indian Pharma Professionals 2014 Organized by Knowledge Media Venturz MedicinMan invites nominations in the following award categories: Sales Awards Marketing Awards Academic Awards Special Category Outstanding Medical Rep Outstanding Product/Brand Manager Outstanding Pharma Academician Oustanding CEO/President/ Country Head Outstanding Front-line Manager Outstanding Group Product Manager Outstanding Second-line Manager Outstanding Marketing Manager Outstanding Senior Sales Manager Outstanding SBU Head Outstanding Sales Training Professional Outstanding Business Intelligence Professional Oustanding Pharma Education Institution (for D.Pharm, B.Pharm & M.Pharm) Oustanding Pharma Management Education Institution (PGDM & MBA) Outstanding HR Professional Outstanding Medical Advisor Outstanding Support Services Professional Outstanding SFE Professional Outstanding Head of Sales Processing Fee: INR 1,000/- Processing Fee: INR 1,000/- Processing Fee: INR 5,000/- Processing Fee: INR 5,000/- All nominations must be sent in the following format: 1. Brief description about the nominated candidate/service provider with photograph/website details. 2. Brief description about the nominated candidate/service provider’s achievements to be considered for the Award 3. All nominations must be certified by two senior managers HR/Sales/Marketing of General Manager and above. In case of Service Providers the Nomination must be attested by two General Manager level executives of the company to which the service was provided. 4. Complete Contract details of Nominees as well as the nominating Managers with mobile, email, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook handles. 5. All Nominees and nominating Managers must connect with Anup Soans, Editor of MedicinMan on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for verification. 6. All nominations must be from currently employed professionals working in companies with a turnover of Rs 50 crores and above with a minimum field force of 300 people. 7. Incomplete Nominations will be rejected. 8. The decision of the MedicinMan jury will be the final arbiter in short-listing and selecting candidates for the Awards. All cheques/payments to be made in favor of “Knowledge Media Venturz” payable at Mumbai and sent along with nominations to: Anup Soans Editor - MedicinMan 101 North Forte 22, North Road, Cooke Town St. Thomas Town Post Office Bangalore - 560084 SPONSORS INVITED Pharma’s Biggest Players. At the One Conference that Matters. Showcase Your Products and Services, Network, Grab Your Share of the Mind. Sponsorship Opportunities 1. The Thought Leader 2. The Market Heavyweight 3. The Nimble Fighter The Thought Leader is for those companies who have complete confidence to be the No.1 service provider to Pharma in their domain. This Exclusive package entitles you to the following business options: The Market Heavyweight is for those companies with a consistant track record, looking to grow their share of the market and mind. Business options: This Lightweight option gives you access to the big players without hurting your wallet. 1) Co-Naming Rights: Presence in the Conference’s Official Title “YOUR_NAME_HERE FFE 2013”. 2) Privilege to be on the CEO panel plus adress the audience for 20 minutes. 3) Twelve Full-page Advertisements/Advertorials/Articles in MedicinMan. 4) 10 Complimentary Pharma Delegate Registrations Plus 5 Complimentary Delegate Registrations for Company Officials. 1) Privilege to address the audience for 15 minutes at a relevant session. 2) 5 Complimentary Pharma Delegate Registrations plus 3 Complimentary Delegate Registrations for Company Officials. 3) 6 Full-page Ads in MedicinMan. 4) Prominent Display of Brand on all Conference Collaterals Before, During and After the Conference. (for specifics, please get in touch). 1) Privilege to address the audience for 10 minutes at a relevant session. 2) 3 Complimentary Delegate Registrations for Company Officials. 3) 2 Full-page Ads in MedicinMan. 4) Prominent Display of Brand on all Conference Collaterals Before, During and After the Conference. (for specifics, please get in touch). 5) Prominent Display of Brand on all Conference Collaterals Before, During and After the Conference. (for specifics, please get in touch) Event Managed by: All three packages can be customized to suit your communication needs. Contact us for details. Anup Soans: +91-93422-32949 | anupsoans@gmail.com Arvind Nair: +91-987-0201-422 | arvind@kmv.co.in E THE PRICE OF COMPROMISE How Indian Pharma is Paying the Price for Jugaad* in Quality Control. Dr. Ashutosh Mundkur Pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the US are no better when it comes to jugaad in introducing a new drug and the USFDA has faltered on many occasions. The USFDA’s bias against non-US companies cannot be ruled out either. Having said this, I must admit that most of the Indian pharmaceutical and medical device companies try to hoodwink and work around the USFDA guidelines set by CDRH, CBER and others. There is so much of noise and despair about the import embargo, 483s issued, negative publicity, loss of business and tarnishing of reputation. Root cause analysis will clearly show that Indian company’s Jugaad attitude is responsible for this. Senior management cannot pass the blame to the quality assurance, quality control or the regulatory affairs department. This may be the easiest way out but certainly not the right way. Dr Ashutosh Mundkur is a Bangalore based Medical Devices specialist with experience in Quality Management Systems, Manufacturing Operations, Marketing and KAM. * Jugaad is a term widely used in India. Jugaad literally means an improvised arrangement or workaround, which has to be used because of lack of resources. Jugaad is commonly used when describing a workaround to get through commercial, logistical, or legal issues. – Wikipedia 8 | MedicinMan October 2013 The Problem: However strict the QA function may be, business compulsions make these companies bypass and fudge the guideline requirements. There are instances where managements insist on compromise and if someone is unwilling to do it there are always others ready to bend over and please the management. The rat race to be the first in the market, peer company pressure and investor expectation are reasons which drive the senior management to compromise. The Solution: Pro-activeness by QA and RA, patience by senior management, are prerequisites for a blemish free reputation and continued business in the US and Western markets. We seem to believe a lot in retrospective validations, stability studies and managed clinical trials. This has led US Dr. Ashutosh Mundkur | The Price of Compromise “ The Problem: However strict the QA function may be, business compulsions make companies bypass and fudge quality requirements. There are instances where management insists on compromise and if someone is unwilling to do it there are always others ready to bend over and please management. ” and Western customers to paint all Indian companies with the same brush. Indian companies despite their good local market and reputation are also considered manipulators. Westerners consider Indian products much the same way in which many of us consider Chinese products - inconsistent in quality, non-compliance to agreed terms and conditions, delay in supplies and giving excuses that can easily be verified as untrue. A leading Indian cardiac surgeon in Delhi who had experience with substandard quality of Indian products stated - “as Indians we have lost our character”. Honesty, simplicity, empathy, care, concern and compassion have become attributes of the past. Across society, irrespective of our social and economic status, we are in the race to outdo others for name, fame and money - as long as “I” win, “I” benefit, “I” succeed, I do not care for others. This is not a good trend for India. It is high time that organizations and individuals carefully examine their intentions, actions and consequences. Large organizations should put their house in order and bring about paradigm shift in the thought process of all their employees. Once a critical mass is reached I am sure there will be a big change in the culture of Indian Pharma. We can think of calling ourselves a great country once again, the historical reason for India being the preferred trading destination of Western countries can be regained. We are indeed a great nation but somehow somewhere we seem to have lost our way. Wake up Sid! -AM 9 | MedicinMan October 2013 E E SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE NEW PARADIGM IN PEOPLE MANAGEMENT Prof. Vivek Hattangadi W hat do we really need to succeed today in our profession? We have a bumper crop of clueless corporate executives who have lost touch with the very people whom they are supposed to lead. I would like to call it the ‘Marie Antoinette Management’! Marie Antoinette was the French queen who alienated herself from her subjects and this alienation from her people led her to the guillotine. A famous statement attributed to her, establishes how totally she was cut off from her people: “If they (the peasants) don’t have bread, let them eat cake”. Marie Antoinette Management is when leaders stay aloof from reality and away from the people! The new prerequisite for professional success through people management is ‘Social Intelligence’. Social Intelligence is a companion to Emotional Intelligence. Why do some leaders get people to line up behind them with staunch loyalty whereas the others remain the butt of cruel kerb side jokes? The former have a high level of Social Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence. Prof. Vivek Hattangadi is a Consultant in Pharma Brand Management and Sales Training at The Enablers. He is also visit-ing faculty at CIPM Calcutta (Vidyasagar University) for their MBA course in Pharmaceutical Management. vivekhattangadi@theenablers.org 10 | MedicinMan October 2013 Social intelligence can be as simple as a smile or remembering someone’s name. Some define social intelligence as a matter of demonstrating good people’s skills. Says Harrison Monarth1: “Social Intelligence is not an inward awareness, though it’s tough to master if you aren’t in touch with your inner landscape (Emotional Intelligence) to some extent. It is very much about how you are perceived by others. It is the understanding – and when you get it right, the mastery - of what elicits a response from other people in both relationships and casual encounters and even in an audience full of strangers”.1 Says Daniel Goleman: “Neuroscience has discovered that our brain’s very design makes it sociable, inexora- Prof. Vivek Hattangadi | Social Intelligence: The New Paradigm in People Management “ be as simple as a smile or bly drawn into an intimate brain-to-brain linkup whenever we engage with another person. That neural bridge lets us impact the brain—and so the body—of everyone we interact with, just as they do us”.2 remembering someone’s Social intelligence involves much more than an infectious grin. It is the ability to understand what makes people respond. Social intelligence can name. Some define social intelligence as a matter of demonstrating good What are some of the skills required to develop social intelligence? Professional Presence: It’s all about the subtle, unspoken ward awareness, though details of how you present yourself, how you enter a room, the tone of your voice and the confidence in your persona. It’s as simple as sitting up straight at your desk, to how you command the sales meetings. Projecting and maintaining the professional image you want to present speaks volumes about your credibility. Your professional presence should not only communicate your self-confidence and self worth, it should show the level of respect you have for others. it’s tough to master if Clarity: One needs to have competence in communicating people’s skills. Says Harrison Monarth: “Social Intelligence is not an in- you aren’t in touch with your inner landscape (Emotional Intelligence) to some extent. It is very much about how you are perceived by others. ” clearly. You need to communicate your thoughts, your ideas, objectives, expectations, and other information with great clarity. You will need to tailor your message to the listener. Else, people may not follow you as a leader. The ultimate goal is to get your people to appreciate you and follow you. The clearer you are, the sooner it will happen. Authenticity: It means uncovering your true self. You should not only sound genuine, but should be truly genuine. Phoniness, no matter how well conveyed, is easy to spot! People may think that you are wearing a mask; you are constantly playing a role to impress people. Authentic people earn trust and respect. People will always follow authentic leaders. Awareness: It is the ability to read people, and the moment, and respond with behaviors that fit the situation.1 It is having knowledge and to take cognizance of circumstances and the state of affairs. Empathy: It is identifying with and understanding another’s situation and feelings. You imaginatively enter into another person’s feelings. “When you communicate empathy, you are saying that we are on the same page, the same team and anything I ask you to do has taken your situation into consideration”.1 Behavior: It should reflect your leadership traits. Take own- References 1. Monarth, Harrison. (2010). Executive Presence, McGraw Hill, New York. ership for the work assigned to you. Take initiative and offer to take on more responsibility if you have the capability. Leaders are often self-motivated and make things happen. 2. Goleman, Daniel. (2006). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relations, Bantam Dell, New York To conclude, Social Intelligence is a set of skills that inspire others to be effective. “When we detect other people’s emotions through their actions, our mirror neurons reproduce these emotions leading to feeling of shared experience”.2 11 | MedicinMan October 2013 Every professional should work to continuously upgrade both Social Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence to achieve professional success - through sound people management. -VH ¥ $F ¥ F £ £ F $ ¥ $ £ $ ¥ F $ F £ ¥ € ¥ € €£F$ $ £ $ ¥ £ € € E € £ € ¥ £ £ ¥ € € € € £ £ € £ ¥ € ¥ £ € ¥ £ ¥ REAL VALUE 5 ways in which pharma companies can create real value for their Doctors instead of mindlessly driving strategies that don’t work. Part - II £ € Dr. Aniruddha Malpani 1. Practice Management. Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, MD is the Medical Director at Malpani Infertility Clinic in Mumbai. 12 | MedicinMan October 2013 While most doctors enjoy taking care of patients, they are not very good businessmen, because they do not realize that running a clinic means that they need to think of themselves as being entrepreneurs. Many do a bad job, because they do not have the requisite skills. This is a relatively easy problem to fix - it’s a simple question of teaching doctors practice management strategies! Not only can Pharmaceutical industry conduct workshops, they can actually provide real-life and online training for the Doctor’s office staff - the receptionist, the secretaries, and their assistants, to help them become more productive and efficient. The good news is that a lot of these resources are easily available - it’s just a question of adapting them to the needs of Indian doctors. Since Medical Reps spend a lot of time in the doctor’s clinic, they also have an opportunity to learn a lot – both what to do, from the good doctors who run efficient clinics; and what not to do, from the bad ones who make their patients wait forever and ever. Doctors need Pharma companies to share what they learn from the good clinics with the other doctors, so they can improve their practice. Medical Reps can serve as the eyes and ears of doctors in the field, because of their real-life experience! If Pharma can help doctors to do a better job with taking care of their patients, they will respect Medical Reps and will be happy to partner with them. Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, MD | Real Value “ Sadly, most conferences are not academically productive at all because they flout the basic principles of adult pedagogy. 2. Staying Current Doctors don’t actually end up learning much, as a result of which most serious doctors are quite disillusioned with the conference business, which they rightly treat as a circus! The third pain point today is that doctors need to earn many hours of continuing medical education (or CME) in order to renew their certification and license to practice from their State Medical Council. The trouble is that the only way the Councils provide certification today is for attending medical conferences. Sadly, most conferences are not academically productive at all, ” ¥ $ € £ F F £ ¥ € € ¥ £ £ F $ 13 | MedicinMan October 2013 The second pain point which doctors have is that it is difficult for them to remain up-to-date. Pharma industry can provide them with access to online resources from leading medical publishers, so that they have 24/7 access to medical textbooks and journal which they want. This is something which is likely to be heavily utilized, because doctors understand that they need to update their knowledgebase on a regular basis. 3. Continuous Medical Education (CME) because they flout the basic principles of adult pedagogy. Doctors don’t actually end up learning much, as a result of which most serious doctors are quite disillusioned with the conference business, which they rightly treat as a circus! Even worse, conferences do not allow any way of documenting whether any learning has actually occurred or not. Pharma industry can provide online CME for doctors, which would be recognized by the appropriate Medical Council. This is easy to do, since this model has been shown to work very well in the USA – the country which invented CME! Since the Doctor can do this CME online, he will not need to travel, and this would save him a lot of time, and be much more convenient. Doctors like learning - it’s just a question of designing engaging teaching materials for them. Even better, by ensuring that the doctor answers a quiz at the end of the CME, this would allow documentation that he has mastered the information which was presented. Since the CME is being provided through Pharma Company’s online portal, this will ensure that doctors will visit the website frequently – and Pharma can use this channel to communicate seamlessly with them. 4. Medical Record Keeping The fourth pain point for doctors is medical record keeping. Most keep very poor records and they have a hard time finding the information they need about a particular patient. This means that even though they have enormous clinical experience, it is very poorly documented, so that they are not able to systematically review or publish it in medical journals. This is such a waste! Information Technology has helped to revolutionize how medical records are stored and accessed today in the USA and Pharma can provide doctors with online electronic Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, MD | Real Value “ Pharma industry can help Doctors to improve their profitability, both by helping them to get more patients; and by providing them with tools to delight their patients. The best way to do this would be to provide doctors with their own personal branded websites, so they can establish an online clinic. ” 14 | MedicinMan October 2013 medical records (EMRs) through it’s company website. This will help them take better care of their patients, because they would be able to accurately document and access everything they need to know about their patients. It would also help doctors to keep their patients happy, through a patient portal, through which patients can access all their information online! 5. Financial Management The fifth pain point for doctors is financial. Pharma industry can help them to improve their profitability, both by helping them to get more patients; and by providing them with tools to delight their patients. The best way to do this would be to provide doctors with their own personal branded websites, so they can establish an online clinic. Influential Indian patients are all online today and smart doctors understand that they need a digital presence as well. By giving them this, not only will Pharma be able to help them improve their patient flow, it would also allow them to keep their patients happy, by educating them online with suitable educational materials about their illness. This would help patients to have more realistic expectations of their medical treatment – and save the doctor a lot of time, as he would not have to explain the basics all over again. Conclusion By implementing these five measures, Pharma industry will be able to make doctor’s lives more meaningful and productive. As this is not Pharma’s core business, it can do this on a large scale by outsourcing it cost effectively. This is likely to enhance Pharma industry’s reputation and standing amongst doctors, which will improve sales and profitability of the company’s brands. This is a disruptive innovation, and pioneering companies are likely to reap a lot of benefits by being the first mover in this exciting space! -AM E DPCO 2013 and its likely impact on Indian Pharma K. Hariram The din is slowly dying down as the Indian Pharma industry has embraced the new DPCO 2013 that has been recently notified. No doubt, the new drug price control policy in the short term will negatively impact sales and margins of pharmaceutical firms in India. IMS Health has estimated that the value erosion of the pharmaceutical market would be to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore (2.2 per cent of the current pharmaceutical market), post implementation for the year 2013-14. With the notification of the order, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) 2012 comes into effect and all drugs under NLEM(National list of essential medicines), which account for 60 per cent of total domestic pharma market amounting to nearly Rs 29,000 crore, would come under price control. According to the approved policy, prices of medicines will now be capped by taking simple average of all brands which have more than one per cent market share instead of input costs. K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at Galderma India. He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a regular contributor. khariram25@yahoo.com “ The industry has been expecting this to happen and hence in the budgeting of FY 2013-14 there would have been provisions to absorb the expected impact. ” 15 | MedicinMan October 2013 This means there is a shift from cost-based pricing to marketbased pricing. Majority view this shift in pricing methodology to have better transparency and be directionally more prudent to the pharmaceutical industry, on a longer term perspective. What is market based pricing methodology? 1. The ceiling price for each branded drug or a generic version will be determined by taking a simple average of all drugs with market share equal to or greater than 1%. 2. The policy will control prices of 348 drugs that are classified as ‘Essential’ and form part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). 3. The companies will be allowed to revise prices of these molecules once a year in line with the change in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). 4. For all other drugs (i.e. not in NLEM), an annual price hike of 10% will be allowed. 5. To encourage investments in R&D, completely new innovations and even drugs developed through new processes or involving novel drug delivery mechanism will be exempt from price control for a period of five years. Having issued the detailed guidelines, the Government has started notifying the ceiling prices, post which the policy comes into effect in the succeeding 45 days. Companies had to resort to the job of adjusting their MRPs within this period and this has resulted in some inventory destocking/rationalization by the distribution channel. Will this impact the earnings, volume/value and the impact on marketing and CRM activities? Yes, the price rationalization will impact earnings in the nearterm but unlikely to affect longer term growth prospects. K. Hariram | DPCO and its likely impact on Indian Pharma “ For those companies that depend on CRM activities as the sole revenue generator, it will be difficult to think of short term alternatives to protect margins. ” Many industry experts opine that market-based pricing mechanism would impact near term earnings of companies with relatively higher dependence on the Indian market. With NLEM estimated to cover almost 20% of the Rs. 728 billion domestic formulation business, an expected price cut of 15-20% will erode the market by 3-4%. Its impact on earnings will be higher as much of this will directly eat into the relatively higher margin India business, particularly the ones with higher dependence on Indian market, premium pricing approach and having higher share of acute therapy segment. On the other hand, the impact of the new policy would not be substantial on companies that have sizeable share of earnings from regulated markets, especially U.S. generics. The industry has been expecting this to happen and hence in the budgeting of FY 2013-14 there would have been provisions to absorb the expected impact. Also, this will propel companies to review their portfolios over the medium-to-longer term though in the near future or as short term rationalization measures there may be some revision on promotional/marketing budgets, consolidating field force, etc. When it comes to CRM activities, since it is always a part of marketing budget, there would be a re-visit in terms of cost/benefit ratio. However, for those companies that depend on CRM activities as the sole revenue generator, it will be difficult to think of short term alternatives to protect margins. As per the famous saying by Henry.J.Kaiser, “Problems are only opportunities in work clothes”. Hence the drug marketing teams need to shed their copy cat approach and complacency to relook at their brand management strategies, revise their skills, adopt newer technologies such as digital marketing and work on DIFFERENTIATION at all levels. The originators of molecules may still have some edge when it comes to robust scientific data which could be utilized for CMEs, in-clinic communication, etc. Probably, it is also a good time to look at building sales force as a big differentiator. “Many a skillful pilots have earned their name by flying through storms and tempests”. - KH 16 | MedicinMan October 2013 E A WINNING SMILE! Smile, and Sell More. Rachana Narayan D ale Carnegie rightly says, “For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!” This article is dedicated to the “smile”; so I request all you readers to have a smile (even if it is forced one) on your faces while reading this. I am tired of seeing Medical Reps with pain-stricken faces as if role plays are a punishment. I am sure; most Medical Reps will be doing nothing to increase the smile on their faces even during real calls to make them impactful. They may not be even aware that a smile can give them an advantage over hundreds of smileless competitors. Rachana Narayan is a Trainer at A Menarini India Pvt. Ltd. She has previously worked in Medico-Marketing Dept. at Torrent 17 | MedicinMan October 2013 Smile is infectious and before we realize, it gets transferred from the Medical Rep to the doctor. I am reminded of an incident at a prize distribution ceremony of Christ College Bangalore, my alma mater. The chief guest distributing the prize would automatically smile at the winners and refrain from doing so if the winner did not return the smile. Even in the context of sales, most doctors will automatically smile back when the Medical Rep has a vibrant smile. Smile sets the stage for a good conversation. There is always a bonus point for the smile. A smile is so important for me that I always make my trainees repeat the role play if they have no smile on their face. The exceptional content may become boring and monotonous without some play of smile on the face of the Medical Rep. According to a study in International Journal of Service Industry Management, involving 220 participants, it was found that the smiling customer service executive produced a higher level of customer satisfaction than the customer service executive with neutral expression regardless of the gender of the customer service executive. The assertiveness in the personality becomes appealing with a smile on the face. Rachana Narayan | A Selling Smile “ Today an entire training module is introduced in the service sector teaching the benefits of smile in customer service and how to smile even speaking over the telephone. Remember, smile is not only seen, it’s impact can be felt over the telephone. So, make your smile sparkle. Your voice should have a tone of thrill when talking to people. ” Yet another study published in the Journal of Psychological Science, involving 169 participants, proved that people who had a forced smiled after completing stress-inducing tasks showed a greater reduction in heart rate than people who had a neutral facial expression. Another study by Perreau-Linck et.al. reported that even self-induced changes in mood, increases serotonin (the happy neurotransmitter) secretion in the person. Gone are the days when smile was considered feminine. Today an entire training module is introduced in the service sector teaching the benefits of smile in customer service and how to smile even speaking over the telephone. Remember, smile is not only seen, it’s impact can be felt over the telephone. So, make your smile sparkle. Your voice should have a tone of thrill when talking to people. A million dollar question is how to smile, as it does not come naturally to many. I suggest, practice smiling in front of the mirror. As you try speaking with a smile on your face more often, it will get registered as a habit in your behaviour. Any behaviour for that matter can become an integral part of your personality if it is practiced continuously. A sincere smile reaches the eyes and yields great results. A smile changes the attitude and makes the environment positive. A smile is comforting; it makes the person more appealing and approachable. It eases the tense situations and costs absolutely nothing. So smile and sell more! -RN MISSING SOMETHING IMPORTANT? You can access all past issues of MedicinMan at: http://medicinman.net/archives. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE on our website (top-right corner: www.medicinman.net) to stay up-to-date with us. 18 | MedicinMan October 2013 E RCPA REFRESHER Chirag Shah The distribution network of any pharma company starts from the stockist. Whenever a doctor prescribes a product to a patient, the patient buys the product from retail chemist, who in turn buys from the stockist. In pharma sales, your actual consumer is the patient and indirect consumer is the doctor. In this way pharma selling is different from other selling. Here retailer plays an important role by stocking products of various companies and has a significant role to influence on your sales. That’s why RCPA (Retail Chemist Prescription Audit) is an important tool that every Medical Rep should use. What motivates the retail chemist to purchase our goods? 1) High Turnover: The retailer stocks goods of thousands of different pharma companies. He is the one who invests his money for stock. If stocks move out regularly he would never feel the burden but if products are not sold for a long time and remains on the shelf, he feels the burden. Every Medical Rep has to ensure products of your company starts moving from his counter regularly. This will not only allow the retailer to order regularly and maintain inventory but also build confidence in you and your company. Chirag Shah is a B.Pharm and M.Sc in Pharmaceutical Science from Kingston University (U.K.) He did his PGDBA in Marketing from Welingkar Institute of management. He is a Product Executive in Dupen Labs. Mobile: 9664851023 19 | MedicinMan June 2013 2) Regular Visits: Medical Rep should regularly visit the chemist. The retailer is always expecting you to visit him and solve his problems like supply of order, expiry, breakage, etc. When your products are regularly prescribed by the doctors and you regularly visit the retailer, the retailer respects you for your systematic work. 3) Schemes: Retailer is a businessman who invests his money for profit. He is always interested in the profit margin he gets for selling your products. Medical Rep should regularly update him on the profit margin he gets. Most of the companies regularly introduce a free gift scheme on purchase of certain quantities of the product. Like 50 bottles or 150 strips on no return policy and he gets a utility item as a gift for that. The retailer Chirag Shah | RCPA Refresher buys the additional stocks based relationship and the speed of movement of your product from the counter. 4) Company Reputation: Retailer always looks at the marketing policies of company and the credibility and regularity of the Medical Rep. Retailers have the tendency to ask for freebies, don’t promise the things which are not in your control. Don’t promise extra scheme, stick to company norms. This will increase your credibility and create confidence in you. This will motivate retailers to stock your products in adequate quantities. How should you start doing RCPA? The foremost objective is to know how much your product is moving in comparison to your competitors. The below format (see Fig. 1) can be used while doing RCPA. Find the best time to meet the retailer for doing RCPA based on his convenience. RCPA Checklist: 1. Find out the status of order booked last time. 2. Always check who are new prescribers of your products and who have stopped or changed to competitor’s brand. Also find out the impact of your last visit by asking improvement in prescriptions from regular prescriber. 3. Ask for stock position of your brand and competitor brand. Say he is keeping 20 units of your product and 100 units of competitor – it shows that your competitor products are moving at four times the speed of your product. 4. Find out details about campaigns by your competitors or any special offers. 5. Also find out the service the retailer is getting from stockist like quick dispatch, Credit note adjustment, etc. Get the detail of breakage, leakage or expiry of your products and take prompt action. This information will help your company to build an effective counter strategy. -SP Fig. 1: Sample RCPA Product Name of Dr Rx’ing Units per Week 20 | MedicinMan June 2013 Competitor Brands Name of Dr Rx’ing Units per week Remarks/Free schemes E SIMPLE STEPS TO PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS V. Srinivasan S uccess can be achieved by anyone who is willing to work sincerely. However, in pharmaceutical sales, though there are lacs of Medical Reps, many of them have turned out to be ‘mediocre’ or ‘average’, and only few are highly successful. This article is to motivate such ‘ordinary’ Medical Reps that it is possible for them to become successful too. Just make it a habit to execute the following simple steps everyday: Make the Customer List exactly as per marketing strategy. If the customer list must contain 100 Gynaecologists, 50 Paediatricians, and 50 Orthopaedics, then it should be exactly like that. Because, this is the basis on which the business will be built. Update Customer List regularly. Add Doctors who have the potential for products being promoted. Delete unproductive calls. Make sure you are aware of the exact potential of each customer through a well recorded RCPA for each of your product, and how much you expect from them for each of your product. This should get updated before every call. Understand the products being promoted i.e. better Product Knowledge. This is not that difficult as many Medical Reps think. Improve your communication in English language. If your communication skills are good, you can convince more customers. V. Srinivasan has written over 400 articles on Pharma Management. Email: shridhar1956@rediffmail.com Mob: 9972390513 22 | MedicinMan October 2013 Implement sales and marketing strategies as designed by the Product Team with sincerity. Be prompt in sending reports promptly without reminders. If you come across any innovative schemes, strategies from competitors, try to understand it and report it promptly. Practice detailing before starting the work in the morning every day. V. Srinivasan | Simple Steps to Professional Success “ Think, behave and act as though you are owner of the business in the territory. This will shut all loop holes for excuses, and bring out the best in you every time. Our Authors ” Abdul Basit Khan Dr. Shalini Ratan Ajay Kumar Dua Dr. Surinder Kumar Amlesh Ranjan Sharma Amrutha Bhavthankar Dr. Ulhas Ganu Andris A. Zoltners Geetha G H Anthony Lobo H. J. Badrinarayana Aparna Sharma Hakeem Adebiyi Arvind Nair Hanno Wolfram Atish Mukherjee Hitendra Kansal B. Ramanathan Iyer Gopalkrishna Chayya Sankath Jasvinder Singh Craig Dixon Banga Devanand Chenuri Javed Shaikh Venkat Jitendra Singh Dinesh Chindarkar John Gwillim Dr. Amit Dang Jolly Mathews Dr. Aniruddha Joshua Mensch Malpani K Hariram Dr. Hemant Mittal K. Satya Mahesh Dr. Neelesh Bhandari Ken Boyce Dr. S. Srinivasan Mahendra Rai Be punctual. Before starting the work for the day, look at the calls being planned for the day, what was the outcome of your last visit? Have these doctors started prescribing your products, if yes, how much have they prescribed, if not, why have they not prescribed, what could be the reasons? So you are mentally prepared to talk to them in a result oriented manner, which makes each call more productive and purposeful. Think, behave and act as though you are owner of the business in the territory. This will shut all loop holes for excuses, and bring out the best in you every time. The above steps when implemented and practiced with sincerity, will enable even ordinary Medical Reps to succeed, which will get you better acceptability and respect in your own family, in society and in your peer group. Mala Raj Manoj Kumar Mayank Saigal Milan Sinha Mohan Lal Gupta Neelesh Bhandari Neha Ansa Nishkarsh Likhar Noumaan Qureshi Parveen Gandhi Pinaki Ghosh PK Sinha Prabhakar Shetty Vivek Hattangadi Rachana Narayan Rajesh Rangarajan Ralph Boyce Renie McClay Richa Goyel Richard Ilsley RM Saravanan Sagar S. Pawar Salil Kallianpur Salil Kallianpur Sally E. Lorimer Sandhya Pramanik Sanjay Munshi Shafaq Shaikh Shalini Ratan Sharad Virmani Shiv Bhasin Spring Sudhakar Subba Rao Chaganti Sudhakar Madhavan Tony O’Connor V. Srinivasan Varadharajan K. Vijaya Shetty Vishal V. Bhaiyya Vishal Verma Vivek Hattangadi William Fernandez MEDICINMAN invites contributions from Pharma professionals on topics related to Field Force Excellence. See: www.medicinman.net/author-guidelines for more information. 23 | MedicinMan October 2013 W100/FIELD FORCE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS NOW AT ONLY INR 100*. MRP Rs. 799/- MRP Rs. 599/- *Exclusive corporate offer. Contact anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-93422-32949 for more details. MEDICINMAN EMPOWER YOUR FIELD FORCE Learning and Development Programs from the Leaders in Pharma Field Force Excellence Pharma-specific Training: Medical Representatives Field Sales Managers Senior Managers Signature Programs for Medical Representatives KA$H=CASH KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDES SKILLS HABITS Constructed on the fundamental premise that a Medical Representative’s success depends on his Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits (KA$H). Representatives seek success in their personal and professional lives but look for it in the wrong places leaving them frustrated. Companies and bottom-lines suffer when the front-line is not fully engaged. KA$H=CASH is a high-engagement module for customer-facing employees. REPEAT Rx Repeat Rx is an advanced module for customer-facing Representatives based on the book by Anup Soans. Repeat Rx focuses on building lasting relationships with Doctors by creating value through a process of Calling > Connecting > Consulting > Collaborating with the Doctor. At each stage of this Four Stage process the Representative acquires measurable skills and competencies that enable him to add value in the Doctor’s chamber. Repeat Rx comes with detailed evaluation tools. anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-934-2232-949 | www.medicinman.net In Any Profession, More KA$H = More Cash anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-934-2232-949 | www.medicinman.net Signature Programs for Front-line Managers SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager. Based on the best-selling book by Anup Soans, this program is for new and experienced Front-line Managers who would like to get breakthrough performance from their teams. SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager focuses on topics such as Team Building, Emotional Intelligence, Situational Leadership, Coaching and more. VALUE ADD: Psychometric Assessment* Signature Programs for Second-line and Senior Managers THE HALF-TIME COACH The Half-Time Coach is based on the concept of half-time in football. If half-time is so crucial in a game that last only 90 minutes, how much more important in a career that last a life time. The Half-Time Coach is a learning-by-reflection program with a focus on Coaching Skills for senior managers. Modules also cover Self Awareness, Emotional Intelligence, Employee Engagement and Sales Change Management. VALUE ADD: Psychometric Assessment* WHY SHOULD ANYONE FOLLOW YOU? A walk-the-talk program for cross-functional senior managers to understand the process of employee engagement, creating trust and building relationships to build and sustain high-performance teams. VALUE ADD: Psychometric Assessment* *Psychometrics assessments give in-depth insights into one’s personality preferences and its impact on interpersonal relationships and teamwork. anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-934-2232-949 | www.medicinman.net Webinars and E-Learning Company’s may choose to deliver a program as a webinar - giving the advantage of scale and lowering costs. iSharpenM My Success is My Responsibiliti Audiences are kept engaged using visually stimulating slides and powerful delivery. Emphasis is placed on taking charge of one’s success, even in the absence of oversight. Most recently 1,000 reps of a leading MNC were trained over four webinars with excellent feedback. Customized issues of MedicinMan, with inputs from the company can be given to the Field Force for their continuous learning and development. MedicinMan currently reaches 60,000 pharma professionals. Methodology All programs are fully customizable. A pre-program questionnaire is used to capture the needs and expectations of the participants. Company’s may request a demonstration of a particular module at no expense (except conveyance to venue). Programs incorporate the principles of adult learning and are highly participative, audio-visual and activity-based. Important truths are conveyed through games, stories and videos. Companies are advised to give participants the books on which the programs are based for continued learning and development. The same may be procured from the author at a discount. Management Games Audio/Visual Interactive Classroom Training Simulation Learning-by-reflection Case Studies anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-934-2232-949 | www.medicinman.net
