Medical sales management and choosing what to measure

The purpose of clarity her we can divide these measures into two forms, 'primary markers' and 'secondary markers'. Primary markers are the very specific outcomes a company requires to be successful and thrive, such as profit or cash sales. Secondary markers are measures which contribute to primary markers, but are often focused on because they are more visible than primary markers, or are perhaps more visible at an earlier stage to predict the results for the primary markers.

If you are familiar with the sales funnel analogy, where lots of activities at the outset whittle down to just a few which reach the end point, secondary markers occur at the wider end of the funnel. One point to note here is the notion that 'if you measure it' it improves, and this is certainly something I would subscribe to. Indeed the converse can apply, if you don't measure it, or pay any attention to a particular thing, it will decline!

Measuring markers achieves a a couple of key outcomes, firstly it provides clear direction to medical sales people to help them decide where to direct their effort in order to produce results. Particularly in medical sales, this can be necessary, as we don't receive the feedback of sales results for a couple of months after the effort has gone it, that is, too long to wait to analyse cause and effect. Secondly, it provides the feedback framework that is required to pursue personal development. With a handful of effective markers medical reps can constantly assess there own performance against previous performance, as well as watching their peers and learning form the as a well.

In my experience as a medical sales manager, there are a number of common mistakes to watch out for.

1. Measuring too many markers at once. For example, GP call rates, Meeting rates, speaker meetings, number of appointments booked, market share, cash growth and league table position. a basket of markers actively monitored like this a you may create confusion and poor focus. By all means monitor these yourself, but you need to choose the 2 or 3 key markers to present to your people which you think will create the right results with clarity.

2. Inconsistent markers across your medical sales team can make it difficult to create the competitive environment you need to drive your team forward. I have seen teams here each individual can explain how they are the number one performer in the company, great for their confidence, bad for your results!

3. Measuring secondary markers simply because they are easier to measure and therefore taking focus away from primary markers. Current medical sales people often work in teams with several people contributing to sales results, often resulting in such as call rates and coverage targets being key. This can end up driving poor calling activity, targeting the wrong people for the wrong reasons with detrimental effects on sales results. How many medical sales people could tell you whether they are a profitable entity?

4. Not making the priority of different markers clear. to drive the team goals you need need your sales team to be able to recite not only the key markers, but their order of priority.

5. Possibly the weakest area of all relates to the visibility of results. In my experience, medical sales people achieve more when they are clear who the top performers are, and can learn form this. In addition, they need to be clear where there performance is in relation to this in order to try and improve. Good visibility of results can be achieve through regular team meetings(maybe once a month) and also a the circulation of a newsletter, perhaps weekly.

In summary, always be clear with medical sales teams what the primary markers are, even if operationally you need to measure secondary markers for practical reasons. Once you have selected your markers, keep it simple, 2 or 3 key markers, and ensure all of your teams knows exactly what these are and the order of priority. With this consistency, you will be able to assess cause and effect accurately under a particular regime, then if you choose to change the markers, you can all change together with meaningful effects.

Good luck