Social skills and Pfizer

JEFF KINDLER: ABOVE, the EX-CEO OF PFIZER

Social skill has become an important attribute in business workplaces. Social skills refers to the way we INTERACT and COMMUNICATE (ie., send messages) with others. There are many ways we communicate - warm, affectionate, cold, neutral, factually, negatively, positively, creatively, emotionally, intuitively ... The way we communicate and interact makes a great difference to transactional and/or business results.

A MR may be very effective with detailing, however he or she may be slightly inhibited in nature, this makes him or her come across as non-assertive, reserved and cold. Such a social nature becomes an obstacle to establishment of good relationships with doctors or chemists (pharmacists).

Hence, social skills are vital for providing favourable business outcomes.

It is not enough to have functional knowledge, there is something more than technical competency required for success, it is a skill of knowing how to move with people in a balanced way, and thereby help attain business objectives. In a globalized world, and media rich society, it is not enough to have domain skills - social skills are equally vital, both within the organization and outside.

In the complex world of transactions, relationship management has acquired higher importance. The ability to manage one's network of relationships is crucial to help attain one's business objectives. Social skills help one realize value through social interactions.

For eg., let us say, we are talking to a field manager on phone. While it is common to go straight to the point which we want to resolve, it is good social skill to generally exchange views on the weather or general business conditions, and strengthen the social aspect of the conversation. It is new cultural thing to do this because the norm is to stick to business talk and resolve issues, however, a social skill component is to exchange pleasantaries and talk on other aspects too.

Social skills are not easy!

One may wonder why this is said so?

The first and most important obstacle to good social skill is lack of interest in practicing good social skills. The point is why exert more? Rather, it is better to stick to the business agenda and be done with it!!

There are occasions where many organizational members are tolerated as necessary evils, this happens mainly due to the concerned people having low social skill.

A stumbling block to practice of effective social skill is ego - a heightened sense of self-importance. This creates hostility in relationships, conflict management becomes the central issue rather than working together for mutual business interests.

Historically, technical skills are given more value than social skills. In many organizational cultures, social skills are also discounted and not adequately considered as an important skill set.

In skill inventories and skill audits conducted by HR personnel, technical skills, sales skills, etc are given high importance, there is no mention of social skills and specific social skill sub-types for HR audit.

Social skills are an important glue that hold organizations together and breathe life into transactions. Such social skills create a difference to the way of business conduct. A simple smile along course of technical presentations, an open attitude in body language during a serious business meeting - these can create a 'feel-good' mood, and this establishes a positive culture.

Social skills are really not easy, it takes training and practice, and an emphatic personal will to ensure that one practices optimal level of social skill.

An organization's culture is made of many components. The Organizational Culture (OC) is a psychological framework of the company. It is a set of characteristics or traits that sets an organization apart. For eg., when Ranbaxy was growing fast under Dr. Parvinder Singh, it was a power oriented organization, and a company that did not smile! A serious culture pervaded the entire organization. The OC is vital for the fortunes of a firm.

Pfizer: a case study from the OC perspective

The recent 'palace coup' article of Pfizer in Fortune Aug 2011, detailing how Jeff Kindler was sent home, makes absorbing reading. The article describes in a riveting style - with a very alluring narrative - the background and chain of events leading to departure of Jeff Kindler from Pfizer.

However what comes out of the story - hitting the reader hard is the ABSOLUTE DISCONNECT BETWEEN PEOPLE IN THE ORGANIZATION AND EVENTS at Pfizer.

It is hard to believe that the Directors' at Pfizer gave such a long rope to Jeff Kindler. Is it a Wild West type of a company with CEOs having a cowboy attitude?!

Probably, Jeff was brought in with a mandate to shake things up, break 'I-scratch-your-back- and you-scratch-my-back' type of relationships, infuse new dynamism - or else why would you hire an aggressive questioning type of trial lawyer as a CEO - that too of a pharmaceutical major?!

Frankly it appears too far-fetched that Jeff's leadership style would go unquestioned for so long!! It appears, after reading the article, 'Jeff and his leadership style' is the fall guy for clearing the decks and providing Pfizer a clean slate for a new hopeful beginning. It is a clean-up job by the Directors. Hope it will augur well for the world's biggest pharmaceutical company!

In a way, the article is 'tragi-comic'.

It is truly hilarious to read about Mary Mcleod and her helicopter rides in the article!!

The events described in the article do not speak highly of the management style and organizational culture of Pfizer.

No one will expect events as described in the article, in a company like Pfizer. (Heh!! I am being cheeky here - no offense meant - Indian pharmaceutical companies are always much much better!!).

The carry-home messages that come after reading the article, to an outsider:

Carry home message 1: Pfizer, as an organization - its organizational personality has poor social skills. There is vast scope to develop a positive social skill character in the length and breadth of the organization. The way people interact and communicate with each other is surely very very poor out there in Pfizer! May be it is because of Jeff ... but anyway it appears to be a part of Pfizer's DNA. Where is the warmth and stimulation to achieve there?!

Carry home message 2: Pfizer seems to have overlooked implementing Dr. Edward Kaplan and David Norton's BALANCED SCORE CARD system, one of the best management tools to keep a tab on performance and cultural issues. The lack of such a system leads to disconnect and episodes such as the Kindler episode of Pfizer.

There are viewpoints that the pharmaceutical industry, by and large, is a very conservative one and does not have an open mind to management concepts or adoption of management ideas.

Sadly, even Pfizer does not seem to be an exception.

The Article in FORTUNE will finds its way to all the case study classes of various management institutes!

End quote: The steps of power are often steps on sand - Edward Counsel

Thanks for reading this blogpost, please recommend this blog to your acquaintances, scroll down and read all other posts (click on older posts as and when required).

Business process mapping

Managers are professionals, like lawyers, doctors and teachers. The area of professional competence is management. Managers are committed to 'management' to produce results in line with the firm's goals. A firm has a mission, the raison d'etre of the firm. The mission statement outlines the firm's important commitment, for example it may be providing excellent processed food products or quality and affordable medicines .... Based on the mission, objectives are drawn, goals are set, strategies are plotted; policies, programs and procedures are laid down. In essence, a process is created. Managers are professional process creators and process managers.

Process refers to a sequence of events, interlinked procedures to produce an output. Managers are in essence process managers. Let us assume that there is a manager for each part of the process. If the manager understands he is a part of the larger process that is generating an output, then his work will be in harmony and in balance with the firm's needs.

The MR visits doctors, promotes products, creates demand, with the help of marketing inputs - strategies - training inputs - collaterals. This demand is served through the distribution system. Products come in to the distribution system, through the production system. The inputs for the production system come from the purchase dept. All in all, a process is on, with the MR being a part of the larger system called the firm, which is full of processes in action.

Habits

HABIT: you remove H you get ABIT; you remove A you get BIT; if B is gone, you get IT. Hence, it is difficult to get rid of HABITs!

Processes create habits, and these in turn create comfort zones. Hence, revisiting processes gets a tad difficult. One is comfortable doing things the way they are, since they appear to produce outputs in line with corporate goals.

Process revisits

Process revisits are crucial to seek improvements in the processes. Improved processes will certainly produce improved outcomes. The processes revisited can belong to any department. It may be material procurement processes, HR processes, production processes, audit processes, quality processes, marketing processes, training processes ....

Revisiting processes involve understanding how things are being done, and then looking for ways to improve the way they are done, with an eye to

a) reduce wastage
b) improve efficiency
c) increase effectiveness
d) get better output

Thus, if the MR is a value delivery process of a pharma firm, we observe, MRs deliver communication inputs, render messaging, build relationships, involve in two-way transactions, offer gifts, sponsorships, and help create the demand output.

Another way of looking at things is to create a support system to improve value delivery to customers. Such an approach is value delivery through a mailer system. Or through other platforms which will engage target audiences and create the demand output for the firm. After all, the MR process is for demand creation. Hence, any other process that will create or support current process for demand output, with less wastage (or leaks), increased efficiency and effectiveness will surely be attractive to a pharma firm.

Steven Covey has said:

If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep getting what we're getting.”

This is quite logical, hence, revisiting processes makes sense. For instance, today, pharmacist focus is on in the marketing process. Pfizer and GSK are organizing education meets on products for pharmacists, to get goodwill, shelf space and OTC (over-the-counter) push sales.

The idea to look at business activities with a process attitude - this is what ISO 9001 is all about. Business process mapping is what is the need of the hour for the pharma Indian industry today. Businesses are essentially processes, producing defined outputs; repeatedly.

Thanks for going through this blog, please read all other posts, recommend this blog to your circle.

Donkey driver managers v/s professional managers

Top management and owners of companies appoint managers to ease their work, ensure that their vision and mission is implemented for the organization, and that the firm reaches the envisioned place. In simple language, 'manager appointees' are people who make things happen and ensure that the work is done (particularly through the non-managers) to achieve pre-stated objectives.

The popular managerial approach ('donkey driver' approach), is use of reward power and coercive power (see image above) to ensure accomplishment of tasks. Managers are supposed to be the drivers of reward power and coercive power in an organization.

Will a manager become successful for the organization through the 'donkey driver model' of managerial working?

The donkey driver model, utilizing reward power and coercive power, is successful up to a point. It has its limitations. A professional manager has three additional keys for success:

a) Demonstration and co-shouldering of responsibility
b) Give confidence and security
c) Use positive and negative reinforcements tactfully (and discreetly if required)

a) Modeling or demonstration of technical or other work skills is critical to win the subordinates' confidence and trust. Providing feed backs and co-shouldering of the responsibility is the best way of getting things done to achieve targets.

It is easy to say, "Look I have provided the resources, now achieve the targets!" "If you achieve the targets you get your incentive, if you do not achieve, well then, you can look for some other job more suited for you!"

This sort of carte blanche approach, is easiest for the manager, however, if the managerial system is co-shouldering, based on providing solutions, target achievement happens as a matter of rote, what happens however is something bigger: EVOLUTION OF THE ORGANIZATION.

Growing together, making organizations evolve, and making firms stronger in the marketplace is what is the essence of managerial success.

Let us assume a manager is successful in target achievement, merely by driving his subordinates to work harder and harder, however, the 'donkey driver model' has its limitations. Such a manager will finally face human resource problems, and a plateau will emerge ... from where evolution seems impossible.

The 'donkey driver' managerial model of working assumes, non-managers need to be driven and results automatically happen, it does not take in to cognisance the following facts:

a) that teams can be broken
b) non-managers can leave companies
c) results are system outputs
d) reinforces 'marketing and results myopia'

More often than not, organizational results are not a result merely of 'donkey driver model'. Reward and coercive power are vital in an organization, however, expertise power, legitimate power, connection power, and referral power of an organization are critical elements of organizational success, growth, survival, safety and evolution. These powers need to be enhanced in concert at all levels, thereby these factors would interplay and will provide the necessary organizational outputs.

b) Giving confidence and security, based on values and discipline, makes subordinates fearless in attitude, this provides stability, loyalty and higher involvement in work. Finally this attitude translates in to tangible results and employee stability to an organization.

Organizations that have a "wicket keeping attitude" (where most of the managerial work is about fixing the responsibility for lapses or dis-satisfactory results and/or 'fault finding'), keeping people in a state of fear of being "wicket kept", will surely see the organization becoming weaker by the day! After all, organizational success is based on doing work (which involves risks, lapses, and mistakes), if organizational intolerance to failure is a cachet, then organizational outcomes will never see improved fortunes! Growing organizations have a hearty appetite for knowledge, and risks!!

c) Use of positive and negative reinforcements: Life is a complement of negative and positive experiences. Fire can give warmth or it can cause burns. Utilizing perceived positive and negative reinforcements intelligently to motivate and make people work enthusiastically in the line of business goals is an important aspect of managerial work. This is not akin to the 'donkey driver model'. It involves use of intangible positive and negative reinforcers (not just tangible rewards and punishments), it is also about being tactful and discreet about these reinforcers so that desirable work behaviours are elicited.

Managership is a great responsibility, its influence on destinies is great, destinies are made or destroyed through exercise of managership. The above three keys of managership (which include elements of the 'donkey driver model') are useful for responsible and fulfilling managership experiences.

Thnks for reading this blogpost, pls recommend this blog, and read all other posts by scrolling down and hitting on older posts tab as and when required.

KMS & CKOs

Above interesting graphic from here.

Knowledge is the most important resource of a firm. The insights, experiences and information - are all resources that help add value, make business processes efficient and enhance outcomes. Let us say, a MR joins a firm, does excellent work, his field work in terms of samples provided, no. of doctors and chemists met, is regularly received from him in form of reports, and is being monitored. However, one fine day, to meet his other ambitions, if the MR leaves the job, out goes with him all that territory knowledge, insights and experiences!!

Imagine, another scenario, where the knowledge bank of the MR, is stored in the IT infrastructure of the firm, ie., the database of the firm. If this data is used to provide tips either through e-mail or sms to the newly recruited MR, the territory will become productive faster.

Eg 1. of a sms to this new MR can be: "17.7.2011 is the birthdate of Dr. Sharma OBG specialist, meet him with a bouquet and detail the target products".

Eg 2. of another sms to this new MR: "Monday is an excellent day for field work in Kanakapura ex station, meet Dr. G Gowda Paediatrician and promote Product X".

The above 'marketing result improvement system' is possible only with a robust Knowledge Management System (KMS) of a firm. Knowledge needs to be:

• Captured
• Assimilated
• Organized
• Mined
• Delivered

to the recipients, and potential beneficiaries in a proactive manner.

One can also visualize KMS as an extension of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) modules of an organization.

Knowledge increases organizational confidence

Imagine a remotely located, highly productive field manager and his team. This closely knit team is no doubt a great asset of the organization. However, let us assume, the manager and his team leave the organization to start their organization or set up their firm. Such an event is legitimate and perfectly alright.

However, the mother organization is a loser, since the parent firm loses not only good human resources - their contacts, knowledge, insights and working patterns are all lost. One has to reinvent the wheel with a new team! This sort of a situation creates organizational weakness and erosion of organizational confidence.

Good KMS ensures seamless working

People may come and go, yet the show has to go on! Such a scenario is possible only when various systems including KMS is very strong, and so are database marketing approaches. KMS and database marketing help insulate organizations from uncertainties and ensure seamless working.

CKOs: Chief Knowledge Officers

The CKOs manage and maximize the intangible assets of their organizations, they are acknowledged masters of understanding the importance of knowledge to potential beneficiaries, and ensure that this useful knowledge is provided to the potential beneficiaries. CKOs create the cutting edge for a firm, in a competitive world. CKOs not only manage field knowledge, they manage the firm's total knowledge.

As the below wordings from Wikipedia say:

• Collecting relevant data that is useful for the organization as knowledge
• Developing an overall framework that guides knowledge management
• Actively promoting the knowledge agenda within and beyond the company
• Overseeing the development of the knowledge infrastructure
• Facilitating connections, coordination and communications.

The CKO is thus a crucial change agent of the organization, mirroring knowledge and its results to potential users, and ensuring right knowledge is available in a timely manner to the potential beneficiaries. This overall, ensures improved organizational outcomes and organizational safety.

Improving adaptability

Adaptability refers to the ability of individuals or firms to modify behaviour to suit the changed circumstance. Adaptability implies ability to learn new things (gain knowledge or learn new skills - behaviours). Adaptability of organizations makes them gain knowledge, keep an open mind, ensure constant improvement, and this contributes to the firm's success, survival and growth.

Adaptability is a offshoot of KMS. CKOs, in reality, ensure more adaptable organizations. CKOs have a tricky role. They are internal marketers of knowledge inputs.

A departmental head may be perfectly happy with the way things are going on in his area of responsibility, hence he may or may not be open to new suggestions or new knowledge. After all, new ways and new knowledge always come with an element of risk. CKOs are the ones who through their networking and communication skills impart the message of confidence, and help in absorption of knowledge to enhance departmental and finally organizational outcomes.

Knowledge provides ideas and creates visions for individuals, departments, groups and finally the firm itself. KMS make a major difference.

KMS creates adaptability and KMS is responsible to drive change - rather than succumbing to the change coming from outside. KMS represents an attitude of INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL of an organization, rather than having an EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL, where the outer forces are responsible for change and knowledge.

Good KMS = Great leadership

KMS (either officially or unofficially) is responsible for market leadership. Toyota is well known to make great cars, their way of doing work is a subject of many great case studies. However, at the root of Toyota's success, lies an avaricious organizational appetite for knowledge! Knowledge comes through an intense zeal to measure. In turn, knowledge influences practices of organizations, creates adaptability and rewards the firm with market leadership. KMS is intangible. But it creates tangible outputs.

KMS, learning, training ... these are inter-related activities. These intangibles are powerful in influencing tangible results.

KMS: today's necessity

There was a seller led economy. You had to have a production unit for the service or product, it would sell, because of the innate demand for services or products. However, the situation in most markets is now more mature. A seller mentality will not function, marketing is required, and at another level, KMS is vital. No wonder it is emphasised that these are the days of KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY.

The development of new media: to carry messages, information, insights, ideas and knowledge seamlessly, at real time and instantly has created a new and renewed emphasis on KMS of organizations.

Thanks for reading this blogpost, please scroll down, read all other posts, please click on older posts as and when required, and kindly recommend this blog to other netizens.

Macro environment

The above macro environment analytical chart sourced from Pricewaterhouse (HERE)

Marketers ultimately have to ensure consumption of goods and services in the environment - outside of the company. The environment has a major influence on the marketing outcomes.

Marketing of pharma goods is affected by factors in the
a) macro environment
b) micro environment
c) internal environment


The marketing environment graphic from here.

The macro environment refers to the external factors that are outside the control of the firm. These factors are often analysed under the acronym: PEST

P for political
E for economic
S for social and cultural
T for technological

The PEST happenings shape the marketing approach and results significantly.

The winds of change (ie., enhanced media focus and calls for transparency) are blowing strongly on the healthcare sector. For eg., on page 2 of Deccan Herald (3.7.2011) an entire page is devoted to the pharma retail scene, with examples on how banned drugs are being sold and the need for better antibiotic policy. The DoP has also come out with a marketing code for pharmaceuticals in India. DoP (Department of Pharmaceuticals) has invited comments on the new code, and are seeking to make it a law if voluntary compliance from Indian pharma sector is not satisfactory. These political initiatives are certainly important - these have the potential to alter marketing outcomes emphatically.

P in PEST refers to the political (including legal) factors that affect marketing policy, strategy and results of a pharma firm. Today the 2 G spectrum issue shows graphically the impact that political and legal forces can have on enterprise fortunes.

E in PEST is the economic dimension of the macro environment.

The rising purchasing power of Indians has significant implications, since healthcare spend comes just after household routine provisions and clothes. Most of the medicine cost is borne from personal resources. The trend of Govt. pharmacies or other institutions, which provide free medicines or low cost medicines is another economic macro environmental factor. NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) is a political, legal and economic factor, decisions of this body influences pharma enterprise fortunes.

S in PEST are the social and cultural forces of change

In China, the market penetration of modern medicines is lower than that of traditional Chinese medicinal products. In India, although allopathic medicines have good market penetration, the potential is higher, and traditional Indian medicines have a lesser market value.

Many other social or cultural factors influence market habits for consumption of healthcare products. For eg., Deccan Herald (page 2, dated 3.7.2011) has highlighted the growing mistrust between doctors and patients. There are many people who prefer to seek guidance of an outstation familiar doctor rather than the neighbourhood doctor, and patients look at medical advice for diagnostic tests or emphasis on particular brands prescribed by doctors, with a sense of suspicion. Social and cultural attitudes affect healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing outcomes.

Technological (the T of PEST)trends cause seismic shifts in market trends. Today, biogeneric market is the new frontier in medicine marketing. In 3 years to come, a significant value can be expected to come from biogeneric product range. It is a new biogeneric vocabulary that is gaining ascendancy in pharma, and getting traction. EGA (European Generic Medicines Association) offers a handbook on biogenerics for informational purposes. This organization is also working as a lobbying and change agent so that European pharma companies have generic products in their basket, rather than concentrating only on 'innovator medicines'. In India, the biogeneric queen company is Biocon - it is a billion dollar (Rs. 4000 crores plus sales value) annual sales turnover firm. The business model of Biocon reflects the importance of technology and its impact on financial results of a firm.

The micro environment refers to the outer factors that are more controllable (than the factors in macro environment) for a pharma firm. For eg., distributor behaviour, local regulatory agencies, customers, intermediaries etc.

The components of the internal environment of a company are: men, machines, capital etc. These aspects are well in control of the management.

Marketers also use other acronyms to understand the macro environment:

PESTEL: is the acronym of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal aspects of the macro environment that affect a pharma company's fortunes.

STEEPLE: expands to Social, Technological, Economic, Ethics, Political, Legal and Environmental aspects of macro environment. This framework is more important for charities and could also be considered for pharmaceutical companies since these enterprises are supposed to operate in an ethical environment, with a philosophy of ethical sales.

EPISTLE stands for Economic, Political, Information, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors of the macro environment. The dimension of Information is given an exclusive focus. Information of/from the macro environment is said to be of high value for enterprises using EPISTLE framework for scanning the environment. The EPISTLE framework is useful for share brokerage firms.

STEEL PIE is the last and not so popular framework of macro environment analysis, it stands for Social, Technological, Environmental, Ethics, Legal, Political, Information and Economic factors. STEEL PIE covers all the points of macro environmental analysis.

ONE CAN CONSIDER MEDIA as a special macro environmental factor, given the fact that it is all pervasive and highly influential.

In the early 1990s and even earlier, macro environmental analysis was of little value to pharma firms. You needed to get a license for a brand or molecule, have the copycat (reverse engineering technology) procedure to manufacture, and then market it by employing MRs. Today, the situation is different, marketability of a pharma product or products of a healthcare enterprise, needs to have macro environmental analysis to be done continuously, to see how the political, legal, social, cultural, technological, environmental, ethical, economical, informational and other factors play and impinge on the firm's functioning.

In fact, the bigger the enterprise, the more it is impacted by macro environmental factors.

API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacture was a hot trend up to late 1990s, however, availability of Chinese material proved to be a game changer. Today biogenerics is becoming hot ... similarly, media, legal and political aspects are increasingly influential. It is the era of macro environmental factors in pharma marketing today!

Thanks for reading this blogpost, kindly scroll down to read others, please click on older posts as and when required, recommend this blog to your acquaintances.

Only Reliability

NOSTALGIA IS ALL ABOUT RELIABILITY! Above image from this site!

When we were in school, Reliance was starting to make its mark, Only Vimal was its imagination capturing slogan!

What was Reliance all about? Was it quality? Good marketing? Image building? Reliance was, as its name indicates, all about RELIABILITY (or trust).

Customers were confident of its high quality fabric - Vimal, customers were also offered good service at exclusive showrooms with its wide range of fabrics, shareholders were happy with its ever growing share value, dividends and bonus shares; traders enjoyed doing business with Reliance; bureaucrats and politicians were pleased with the relationship management practices of Reliance (they have dedicated personnel to manage relations with key bureaucrats and politicians) ... Hence, all associates found Reliance to be reliable.

Clearly, the key of success was RELIABILITY, for Reliance.

Many summers back, when I had just started my career and field work, I happened to meet up with a senior MR from Wockhardt during field work. While conversing we were discussing the reasons why doctors patronized brands. His tip for field success was simple: BE RELIABLE!

Yes it was trustworthiness or reliability along with other inputs that provided the key link to success - there is no compromise with reliability!

The senior MR elaborated: when you are regular with doctor calls, the doctor gets a feeling that the company, brands and the MR are reliable. When you gain confidence of the doctor, when the doctor feels the pharma company or MR is reliable - it makes success happen!!

Everyone is ready to provide sponsorships to doctors for various clinical reasons, however, the one who is most reliable is the one who gets the maximum mind share and prescription share or even the chance to sponsor a thing or two for the doctor.

I recollect one more incident: this was when I served as a first-line manager for South Karnataka: A doctor whom we met in an interior of South Kanara district, was peeved. He was hurt by the fact that a senior MR of another big company had not provided a rechargeable lamp along with the goods purchased, as promised by the senior MR.

The doctor was upset that a senior MR whom he thought to be reliable had "dumped" goods on him, on a false promise of a gift. The doctor was hurt with the apparent breach of trust.

Reliability was the key question here, it was not just about the gift!!

This goes to show how reliability makes a great difference, in customer management and brand success.

One of the important secrets of success of most senior MRs during my field working time, was their reliability. The senior MRs were trusted for their quality of communication and their regular field activity. It was this image of reliability that created success for most pharma companies.

During my independent field work in Bangalore in the 1990s, one of the elderly lady Govt. doctor's in Kadugodi (then an ex-station of Bangalore!), requested for some extra samples of Metacin, Cinaryl etc for personal use. I took her home address (located some where in R T Nagar, mind you I was new to Bangalore field work, searched for her house, and left the samples at her residence, the same evening!).

The next month, I was surprised to find a good amount of prescriptions in favour of my products, she said, she was happy that I was reliable. This incident brought out the full force of reliability (to me) in pharma business.

Today, too, the means of communicating reliability may be myriad, however, reliability of the brand promise, and reliability of the value delivery mechanism of a firm remain the main reasons of success.

Being reliable is the foundation for market success.

Regularity (of pharma field work) definitely provides the perceived value of reliability. Besides regular field work, constant creative communication inputs that reiterate SAFETY, EFFICACY, PURITY, CONCERN FOR THE CUSTOMER, VALUE DELIVERY, INNOVATION AND AVAILABILITY create the image of reliability.

Communication inputs that refurbish testimonials from doctors, depict images of various certificates earned by the firm (like ISO 22000 etc), the appeal and quality of the communication and marketing inputs - all these enhance the perception of reliability of a pharma firm. Reliability - which is an emotion (a sense of trust) - ensures business.

Conversely, low perception of reliability and any breach of contract that reflects poor reliability - is the main reason for, loss of business.

Building reliability requires understanding market expectations and those of all stakeholders. One should constantly enquire: what the customer or prospects want - for a firm to be classified as reliable. Once the RELIABILITY AUDIT is done the points that generate reliability need to be built in to the pharma enterprise's functioning.

Building reliability in to the processes of a pharma enterprise is a continuous affair. For eg., Auto companies are doing that continuously with new models of cars, innovations, customer feedbacks that are then incorporated in to the car and retailing formats, phone surveys and high quality after-sales service. It is these concepts that can be migrated in to pharma enterprise functioning to keep oneself as the most reliable.

Today, MNCs are creating various marketing formats for engineering higher perceived value of reliability. While GSK has put together a community pharmacy team to service pharma retailers, Pfizer has launched a continuous series of RETAILER MEETS through their MRs, where education programs for pharmacists (on their products and on patient counselling concepts) are held frequently at various towns and villages. This has helped create a new market demand creating force for Pfizer. Pharmacists now hold Pfizer in high esteem!

Futuristic and aggressive pharma firms like Glenmark are using enabling IT systems and processes for improving field force effectiveness and value delivery to doctors, this has in turn helped such companies improve their image as a reliable firm.

IT and mobile telephony has helped improve communication, this has made work more efficient, such improvements have finally increased appeal of reliability of pharma firms.

When a doctor finds a product best-in-class, of good quality, assured availability, sees that his or her patients are happy with the product performance; when the prescriber is happy with the presentation of the product-MR-company-communication inputs-complimentaries-sponsorships, then the reliability factor rises up! Better the reliability, improved are the pharma firm's fortunes.

Hence, the question each pharma manager should ask himself and try and seek answers or solutions for: ARE WE PERCEIVED AS HIGHLY RELIABLE BY THE TARGET MARKET SEGMENTS?

Reliability is not just for the customers. VENDORS, bankers, regulators, traders, service providers, investors, employees, other associates and the general society - all have "reliability requirements".

A pharma firm that meets many of the reliability requirements of most stakeholders, through best practices, will find growth in corporate image, brand equity, sales, market share and good ROI (return on investment). It is this reliability focused functioning that has taken firms like Google, Make My Trip, Intel, Marriott, AND CLARIS LIFESCIENCES (the only pharma company) in the 2011 list as the best places to work for! This is a truly great achievement for Claris, since even biggie pharma firms like DRL, Cipla and Abbott have not made it to the list!!

Thanks for reading this blogpost, please scroll down, read all other blogposts, please click on older posts when required, kindly recommend this blog to your acquaintances.

TRILOGIES!

JURAN TRILOGY

Trilogy refers to a series of three related works, for eg., a trilogy of dramas or literary works. Amitav Ghosh is now on a trilogy literary work (Ibis trilogy), first book: SEA OF POPPIES, second book: RIVER OF SMOKE. Third is in the pipeline.

Joseph Juran whose name is synonymous with QUALITY, has given a quality based, 'trilogy of related activities' that will help any business enterprise (the Juran trilogy is represented below):

The first of the triad (above) is identifying the customers and their needs - to satisfy. Thus, value delivery system begins with, identifying needs to be satisfied. When it comes to doctors, what are the main needs to be satisfied?

The broad framework of needs are:

1. Doctor's need for a reassurance that he is prescribing a quality product which will deliver the brand promise
2. Doctor's need to prescribe an appropriate product after weighing the pros and cons, risk to benefit aspects
3. Doctor's need to make the patient healthy and happy (delight patients)
   
4. Doctor's need to ensure that the patient recommends him/her so it may enlarge his practice
5. Doctor's need to be seen as a responsible, trustworthy, and confident professional by his patients
6. Doctor's need to have inputs and tools that will help in diagnosis and providing the best-in-class therapy to his patients
7. Doctor's need for a comfort level with material nick-knacks that will help him concentrate and deliver good care to his patients; doctor's need to sponsorships that help him
   
8. Doctor's need to be updated with knowledge, provide the same in an easily assimilable form
   
9. Reinforce the doctor's confidence with SEEING IS BELIEVING based marketing stories
10. Doctor's need for status, ego-satisfaction and 'positive strokes'
11. Constant emphasis that the company and brand is of HIGH QUALITY and of up-to-date technology
    

In the pharma marketing process, the pharmacist (chemist) retailer and patient too are customers, although doctors are prime customers.

The concerns of pharmacist are

1) Knowing the brand availability and its technical features (in a nutshell)
2) Commercial aspects of the product (MRP, bonus offers, retailer margin etc)

The patient's concerns are the:

1) side effect profile
2) efficacy
3) palatability and organoleptic qualities that affect patient compliance
4) affordability
5) availability
6) quality
7) confidence that he is on the right track!
8) dosage convenience

The second part of the Juran trilogy: is developing processes to produce goods and services, to deliver the value and satisfy above needs.

It is here that pharmaceutical companies invent and manufacture products that deliver efficacy, safety, purity, quality and other value concepts that satisfy the stakeholders including, doctors, retailers, patients and stockists.

The special focus of marketing processes is on attractive and to-the-point communication (messaging), to enhance sales and perceived value. This in turn, strengthens, brand equity, profits, increases market penetration and demand, prescribing and purchasing habits, goodwill, brand image, market share enhancement; gives ideas for further product improvements, better innovations (success breeds success), word-of-mouth and the WOW factor. Creating the market buzz and captivating target audiences in a world where there is severe competition for attention, is the focus of marketing activities. Thus, marketing facilitates the exchange process, sales, prescription generation and retail shelf space availability.

The third component of the Juran trilogy of activities, is the most difficult one! It is about challenging one's comfort zone and taking on complacency. The third point is: CONSTANTLY IMPROVING THESE PROCESSES!

For marketers, it means constant market study, seeking to understand customer perceptions, positioning and repositioning exercises, understanding present and future competition, getting to know the market trends, revisiting marketing strategies, planning new directions for investment of efforts and resources, investing in marketing technologies, new product working ... and finally, constantly improving perceived value and delighting the customer in a surprising way.

There are other trilogies that one can think of:

For example the following is a market structure trilogy.


On one corner, we have the buyer (the patient or patient's attender), the second point of the triangle, we have the seller (trader or manufacturer), and the third most important entity who often goes un-noticed in FMCG marketing, but has a sacred spot in pharmaceutical selling - it is the INFLUENCER (doctor).

In different contexts, the buyer-seller-influencer vary. For eg., it can be

Situation A

Buyer: stockist
Seller: Pharma company C & F
Influencer: Medical Representative (or field personnel)

Situation B

Buyer: Chemist retailer
Seller: Distributor or stockist
Influencer: MR or stockist salesboy or doctor (his prescriptions) or patient (who is insisting on a brand)

Hence, it is important for marketers to take all three points in to consideration for value communication and delivery. The marketer should not be focused only on the influencer doctor, there are also situations A & B (above) which require value delivery.

The other interesting trilogy is one of DEMAND-SUPPLY AND PROFIT.

Often marketers are obsessed with demand creation, there can be a mismatch between supply and demand, and profit is not on the radar! However, when enterprise activities are in line with all three components DEMAND-SUPPLY-PROFITS, there is a healthy organization!

The 'trilogy model' is an effective management tool to represent and clarify ideas. Clarity leads to better action! Thanks for reading this blogpost, please recommend this blog to your acquaintances, read all other blogposts, click on 'older posts' as and when required.