Same product, same data. Why do some sales teams win?
Most pharma affiliates in Switzerland have the same tools. The same CRM, the same targeting data, often the same agencies. Yet some teams grow and others stall.
After more than twenty years in pharma sales, I think the difference comes down to three things. None of them needs a bigger budget.
1. Visits go where they are comfortable, not where they pay
We compared, doctor by doctor, how much time reps spent and how much business came back. Some doctors got many visits and returned little. They were friendly, available and close to home. Others got few visits and returned a lot. They were busy and hard to book.
Nobody planned it this way. A friendly call feels productive. A refused appointment feels like failure. Over a year, the call plan follows comfort.
We moved visits from the first group to the second. Same team, same budget. Results varied by territory, rep and doctor. But the territories that shifted their visits grew 8.5% points higher than those that didn't.
2. Doctors don't need your key messages. They need a reason to talk
In Switzerland, doctors plan next year's diary from August. By the time most reps call, the good slots are gone. And doctors say no for a simple reason. A pharma visit gives them little they don't already have. They know the latest study results.
There is no script that works for every doctor. Here is one case, to show how the thinking works.
On my first day as head of sales, I joined a rep on a visit to a specialist. I knew almost nothing about our product. So I made no claims. I asked questions. What did he think the product could do for his patients? What couldn't it do? What worried him about switching? What would make that risk acceptable?
He talked for twenty minutes. By the end, he had worked out for himself where the product fitted. He agreed to use it with his next suitable patients.
Product knowledge didn't win that conversation. Finding out what was holding him back did.
3. Reps don't fear rejection. They fear looking incompetent
Why do some managers get more from the same reps? In my experience, it's what they coach.
Weak coaching asks how many calls were made. Good coaching asks why a rep keeps postponing one important doctor.
The answer is rarely rejection. Reps are turned down on every second call. They are used to it. What they fear is being unprepared. Being seen as incompetent. Being laughed at when they open the brochure and recite the key messages. For some, behind all that, is the fear of losing their job. So they wait for the right moment. It rarely comes.
My coaching worked on that fear. Reps don't need to know everything. They need to hear what the doctor isn't saying: the worry behind "no interest", the doubt behind "I'll think about it".
What holds a rep back is usually what holds a doctor back. Fear of losing face. Uncertainty. Feeling pushed. Not trusting the other person. Feeling treated unfairly. Once reps see this in themselves, they start to see it in the doctor. That's when the conversation changes.
When a rep was stuck on a doctor, we didn't leave them alone. The key account manager, medical, market access or marketing joined in, depending on what the doctor needed.
Before your next launch, check three things
- What share of last quarter's visits reached your highest-potential doctors?
- Which important doctors is each rep postponing, and why?
- When your managers coach, do they talk about numbers or about people?
If those answers take more than ten minutes to find, that's where I would start. Book a 30-minute call.