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.

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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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Handling Complaints and Adverse Reactions.

This is the most undesirable event for any company and a medical representative. And any occurrence of such an undesirable event mean the loss of confidence in the quality of the medicine and it may have its own chain reactions on similar other products of the company. Therefore the control, management, treatment of customer complaints and adverse reactions is the most critical job. Normally, this is handled by one of the most responsible officers of the organization. Medical representative is one of the elements of that customer complaint managment and management and addressal of the adverse reactions.

The word customer need to be defined for the medical representative. Customer means the distributors, retailers, the doctors, other intermediaries namely hospitals, dispensaries etc. and definitely the end consumer..the patient. Adverse reactions means that the medicine has not served the end use intended therapeutic functions and thus has become a source of risk to life or injurious to health in any manner. Normally such complaints are brought to the notice of the doctors, government authorities, hospitals and surely and definitely to the organization. If the adverse reaction of the medicine is non-fatal, then the consequences are of little less magnitude and when for any reason the adverse reaction means the fatality, that time the whole nation, media and other institutions swing into actions for remedial and punitive actions. In such cases, normally a medical representative is not associated for any kind of supporting role to the organization. Such matters are handled and managed by the authorities having competence and knowledge and background information on the batch etc.

Customer complaints may be on any of the following :

a. empty pockets.

b. empty bottles.no medicine or less medicine.

c. foreign particles.

d. broken tablets.

e. colour variations.

f. size variations.

g. missing labels; wrongly inserted labels; wrongly applied labels;

h. excess deliveries

i. short deliveries;

j. non availability of the medicines on the retail outlets.

k. distributors not responding effectively;

l. company not responding to supply demand
m. other complaints of any kind.
Any customer complaints requires its timely and effective communication. The role of the medical representative in resolving a complaint must be spelled out in the organization's procedure. The process flow suggested is as under :
receive customer complaint.
fill up the form : hard copy or soft copy.
transmit to the senior.
communicate and do follow up.
as per directions provide information or solutions or results to the customers : sorry/ replacements/ information etc. as relevant.
During adverse reactions, the role of the medical representative need to spelled out in the product recall, adverse customer complaint handling and emergency preparedness and response and a training to that effect must be provided and effectiveness of that training established. A mock product recall or a mock adverse reactions handling should be done and it should be tested uniformly upto the medical representative distributed all India basis.
Means of communication as available to the company and medical representative should be on and effective for 24 hours during customer complaints and adverse reactions handling.

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How To Maximise Your Sales

This is one of the smartest questions. And its answers are known to the experienced and smartest medical representatives. And one must seek their guidance in knowing the mysteries and secrets of how to maximise sales. First of all a doctor would like to ensure that the medicine which he is giving or prescribing is of an excellent quality. Reliability and reliance on the medicines must be there and there should be highest degree of confidence in the medicines and least degree of risks in the medicines marketed.
There is no other solution for selling more..show more.. present more...and show up more of your products.. and doctors have to be convinced that the company exists.. the products exists..the product is of quality and reliability and it is available and there is no likelihood of adverse reactions in the short and long period. Maximisation of sales is possible through following indicators:

1. Ensuring that the product is known to 100% doctors.
2. Ensure that the product is known to 100% hospitals and dispensaries.
3. Ensure that the product is available easily at the nearest medical shop.
4. ensure that the quality of packaging and presentation and ingredients are in order.
5. ensure that the doctors write down the prescriptions.
6. get the sampled information on the numbers of prescriptions written and byt the doctors and analyze what is the percentage of the products in question for your sales/ marketing.
7. ensure that almost all doctors are at the same percentage of prescribing the medicines. the prescriptions should not be skewedly distributed.
8. that the incentives are provided in time to the doctors.
9. that the product is standing in some way in the eyes of the doctors.
10. ensuring that the timely visits are made where prescriptions are moving and also where prescriptions could not move one or other reasons.

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How to Be An Efficient MR

Everyone needs to be an efficient person. But it is easier said than done. To be efficient means, the highest degree of alertness and awareness and on the tasks and task assigned to you. And doing each task for quality and with quality and delivering the quantity and that too in time. Following are the tips to become an efficient medical representative :

1. Be polite.
2. Keep the self updated.
3. Ensure that you know all the terms used in the product catalogue and you have no confusions on them. And you understand them and you can explain to even a rural man without any confusion.
4. Keep focussed on your goals and the goals must be measurable.
5. Have the habit of defining and writing down your daily goals/ targets.
6. Keep updated with approprite means the seniors on the problems, achievements and failures, come what it may cost to you.
7. Always improve continually the power of presentation and communication.
8. Ensure that your manners of talking are as per acceptable and respectable social norms.
9. your dress codes also should be as per company's specifications. Dress must be neat and tidy.
10. Ensure that you make notes.
11. List down the informations required by your customers/ doctors and ensure such informations are provided as per agreed timings.
12. make a visit plan. ensure that visit frequency is sufficient enough to keep doctors mind on the products of the company.
13. before you start, ensure that everything has been taken.
14. never forget to check that before you leave the doctors premises, you have given him the physcians samples, his card or your card given to him; your goggle, diary and other belongings.
15. never forget to say greetings and thank you at the end of the visit.
16. be cordial to the entire staff associated with the doctors.
17. prepare the daily reports and other MIS in time.
18. never suppress any information. never exaggerate any information.
19. do justice with the tasks assigned to you.
20. keep adequate inventory of product catalogues; pamphlets, and other informations.
21. be systematic.
22. analyze the marketing and sales data and establish the correlations in the efforts made for marketing and sales realized.
23. ensure that retail outlets dont get out of stocks.
24. understand the customers requirements very clearly and ensure for every product the same quality information is available with you and the same is provided.
25. provide equal quality information to all respondents.

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Territory Management.

Territory is the unit of pharmaceuticals marketing. This blog is not on how to define and make a territory. Territory is a single unit through which a pharmaceutical company and its marketing organization position its products, provides support infrastructural needs and other resources namely : the depots, the dealers, the distributors, the retailers, the marketing managers, the marketing and sales offices, the information network, the communication network and other backend and front end resources for the promotion of the sales of the existing products. A territory is designed on a number of performance indicators. Once the territory has been defined and its definitions are known to the medical representatives, it is now the duties of the marketing function of that territory to ensure that the phamaceutical management of territory takes place effectively with required level of emphasis.
Territory management involves the following ingredients:
Planning.
Control.
Supervision/Check
Review.
At each of these stages, first the medical representatives have to identify what are the risks to the marketing and sales. Risks management need to be a core competence for the medical representatives. Identification of risks, prioritization of the risks, treatment of such risks and prevention and review of risks by the medical representatives is a must. Planning of the territory means the availability of high quality reliable information and this has to be done by the medical representatives by using local resources. And some of these are as under :
a. list of the hospitals.
b. list of the dispensaries.
c. list of the private hospitals.
d. list of the doctors with their full details.
e. list of the medicines marketed by other companies.
f. total population and profile of the population.
g. disease analysis and trends of that area.
h. percentage of treatment people having in the local area and outside.
i. outside vs inside populations treatment details.
j. outside doctors visits to the territory.
i. inside doctors visits to the places outside the territory.
j. local taxes.
k. list of the seasonal diseases.
l. list of the distributors.
m. list of the depots.
n. list of the medical stores.
o. the names and addresses of the organization which update the above information.

All this information must be handy and updated with the medical representatives. Total monthly and daily or weekly sales of the medicines of the same therapeutic category must be made available so the medical representatives could grasp the extent of competition. Following parameters are required to be monitored, measured and analyzed :
a. medicine wise total sales: quantity.
b. medicine wise total sales : value in rupees.
c. % shares in quantity and value.
d. incremental growth of sales.
e. number of doctors contacted- new
f. number of doctors contacted- existing.
g. number of new prescriptions- new
h. number of new prescriptions- existing.
i. etc.
Of the total resources for marketing potential, the medical representative has to ensure that territory is covered as per projected sales targets. MIS of the territory is a must and it must be as comprehensive as possible. It is ideal if the medical representatives are provided the internet facility and organization's websites for need based communications for logistics, marketing and sales support. Availability of stocks and other information must also be part.

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How Does A Human Body Work..An Awareness for the Medical Representative.

Medical representative need to know the basic of the human body. Since that information is a must to associate and influence the doctors to understand the product and its relevance and therapeutic value. Of course, doctors are provided the printed and video information with other authentic data on the efficacy and potency of the pharmaceutical formulations, still a one to one marketing of the product by the medical representative requires a basic information about the human body. The following are required to be understood by the medical representative:

1. Parts of the Body.
2. Internal parts of the body.
3. their functions.
4. their anatomy.
5. their physiology.
6. their basic merits.
7. their basic defects or ailments causes and causes thereof.
8. how a pharmaceutical formulation namely tablets function.
9. how an injection works.
10. how a liquid formulation works.
11. how other drugs function.
12. what is a drug delivery system.
13. what is the meaning of the expiry period.
14. meaning of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.
15. meaning of the excipient.
16. meaning of other ingredients.
17. what are bacterial infections.
18. what are viral infections.
19. what are the infectitious diseases.
20. what are fractures and how fractures are healed.
21. what is the heart and heart surgery.
22. what is diabetic and how does it impact.
23. like this key diseases and their ailments.. and their cures and doses and curing methods.
24. what is the role of the doctor.
25. what is the role of medicine.
26. why we fall sick.
27. why we take medicine.
28. what is cold and fever.
29. what is throat infection.
30. some other common diseases and their causes.

So a medical representative should be provided information on the human anatomy, physiology and other key subjects as a general grasp and basic awareness to communicate meaningfully with the doctors.

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Role of the Medical Represntative

Medical Representative is a person, an entity and a personality which the organization appoints on its behalf. Truly speaking, the medical representative represents that organization and this aspect should be well rooted in the minds of the medical representative and the same must be remembered by the institutions which interact with the medical representative. From this perspective, the organizations have not recognized this perspective; still it is a fact that MR forms an important ingredient of the marketing and sales. In the marketing organization, MR is the foundational structure and architecture.
Listing the Role of the Medical Representative :

• To understand the product brief and communicate the same to the relevant public namely doctors, compounders, nursing staff; hospital institutions and distributors and retailers.
• To have reliable market intelligence on the pharmaceutical formulations.
• To analyse the sales data in terms of value, quantity and other parameters.
• To promote the market share of the product.
• To promote the brand loyalty.
• To promote the company image.
• To act and be alert during product recalls and adverse reactions.
• To ensure that the customer complaints are effectively resolved.
• To ensure that medicines are available at the required locations through information sharing with the logistics and distribution.
• To ensure that prescriptions move in more numbers.
• To keep updated the self and the doctors.
• To provide the physcians samples.
• To report the market and sales estimates, forecasts and actuals to the organization.
• To provide full support in product launch.
• etc. etc.

Why Personnel Opt for Medical Representative Position :

• In a country like India, it is very difficult to attribute why the personnel opt for medical representative position. And it shall be worthwhile to know from the mouth of the medical representatives how and why they opted for this job.
• There are a number of reasons for becoming the medical representative and a definite conclusive answers can never be given.
• It is a challenging assignment.
• For graduates in science and pharmacy this is one of the most suitable opening.
• It is based on their performance.
• It provides ample opportunities for growth of the income and hierarchial growth.
• With experience and competence, personnel can rise to the higher positions in the marketing and sales.
• This helps in establshing good social contacts with the doctors, distributors.
• This is an open ended job. Where it is the responsibility of the self to ensure that responsibilities are shouldered.
• This is a performance based assignment.
• There are alternative companies employment opportunities for higher income while the working package and energies may be more or less the same.
• Medical representative job commands social respects since you work for a very professional industry.

Qualities of a Good Medical Representative :

• Highly active.
• Informed.
• To the point.
• No time wasters.
• Persuasive.
• Open minded.
• Leadership.
• Self leadership.
• Motivated.
• Excellent in manners.
• Excellent in communication.
• Excellent in sociability.
• Committed for excellence.
• Committed for performance.
• Committed for promotion of the brand loyalty.
• Committed for promotion of the company image.
• Accurate in information collection and dissemination.
• Good analytical bent of mind.
• Acts on customer feedbacks.
• Acts on Customer complaints in time.
• Prompt in provide information and services.
• presentable.
• Presentable personality.
• Dynamic.
• Good listener.
• Non argumentative.
• Logical.
• Systematic in thinking and action.
• Works as a effective team member.
• etc
• etc.

Marketing and Selling Skills of a MR

Marketing and Selling Skills of a Medical Representative.

Marketing and selling skills assume the highest signficance for the pharmaceuticals industry and on him depends the growth of the pharmaceuticals. Marketing means introducing the product to the doctors and sale means ensuring continued flow of the availability of the information and services and pharmaceuticals in the relevant segments and retail outlets and thus ensuring that sales realizations are there. Product information, market intelligence, disease profile, seasonal or otherwise trends of the disease, relative competitive scenario, clustering of doctors and disease wise clustering of the customers and other informations are must to the medical representative. Back end support to the medical representative is a must.

Market intelligence : This would include the market shares of various companies, the numbers of doctors in the practicing of such disease; general practioners vs specialist; company wise volumes sold; number of prescriptions per day; duration of the disease; nature of disease; when to become active for sales and marketing; critical features of the disease from the marketing and sales viewpoints; degree of confidence in the authenticity of the market intelligence; etc.

Product Information : This would include name of the molecule or formulation; brand name; the dosage form; dosage size; per pack the number of units; doses manufactured and available; recommended dosage patterns; therapeutic values; side reactions; packaging features; label claims information; price; expiry period; storage conditions; opening and closing aspects of the containers; how to dispose the medicine; how to take or administer the medicine; drug delivery systems related information; precautions; and other aspects.

Knowing the Doctors and Customers : End customers are required to be known by the pharmaceutical industry and end customers in the territory of the medical representatives. The maximum potential of a medicine and its dosage form. And if the disease is of seasonal kind; then the total marketing potential and sales realization depend on the qualitative attributes of the applicable disease market. The names and addresses of the doctors with their communication details; and the general practice vs specializations etc. need to be known. His current loyalty with the organization vs other competitors. This is the key responsibility of the medical representative, that the long term market of the medicines in the minds of the doctors is possible through quality reliability and consistency in all aspects : product quality; quality in packaging; quality in communications and other aspects relating quality.

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