Another member of the team - Pharmaceutical Representative

Who do you think is on your sales team? Your territory partners, your sales trainer, your manager, other company personnel, certainly your physicians, their patients and maybe even local managed care organizations.

What about pharmacists?

After the countless hours of product training, skill development and relationship building, your efforts culminate when a prescription is filled at the pharmacy.

How many pharmacy calls do you make each week? Do you make pharmacy calls at all? When you consider the fact that pharmacists talk to the same physicians you talk to, about treating the same patients you talk about treating, it's obvious that pharmacists play a vital role in your success.

Welcome to the team

Why wait any longer to establish or improve your relationships with pharmacists in your territory? Let's start by clarifying the roles of the pharmacist as they relate to you and your sales team.

Pharmaceutical specialist. A pharmacist has a comprehensive science background, including extensive training in pharmacology. Whereas physicians are experts in disease diagnosis and treatment, pharmacists are experts in pharmaceutical disease management. Physicians often rely on pharmacists to educate their patients about dosing, drug interactions and side effects.

Many physicians expect pharmacists to train patients in proper techniques for using metered-dose inhalers, blood pressure monitors and injectable medications. Physicians also assume that pharmacists will monitor potential drug-drug interactions and recommend appropriate drug substitutions.

Patient care provider. The pharmacist is a link between patients and medical professionals and can triage routine illnesses like a cough, cold or flu. Patients count on pharmacists to tell them how to take their medications, what outcomes to expect and how to react if something goes wrong. Patients trust pharmacists to know the differences between various over-the-counter medications and to make recommendations.

Pharmaceutical sales partner. The most successful pharmaceutical reps recognize that pharmacists can have a tremendous impact on their territories. Pharmacy support is crucial for successful pull-through programs, patient education and supplemental physician contact. A pharmacist may be able to provide information about managed care formularies and drug pricing, as well as to alert you to patient questions or concerns.

Although it isn't appropriate for a pharmacist to recommend that a physician prescribe your drug instead of your competitor's, the more educated a pharmacist is about your product, the more effectively he can present relevant information (including benefits) to prescribing physicians.

Making an impact

What can you do to establish or increase your impact on the pharmacists in your territory? I will share with you some suggestions from a variety of retail chain, independent and hospital pharmacists interested in partnering with pharmaceutical representatives for more productive relationships. But first, the bottom line: Pharmacy calls are sales presentations.

Every pharmacist I interviewed agreed that the most important thing for pharmaceutical reps to understand is that pharmacy calls are sales presentations. Prepare and execute pharmacy calls with the same care you use in approaching physician calls.

Conduct basic pre-call planning to identify your goal for the call. Do you need authorization to display prescription vouchers or coupons? Do you want to inform the pharmacy staff about a new drug launch? Do you have a question about generic substitutions? It should only take a few minutes to mentally outline what you hope to accomplish, but those few minutes make a difference.

Begin each call with an introduction. Most people recognize you before they remember your name, so until you have developed a relationship, put the pharmacist at ease by reintroducing yourself on each call.

Get right to the point of your visit. A clear statement of purpose will help the pharmacist assess how much time he needs to spend with you and whether or not he can afford that time right now. "May I have two minutes of your time to tell you about a new indication for Hoozlefritz extended-release tabs?" is more helpful to a pharmacist than "Hi! I'm the new Hoozlefritz rep."

Deliver your information succinctly and factually. Pharmacists are generally more interested in clinical information than in quality-of-life claims. Pharmacists do not prescribe medications and do not want to be "sold" on the merits of your product. They do, however, want to know the indication, dosing, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile, and occurrence of side effects. This is vital information for their consultations with physicians and patients.

Close your call by asking the pharmacist what you can do to be a resource for him and his customers. Make a statement of your commitment, and be sure to follow through.

Different needs

Let's move on to specific suggestions from pharmacists in three different settings you are likely to encounter in your territory: retail chain, independent and hospital pharmacies.

Retail chain pharmacists' recommendations. Make the effort to develop partnerships with pharmacists. Paul, a New York state licensed pharmacist, points out that he, physicians and pharmaceutical reps all have the same goal: to provide excellent patient care. "We are all interdependent. The cycle starts with the drug companies and links to the physicians and the pharmacists, who link directly with the patients. We're all in the patient care business."

Suzanne, a licensed pharmacist in Tennessee, agrees. "My customers are the drug rep's end-customers. For both of us, success means making our customers healthier."

Chain pharmacists across the country agree that pharmaceutical reps can be more effective if they:

* Provide the pharmacist with objective clinical information.
* Invite pharmacists to educational programs with physicians or sponsor separate programs for their local pharmacy organization.
* Follow through on what they say they are going to do.
* Respect the pharmacist's time.
* Offer their business card every time and make it easy for pharmacy staff to contact them.
* Inform pharmacists of any prescription voucher, rebate or coupon programs ahead of time. This gives pharmacy staff time to learn the quirks of the program so they can facilitate patient uptake.

Paul makes a compelling case for this point: "One of the drug reps in the area launched a prior auth product in a crowded therapeutic class. She brought her supply of prescription vouchers to me and asked for my help in launching the product. I agreed to stock her vouchers at each of my stores, and she informed her target physicians of this. It was a four-plus win. Physicians appreciated the simplicity, patients were happy about getting a free trial, I benefited from the increase in customer traffic, and this rep led the country in sales."

Reps should make sure not to:

* Make pharmacy sales calls on Mondays or early in the morning.
* Ask a pharmacist to stock their product "to be ready for the first prescription." Many chain pharmacists are responsible for the physical and financial health of the pharmacy. They don't have room on their shelves or in their budgets to stock "just in case" product. They likely receive product deliveries at least every 48 hours, so patients don't have to wait long.
* Ask a pharmacist for confidential information, such as "Which doctors are writing my product?"

Independent pharmacists' recommendations. Masood runs a small chain of independent pharmacies in southern California. He says that respect is the most important element of a rep's interaction with a pharmacist. "Some reps think that because I am not a big-name chain, I am not as important, or maybe they do not need to be polite with me. But that is not the way to think of it. I am very busy here, with many customers every day. The smart reps know that I am a big business for them in this city."

The consensus of independent pharmacists is that reps will be more successful if they:

* Provide National Drug Code numbers.
* Understand that pharmacy customers are the first priority.
* Educate the pharmacist about potential side effects.
* Ask for the opportunity to schedule an educational lunch presentation.
* Treat independent pharmacists as well as they treat chain pharmacists.

"I've worked in both settings, and I've seen a lot of drug reps overlook independent pharmacies," says Alan, a pharmacist in Wisconsin. "Maybe they think that because we're small, we're not 'real' pharmacists. But we have the same educational background, and we have the same interactions with doctors and patients as any other licensed pharmacist."

Reps should make sure not to:

* Ask for confidential information.
* Ask a pharmacist to stock their product without a prescription.
* "Sell" the pharmacist.

Hospital pharmacists' recommendations. Many sales reps are more familiar with retail pharmacies than those in the hospital setting. Here are a few things to keep in mind before we get into the dos and don'ts.

A hospital pharmacy may serve only inpatients, only outpatients or a blend of the two. Inpatient pharmacies are usually restricted to stocking products that are on the hospital formulary. They often do not see drug reps, because product decisions are made by the pharmacy and therapeutics committee, not by the pharmacist.

Hospital-based outpatient pharmacies operate like any other retail pharmacies. They are not usually restricted to the hospital formulary and will see drug reps who consistently provide relevant product information.

Tim is a hospital pharmacist in Maine who welcomes drug reps. "Reps are a great source of information for me. I know that if I tell a rep that a patient had an unusual reaction to their drug, the rep is going to pass that on to their company to investigate. Drug companies are highly motivated to check it out and follow up, which helps me serve my customers better."

Hospital pharmacists recommend that pharmaceutical reps:

* Ask about scheduling an educational lunch presentation.
* Ask for information about the formulary process and offer themselves as a source of information.
* Ask about the schedule for the hospital P&T committee.
* Know their drug and be prepared to clarify and support any information that is included in their product's prescribing information.

Reps should make sure not to:

* Ask for a list of physicians who are on the P&T committee.
* Pressure the pharmacist to stock product without a prescription.
* Make a sales call without a clear reason for the call.

That brings us back to the bottom line: Pharmacy calls are sales presentations. And just like prescriber calls, pharmacy calls are powerful tools to improve patient care and drive your business.

If you make the effort to develop productive relationships, you will find that every pharmacist in your territory is an extra person on your sales team!

About the Author

Sally Bacchetta