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An Also-Ran Overtakes the Market Leader
With its sales force outnumbered six to one, Innovex Sales Representatives relentlessly kept winning market share.
The leading brand had held the position so long it was practically synonymous with this women’s health category – and it regularly fielded a sales force 600 representatives strong. Innovex’s customer had recently acquired a mature brand – a good product, but one that had never shown exceptional strength. With no internal sales force experienced in the Women’s Healthcare category, they called on Innovex to do whatever we could – with a budget that allowed for only 100 Innovex specialty sales representatives. And they needed to see results quickly.
It’s All About Getting the Basics Right
This one was hard work. No sudden, glamorous breakthroughs, just impeccable execution – doing everything we knew had to be done, and doing it persistently until we turned the brand around.
Recruitment. First, we used our FastTrackSelectTM system to accelerate the screening and recruitment of the specialty sales team. Developed in an exclusive alliance with Development Dimensions International, Inc. (DDI ) the original developers of the leading behavior-based Targeted Selection® methodology, FastTrackSelect incorporates an online system to attract, screen, assess, and manage applicants in real time, in combination with proven behavioral-based interview methodology. It’s the fastest, surest way we know of to hire the candidates with the highest probability of success. In fact, the customer couldn’t believe how fast it was.
Training. Then we put the sales team through Innovex’s proprietary consultative selling skills training. The IDEALS program focuses on the specific components of a successful sales call and sales rep behaviors. We then called on our sister company, Quintiles Medical Communications, to develop the medical product content for our in-house targeted training program. The product had some unique advantages. We focused on them, polished our presentation of them and relentlessly stuck with them.
Targeting. We developed a target list of high-volume prescribers in the category. Not nearly as inclusive a list as we wanted, however; because of budget limitations, we could target fewer than 50% of the opportunities. We prepared a Top 25 list of prescribers in each district, with an action plan tailored to each. Every sales representative had his own Top 10 list. We set a goal of seeing all targets two times a month, because we knew they were the people who could drive the business.
Selling. And we crafted our sales approach so our representatives wouldn’t outstay their welcome. We asked the right questions. We listened. We discovered what prescribers wanted and showed how the product meshed with their needs. We rebuilt trust in a brand that had been neglected.
The Payoff: Top Spot in the Category, With a 37% Share Versus a Goal of 31.6%
In fact, we reached a 50% share among the physicians we were able to target, for an overall 37% market share. The market leading competitor steadily declined in share during the period.
The secret of our success? No secrets. Just the ability to get the fundamentals absolutely right, and to keep relentlessly on track: The right sales representatives. The right message. The right frequency of visits with the right prescribers.
But then, getting everything right doesn’t often happen by itself. Find out more about how Innovex can make good things happen for you.
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