Field Force Excellence

Situation
The client, a medium-size biopharmaceutical company with several first-in-class pharmaceuticals and a key upcoming product launch, faced daunting challenges in an increasingly competitive market with newly imposed managed care restrictions. The company engaged Clarion to enhance its field force effectiveness by developing and implementing high-impact sales force initiatives.

Approach
Clarion collaborated with key client decision-makers to identify, prioritize and develop initiatives to accelerate sales results and to optimize field force excellence in advance of the product launch. Beginning with a diagnostic phase, Clarion conducted surveys, focus groups and interviews with members of the sales force, managed markets and home office, to highlight specific needs and identify opportunities for improvement.

Based on this initial research, the Clarion team then launched three initiatives to better align the sales force with product launch goals:

• Developed and delivered a playbook for prioritizing accounts and targeting key physicians, enabling the field force to capitalize on high-potential opportunities;
• Launched an entrepreneurial management approach, encouraging sales reps to manage their territories as a business by allocating resources against prioritized targets; and
• Delivered a best-practice case example demonstrating to first-line managers how to align the client’s sales force with co-promotional sales forces to drive results.

Outcome
These initiatives were successfully rolled out both to the client’s and the co-promotional sales forces, achieving the client’s goal of aligning the sales teams behind the launch effort and focusing their time and efforts on the highest-value activities. According to the client, the initiative provided exactly the framework and direction its sales force needed to effectively meet its product launch goals.