Professional Pharmaceutical Consultants Suggest Pursuing 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.

A pharmaceutical company has many different stakeholders and must satisfy a number of different “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. As key account management is only as effective as methods and levels of communication and the efforts of the sales and marketing team, a pharmaceutical consulting firm should be engaged to help the company process.

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. There should be an interactive approach to communication here and the goal should be to create a “win-win” scenario at all times, regardless of complexity. 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. It falls to the company to try and understand how a client works and to do its best to anticipate any problems or objections before they occur. The more educated the sales and marketing team and the better the training levels initiated, the more likely it is that any potential stumbling blocks will be easily resolved.

Key account management requires a constant review of the client's interpretation of the relationship. Satisfaction is paramount and should the company and its executives go the extra distance, an enhanced relationship and additional revenue opportunities are very likely. In almost every instance, pharma consulting firms practice the art of delivering satisfaction.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.