Decline in Pharma Rep Numbers: Changing Practices of Doctors
The news for pharma reps is not good. Big pharma companies are merging, consolidating, and cutting back on what used to be a massive sales force.
Why is that? 
Before you go off on the FDA, an industry-wide lack of innovation in research and development, or any other portion of the “supply” side of this equation, you may have to consider a simpler answer: the customer.
There’s a massive shift that’s accelerated over the last few years in how doctors view and interact with pharmaceutical reps, and in how they prefer to get their information on new drug treatments. In the old model, pharma reps visited doctors and dispensed freebies, samples, lunches and more to entice doctors to order from the company–a successful model that, combined with the exponential growth in pharmaceutical products, encouraged pharma companies to send out more and more reps until doctors were bombarded with increasingly frequent visits. For example, at one time, Eli Lilly would double-, triple-, and quadruple-team targeted doctors. In response, doctors have put more and more restrictions on visits by pharma reps, resulting in a sales-force ineffectiveness that’s caused big pharma companies like Eli Lilly, Merck, and Pfizer to lay off sales reps by the thousands, with more to come.
Over-saturation is not the only issue, though. Doctors often view pharma sales reps as salesmen, rather than experts. There’s a subtle but critical distinction that makes a mountain of difference in how much value the sales rep brings to the interaction for the doctor, which in turn affects both access and effectiveness. This perceived lack of value is contributing to the disappearance of the traditional role of the pharma sales rep.
Are you a pharma sales rep? Do you see these trends? What else are you seeing? And where do you see the role of the pharma sales rep going?
(If you’re a pharma rep who’s ready to move on, I help pharma reps move into medical device, medical supply, and other clinical sales roles as a career consultant in medical sales. In fact, here’s a link to an audio piece from a pharma rep who transitioned to surgical sales with some career coaching help. )
Written by Peggy McKee - the medical sales recruiter
Get top medical sales candidates at PHC Consulting
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