MIS of the Medical Representatives

The management information systems of the medical representative is one of the key requirements for measuring and monitoring and improving marketing performance. They determine the performance of the marketing department, hence that of the organization. So measurement of the work done by the medical representative also determines the performance of the marketing function. What are the parameters on which monitoring, measurement, evaluation should be done depends on the nature of the products, the company, its markets and other parameters. The following listing suggests the focus on the measurable performance indicators:

• Total sales
• product wise sales.
• brand wise sales.
• tablets
• formulations
• injectables.
• pellets
• powders.
• size wise
• total number of packs.
• total quantity
• total value in rupees.
• rate of growth.
• new orders booked.
• new prescriptions received.
• new doctors visited.
• new hospitals visited.
• area wise quantity sales.
• area wise value sales.
• area wise quantity booked.
• area quantity sold.
• payments received product wise.
• payments outstanding
• non moving stocks size wise product wise.
• estimated sales product wise size wise.
• physicians samples received.
• new product lanunched: number of doctors/ number of dispensaries.
• existing products launched in non-prescribing doctors.
• existing products launched in new doctors/ hospitals.
• total percentage of doctors still not covered.
• gifts received
• gifts distributed.
• local seminars done.
• total number of participants attended.
• number of distributors visited.
• number of distributors appointed.
• stocks position distributor wise.
• Product wise forecasts :
• number of doctors to be visited.
• incremental product wise sales targets
• supports required from the corporate offices for promoting the product.

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MIS Systems for a Medical Representative

Management systems are must for all organizations of all kinds. Most structured are the MIS systems of an organization, better shall be the analysis, resource depoloyments and their effective use and thus realization of the organizational objectives. Pharmaceuticals marketing is signficant for establishing a long term base market in the minds of the doctors since these shall serve the purpose of the organization for a very long time..may be more than 20 years. So any organization, before interacting with a doctor, must do a very good homework that its first impresssion must be good and second impression should never be lesser than the first impression. That means pharmaceutical function has to improve its marketing and sales planning with the doctors and through doctors. Designing the management information systems of the medical representative is very critical and it must have the following classified information and this must as applicable in terms of quantitative parameters : numbers, value in ruppes or percentages. And the information has to be against objectives, planned and achieved.

• number of visits to the doctors.
• number of visits to the distributors.
• number of visits to the retailers.
• number of visits to the government organizations.
• number of visits to the hospitals.
• new products briefs and number of doctors visited.
• new products brief : segment wise.
• existing products brief: segement wise.
• estimated prescriptions : area wise.
• estimated quantities to be sold.
• estimated value realizations.
• stocks with the distributors : quantity; value item wise.
• stocks likely to be exhausted: quantity;
• stocks : non moving items.
• stocks : likely to expiry.
• stocks damaged.
• distributors complaints
• retailers complaints.
• doctors complaints.
• hospitals complaints.
• negative remarks against the products.
• negative remarks against the company.
• positive remarks against the products.
• positive remarks against the products.
• e mails received.
• mails replied.
• telephones done.
• monthly targets
• targets achieved.
• weekly targets
• weekly targets achieved.
• estimated sales of the territory in next three months.
• etc.
• etc.

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Planning for Improvements in MRs Communication Skills.

Communication skills of the medical representative are very critical for organization's success of marketing and logistics and distribution plans. For pharmaceuticals organization and in a pharmaceutical organization, like any other organization, there are three kinds of communications :
1. Internal Communication.
2. External Communication.
3. Internal and External Communications relating regulatory requirements.
Internal communication is a process and one has to identify the list of processes where communications are required. Similarly, listing has to be done of the processes where external communications shall be required. In fact, the item number 3 is a subset of first two types of communication processes of internal and external kind. Following are the situations where a medical representative is required to communicate.

• Product Brief : One to One. Verbal. Oral Communication. Body language and gestures are critical. Quality of flow and words very critical. Telephonic. One to One. Video conferencing. Written communication. One to Multiple-Conference Room type presentation.
• Product introduction : As above.
• Product promotion : as above.
• Submission of Physcians Samples : One to One. Verbal. Oral communication.
• Product Withdrawals: Written. E mail announcements.
• Customer complaints/ Customer Grievances: Written. One to One listening. Recording. Documenting. Communicating. Follow up. Telephonic.
• Product Recall : Written. One to One. Regulatory officials. Telephonic. Video conferencing.
• Distributors meet : one to one. one to multiple: conference room. written. power point presentation. written product information. company policies. Group discussion. Brain Storming.
• Retailers Meet : One to one. One to Multiple Conference room. Group Discussion. Brain Storming.
• Price Incentives based on performance : Written communication. one to one meeting as applicable.
• Order booking and amendments in the orders booked or communication of the customers/ distributors orders. : verbal. written. Properly recorded. Duly authorized and signed.
• Training of the Distributors : Written. One to One. One to Selected few personnel of the distributors. Manual based. Procedures based. Training in formats.
• Training of the Retailers : written. one to one. one to selected few personnel of the retailers. Manual based. Procedure based. Training in formats.
• How to protect the quality of medicines at distributors premises.
• How to transfer the medicines to the retailers.
• How to transfer the medicines from one city to another.
• Daily management information system
• Weekly management information system.
• Monthly management information system.
• Customer feedbacks on new products.
• customer feedbacks on existing products.
• customer feedbacks on modified products.
• etc.

A master list of the all the processes which are required to be carried out by the medical representative need to be prepared and in those processes, a training is required to be imparted and ensure that communication and awareness requirements are fully saitsfied. Further to this list of the processes which shall require a single or multifaceted type of communications need to be prepared and a process flow chart contents of that communication need to be written and proficiency installed and improved of the medical representatives in such processes.

A criteria need to be designed and developed which shall establish the measurement of communication skills. And each element in the marketing, logistics and distribution department undergoes that communication training and acquired efficiency and proficiency in such processes.

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Identification and Development of Communication Skills.

Without communication nothing can be achieved. Communication is a tool, resources, input, output and process that it achieves the intended target. If the intended target is the realization of prescriptions from the doctors, then the communiation skills of the medical representatives are required to be understood from this single perspective. What are the expectations from the medical representatives through communication :

1. Effective product introduction.
2. Release of prescriptions from the doctors.
3. An ever registration of the company and its products in the minds and reference list of the doctors : the name, brand, dosages and therapeutic values and likely range of prices.
4. Dominant displays of the company products at the shelf and identified places for quickets selection for sale to the customers/patients.
5. Effective Tendering process.
6. Effective tender presentation and tender negotiations.
7. Auditing skills of the distributors/ retailers storage facilities and communication of the gaps in writing and verbally..which may include the training of their shopfloor workers.
8. Communication skills in english and hindi or local language with equal respect and emphasis.
9. Internal communication skills with seniors : marketing/ sales/ import/ export/ logistics/ distributions.
10. External communication : with hospitals/ hospital doctors/ medical officers/ hospital nursing staff/ hospital supporting resources/ hospital purchase department/ hospital godown/ warehouse departments.
11. External communication with regulatory authorities.
12. Most critical communication skills at the time of customer complaints.
13. Most critical communication skills at the time of product recall.
14. Most critical communication skills at the time of adverse reactions, as per his involved and identified roles.
15. Critical communications with his equal rank fellows in marketing/ sales.

For an effective communication, it is be ensured that the medical representatives does the following processes effectively and these need to be measured and without measurement of these values/inputs/ processes, the whole purpose of creating the medical representative as infrastructure shall be defeated. And These are :

a. Hearing : Does he hear completely? To monitor and measure.

b. Seeing : Does he see properly? To monitor and measure.

c. To Smell : Does he smell correctly? To monitor and measure.

d. Does he touch correctly? the products/ stationery/ shake hands.

e. Does he taste correctly? depending upon the processes involving his role during tastes: For example in the local meet: he tastes the tea or coffee and provides positive feedback of the negative quality tastes of an item; this shall be such an embarassing situation. So whether his tasting skills are in order.

There are various ingredients of the communication process of the medical representatives and these need to be understood for their significance and in accordance these need to be measured and for any gap training to serve as a resource for improvement in communication skills. Total communication process and levels of communication need to be mapped out and shown to the medical representatives.

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Quality Personality Attributes of the MR

A medical representative is essentially required to have a number of quality personality attributes and any compromise with those values would jeopardize the short and long term business prospects of the organization.
These personality attributes are as under:

• Educated.
• Qualified.
• Competent.
• Soft spoken.
• Polite.
• Straight.
• to the point.
• no time waster.
• diary driven.
• honors appointments.
• updates the doctors and seniors.
• proficient in e communication.
• good english language.
• good local language / other languages.
• sober personality.
• neat and tidy personality.
• well mannered.
• highest degree of patience.
• ensures effective follow up.
• good knowledge of anatomy and science.
• good knowledge of the functioning of the human body.
• good knowledge of the pharmaceuticals industry.
• computer skills.
• calculations skills.
• negotiation skills.
• product presentation skills.
• powerpoint preparation skills.
• good command over excel sheets.

to be continued.

drbmsharma.

Market Intelligence by MR

Medical representative is one of the resources for the market intelligence of the organization for the primary data. There are n-number of organizations which gather, analyze and present the most accurate data on the pharmaceutical formulations town wise and product wise and key brand leaders wise. Still for a new product launch and a sort of internal validation of the already published data, the medical representative as posted at an All India level should be used and are used for the collection of primary data. Primary data means the data as gathered directly and freshly without any prejudice from the doctors, retailers, distributors and other sources such as hospitals.
The growth of the medicines and its market depends inter alia on various factors such as the growth of the local population, industrialization, urban migration, disease profile and growth and opening of new dispensaries; opening of new hospitals- government, superspeciality and speciality and within those hospitals - existing and new hospitals the opening of new departments.
All this data is very important for territory planning and monthly planning and thus in accordance the logistics and production planning of pharmaceuticals formulations. A qustionnaire and one to one contact with the key source of information need to be designed and training provided to the medical representative. Following information and their sources need to be formalized and used for update of information :

1. number of government hospitals.
2. number of municipal hospitals.
3. number of any foreign hospitals/ corporate hospitals.
4. number of new dispensaries.
5. number of new professional doctors and their branches.
6. total population.
7. local budget of the government on health.
8. per capita expenditure on health of that town.
9. number of distributors.
10. number of medical shops/ stores.
11. within hospitals.
12. type of diseaseas : seasonal/ heart/ others.
13. number of government employees.
14. number of industrial employees.
15. child hospitals.
16. ortho hospitals.
17. data on number clustered population vs scattered population.
18. per day arrival of the patients.
19. etc.

Medical representatives should be provided training on collection of primary data and its significance and elimination of bias in the data collection. And a mock drill of the data collection need to be done under the supervision of seniors need to be done.

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Sales Responsibility of the Medical Representative

Once the marketing role of the medical representative is over or progresses on a day to day basis, the organization and department expects the arrival of the effective sales orders from the retailers to the warehouse/ distributors and which in turn places orders with the sales/logicstics/ distribution department of a pharmaceutical formulations company. The sales responsibility of the medical representative is as under :
a. meeting the distributors/ depots/ wholesalers.
b. audit of the depots and warehouses of the distributors.
c. monitoring and measuring the dispatch analysis of the distributors.
d. doing the exhaustive field visits of the medical stores/ retail outlets and checking the availability of the marketed products of the company on the countrs.
e. brand wise quantitative trends : actual sales and expected sales.
f. brand wise price comparisons in the market.
g. analysis of the moving and non moving stocks in the same town/ territory and shifting of such stocks.
h. booking the orders from the wholesalers/ distributors/ stockists and forwarding them to the corporate offices.
i. distribution of incentives.
j. sales proceeds realization/ follow up on payments.
k. appointment of new distributors/ stockists.
l. meeting the distributors and understanding their problems and resolution.
m. meeting the distributors and recording their demand for medicines in the next month and follow up with the sales/ marketing/ logistics/ distribution to ensure that distributors are provided the stocks as per their orders.
n. giving comments on the creditworthiness of the distributors.
o. organizing the returns of the unsold stocks/ non moving stocks/ expired materials/ rejected materials/ during storage quality loss products back to the organization.
p. training of the distributors.
q. coordination for clearing the outstandings of the distributors/ or that of the organization with the distributors.

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