Rayna Herman

Rayna Herman is a principal with Lambertville, NJ-based Health Strategies Group and leads the firms sales force effectiveness practice. She is the primary author of the special reports Improving Regional Manager Effectiveness and Improving District Manager Effectiveness. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Herman spent eight years in sales and marketing at Whitehouse Station, NJ-based Merck & Co. Inc. For more information on the research featured in this article, please call her at (609) 397-5282.

Large sales forces, short calls and increasing competition for physicians' time remain key issues for the selling environment in 2007. Each year Health Strategies Group assesses the state of the pharmaceutical selling environment.

The next time you're on a call and frustrated by the lack of access to a physician, consider a solution to your problem that literally may be staring you in the face. A physician's staff is often a powerful source of information and influence, and could provide the answers you're looking for.

Early in a representative's career, the district manager lays the groundwork for success. But motivating tenured reps takes a different approach.

Access to high-prescribing physicians continues to challenge the industry. Still, some representatives succeed while others do not. Pharmaceutical Representative and Health Strategies Group take a look at the state of the selling environment in 2006.

Only four in 10 tenured reps have participated in training in the last year.

How to get in and be the best.

Managing poor performers more effectively.

Pharmaceutical sales challenges are getting tougher, but some reps are still getting access. To find out how they're doing it, read Pharmaceutical Representative's exclusive first look at Health Strategies Group's assessment of the current selling environment.

Implications for regional and district managers.