SALESMANSHIP

There is no doubt that being a successful salesman is a demanding profession. Whereas other professions have secondary back-up personnel to fulfill the functions of administration, the salesman has to do this for himself. He is, in fact, an entire business with all its complexities housed in a single person.

He therefore requires skills in many more diverse fields than an accountant, for instance. He needs to be the complete all-rounder, perfect and complete.

This circle can be divided into three main parts – Job knowledge, Selling Tools, and Business Ability –each of which again has numerous sub-divisions. The first requirement for doing the job well is obviously Job Knowledge.

Job knowledge is knowing

The Company,

The Products it sells,

The Markets in which it is active and

The Competition, which it faces.

{ A } The Company

It is not just enough to know that the Company is a research-based international organization. The questions that must be answered are:

What are the policies of the company regarding trading, training and development of personnel, opportunities for promotion, personnel benefits, and what of type of management does it have?

Only when these questions and others like them have been satisfactorily answered can a Medical Representative has complete confidence in, and loyalty to, the knowledge he works for.

Of course, it is not always easy to get definite answers to these questions, as a company may not care to disclose its entire modus operandi.

If answers are not readily available, then conclusions have to be drawn from what has happened in the past.

{ B} The Products

Without absolutely complete product knowledge a salesman cannot operate effectively, and in Medical Representation this is emphasized by a moral, as well as commercial, obligation. Complete product knowledge is required giving the confidence required to project a professional image.

Nothing instills confidence into any salesman more than the fact that he knows his product inside out and outside in. He knows that he knows and the prospect knows that he knows.

The product is the star of the sales interview and the first class salesman recognizes this. He centres the limelight the product and not on himself. He introduces the product and its benefits in relation to the prospect’s needs. By doing so, the product becomes an object to be desired, thus provoking a natural willingness for the doctor to agree to a positive prescribing action.

REMEMBER, YOU MUST KNOW AT LEAST A HUNDRED TIMES MORE ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT THAN YOU CAN USE IN AN INTERVIEW.

There is no such thing as a born salesman and every Medical Representative has to familiarises himself with, and develop by continual application on-the-job, the necessary armamentarium of Selling Tools.

Business Ability is that which makes for good Time and Territory Management coupled with efficient Record Keeping while Keeping Customers happy and all the while maintaining Profitable Selling.

·      Time Management

The more use a Representative can make of the available time the more successful he will be. Skillful analysis of how he is spending his time and how he can utilize it more profitable is necessary.

·      Territory Management

The decision-taking processes involve deciding whom to call on, how often to call on them and what to sell to each individual; acting on these decisions and then carrying the responsibility for them is what makes up Territory Management. What is required is the ability to establish, in logical sequence, the current situation, the objectives to be achieved, the programmes for achieving these objectives and the yardsticks by which progress or achievement are measured.

In all, the ability to see that his territory is a specific entity, a management unit, and he is in charge.

·      Record Keeping

This is a touchy subject with all salesmen. They say “Judge me by my results – not my reports:”

{ C} The Markets

The Medical Representative must know each one of the markets and its subdivisions in which the company operates, e.g. antibiotic, cardiovascular. But this is broad background knowledge only. He is further required to know each one of his markets, i.e. every individual customer must be analysed as a Market. Only by having this information, can he determine individual Market Needs, and only by correctly meeting those individual market needs can he enjoy true sales and Professional success.

{ D} The Competition

The Medical Representative who does not know what the competition is doing, is operating in a vacuum. He has nothing on which to base the foundation of what he does.

 It is the competition and not the customers, which determine the relative problems and opportunities in any given market regardless of geography, culture or economy.Representatives usually refer to how difficult the doctors are and fail to recognise this as a direct result of competitor activity.

Selling Tools are those skills and techniques in Prospecting for the right man, setting the right Objective for him, getting an Appointment with him, making a good sales Presentation with the correct use of Visual Aids, handling his Objections and Closing a Sale.

One frequently hears that this is not a part of Medical Representation, as the Salesman already knows who and where his doctors are.

If prospecting means searching for a man in a white coat carrying a stethoscope, then this would be true, but for the Professional man it means establishing who is the right man to see in any specific field, whether it be in the defines of a Hospital Unit or a Speciality.

In some large hospitals the right man could be the Head of a Department or an Intern or any one of the men on different levels between them. It is the responsibility of the Medical Representative to establish this fact by good prospecting activities.

• Prospecting

Another part of the Prospecting activity is then ascertaining whether an opportunity exists for the use of a specific product. A definite and real need must be found before any further action will be of mutual benefit to the doctor and the salesman.

·      Objective

The objective to be realised from the call is then set on the basis of the need established. It must be realistic and be of mutual benefit to the doctor and salesman. It must be the solution to a problem with which the doctor is faced and economically and clinically practical.

·      Appointments

It is most important to see the doctor where possible to make an appointment in a positive frame of mind, when he will be relaxed, receptive and not under pressure, or else the risk of failing to achieve the objective is increased greatly.

·      Presentation

A perfect and complete Sales Presentation should than be planned and practiced beforehand. It should have a logical sequence and be psychologically attuned to the doctor, his needs and achieving the objectives set.

In order to achieve this, the Representative must be familiar with a Formula for Planning and Effective Sales Presentation.

·      Visual Aids

All sales aids such as Promotional Visual Aids, articles from reputable Medical Journals, samples, gimmicks and gifts must be used to add impact to the presentation by using them at the correct strategic and psychological moment in the interview.

·      Objections

 Every single objection raised by the doctor must be expertly overcome to his complete satisfaction. Unspoken objections must be brought out and dealt with similarly. Techniques of handling objections should be used to put the doctor at ease and show real concern for his point of view.

·      Closing

Bringing the discussion to a logical close resulting in a sale is a skill with which every representative must be familiar.

Because Medical Representatives do not frequently take orders but rely on the doctor to write a prescription for their product after they have left, this skill is a very badly neglected one in Medical Representation.

The Salesman’s natural antipathy to written work is well known because, most frequently, the latter has to be done after hours in what he considers his “own time”. Yet reporting is important for feedback information for the management in order to analyze the market and to prepare new strategies, which in turn can help the representative to increase the efficacy of his calls.

·      Keeping Customers

In Medical Representation each territory is fixed and the salesman calls 6-10 times every year on the same people. Therefore, it is necessary for him to be a master of human relations, service, and problem solving to keep his doctors happy and eager to see him.

·      Profitable Selling

This is an aspect also frequently overlooked by the Medical Representative. In most companies he is not looked upon as a “Profit Centre” but in fact he is the Company’s greatest source of profit. It is for this reason that he is not made aware of the necessity for expense-oriented operating.

He frequently back tracks and does excessive mileage, gives huge bonuses or samples to secure an order without regard to the fact that these are promotional aids and that his future sales-making armamentarium will be weakened by their loss; neglects company property and generally disregards the costs involved in running his territory.

This is one of the factors, which count most heavily against a man when he is considered for a promotion, and therefore every ambitious and successful Medical Representative is ever conscious of the expenses incurred in his territory.

“THERE IS NO SPEED LIMIT LIMITS ON THE ROAD TO EXCELLENCE”