Skilled Pharmaceutical Consultants Suggest 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. This can be the subject of conjecture and certain clients are always seen as more important by the pharmaceutical company, due either to their pure volume of sales, their position in the market or other important considerations such as a transition to other market areas. 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 so much on the plate, be it daily or weekly and there is always a danger that senior management may take on too many issues and end up being less effective overall. 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.

Following the appointment of a specific account to the role of “key,” the pharmaceutical consultants should help in composing a concerted plan of action. From the client perspective, what value do they gain from the relationship with the pharmaceutical company and vice versa? 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.

It has been said that account management is often one of “damage control.” Certainly issues and problems will arise from time to time. 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. 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 requires a constant review of the client's interpretation of the 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 Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.