Elite Pharmaceutical Consultants Recommend Undertaking Key Account Management Tactics

Some business practitioners use a metric termed the 80/20 rule, which dictates that 80% of an organisation's business comes from just 20% of its clients. Whether this is essentially correct or not, it is certainly true that some clients take on additional importance in the eyes of the pharmaceutical company, whether this is from the point of view of transactions, their market dominance or other more strategic elements such as the provision of a gateway to other segments and markets. Key account management provisions should be brought in by the company and all members of the sales and marketing team made keenly aware of their existence and importance.

The pharmaceutical company has to answer to a number of diverse stakeholders and demanding clients. So many different issues have to be addressed including the company's position, public relations and media activities, lobbying in political circles, quite apart from core issues of marketing and economics. There is a lot to take on, from a daily and weekly perspective and company executives must ensure that they do not try and address too many complex issues while diluting their overall effectiveness. Key account management will not be effective if certain layers of communication are not maintained, leading to a less efficient sales and marketing operation and calling for a pharmaceutical consulting firm to be retained for best effect.

Once an account is designated as key to the success of the business, a determination should be made and a plan of action composed in concert with the pharmaceutical consultants. The business must look at the relationship from the client point of view and accurately gauge what they feel to be the substance of the relationship. Communication must be full and constant and all parties must be able to achieve a “win” no matter how complex this is to achieve. While attention to the essentials is of course important, the key account would be more likely to continue the association if additional value is perceived.

If the client enters the comfort zone when dealing with a pharmaceutical company, it will be more inclined to not only continue the relationship, but also to enhance it or to expand it. When trust is established, the client will often not have to engage so many of its resources in trying to oversee and control the related activities and will foresee the relationship as an efficient one.

Some experts observe that account management is really about damage control. Every now and again problems and issues will undoubtedly arise. The company should do its utmost to fully understand the workings of its client and try and pre-empt any objections or problems. If a sales and marketing team has achieved a high level of training and education, it will be much better positioned to get past the hurdles in its path.

Key account management calls for a highly intelligent assessment of the client's interpretation of any relationship. As always, a level of satisfaction is at the top of the list and when senior management goes overboard, a long-term relationship is likely, with great potential for additional revenues. Satisfaction is top priority, according to pharma consulting firms.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.