After countless hours of product training, skill building, and relationship building, your efforts culminate when you fill a prescription at the pharmacy.
When you consider that pharmacists talk to the same doctors you talk to, about treating the same patients you talk about treating, it’s obvious that pharmacists play a vital role in your success.
Why wait any longer to establish or improve your relationships with pharmacists in your territory?
A licensed pharmacist is a pharmaceutical specialist. Although physicians are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, pharmacists are experts in the pharmaceutical management of disease.
Many doctors rely on pharmacists to train patients in the use of metered-dose inhalers, blood pressure monitors, and injectable medications. Clinicians also assume that pharmacists will monitor potential drug interactions and recommend appropriate drug substitutions.
A pharmacist is a patient care provider. He or she is a link between patients and medical professionals, and can triage routine illnesses like coughs, colds, or flu. Patients count on their pharmacist to tell them how to take their medications, what results to expect, and how to react if something goes wrong.
A pharmacist is a pharmaceutical sales associate. The support of pharmacies is crucial for the success of pull-through programs, patient education and complementary medical contact. A pharmacist can provide you with information about managed care formularies and drug prices, as well as alert you to patient questions or concerns.
Pharmacy calls are sales presentations.
Successful pharmaceutical sales representatives prepare and execute calls to the pharmacy with the same care that they handle calls to doctors.
Do some basic pre-call planning to identify your goal for the call. Do you need authorization to display prescription vouchers or coupons? Do you want to inform the pharmacy staff about the launch of a new medicine? It should only take you a few minutes to mentally outline what you hope to achieve, but those few minutes make all the difference.
Begin each call with an introduction and a statement of purpose. Most people know you before they remember your name, so until you’ve developed a rapport, reassure the pharmacist by reintroducing yourself on every call.
Go directly to the point of your visit. A clear statement of purpose will help the pharmacist assess how much time they need to spend with you and whether or not they can afford that time at this time. “May I have two minutes of your time to tell you about a new indication for Hoozlefritz extended-release tablets?” is more useful to a pharmacist than “Hi! I’m the new representative from Hoozlefritz.”
Deliver your information succinctly and objectively. Pharmacists do not prescribe drugs and do not want to be “sold” on the merits of their product. However, they want to know the indication, dosage, mechanism of action (MOA), pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile, and occurrence of side effects. This is vital information for your consultations with doctors and patients.
close your call asking, “What can I do to be a resource to you and your customers?
Here are specific suggestions from pharmacists in three different settings you’re likely to encounter in your territory: retail chains, independent pharmacies, and hospital pharmacies.
Recommendations from retail chain pharmacists:
Develop alliances with pharmacists. Paul, a New York State licensed pharmacist, points out that he, the doctors and the pharmaceutical representatives have the same goal: to provide excellent patient care. “We are all interdependent. The cycle starts with pharmaceutical companies and links to doctors and pharmacists, who link directly to patients. We are all in the business of patient care.”
Suzanne, a licensed pharmacist in Tennessee, agrees. “My clients are the drug rep’s end customers. For both of us, ‘success’ means making our clients healthier.”
Chain pharmacists across the country agree that pharmaceutical reps can be more effective if they DO:
o Provide the pharmacist with objective clinical information.
o Invite pharmacists to educational programs with physicians or sponsor separate programs for your local pharmaceutical organization.
o Comply with what they say they are going to do.
o Respect the pharmacist’s time.
o Offer your business card every time. Make it easy for the pharmacy staff to contact you.
o Inform pharmacists of any prescription vouchers, discounts, or coupon programs in advance. This gives pharmacy staff time to learn the ins and outs of the program so they can facilitate patient recruitment.
Says Paul, “One of the drug reps in the area launched a preauthorization product in a crowded therapeutic class. I stocked her coupons at each of my stores and she informed her target doctors about it. The doctors appreciated the simplicity, patients were happy about getting a free trial, I benefited from increased customer traffic, and this rep led sales in the country.”
WHOSE:
o Make pharmacy sales calls on Mondays or early in the morning.
o Ask a pharmacist to stock your product “to be ready for the first prescription.”
o Ask a pharmacist for sensitive information, such as “Which doctors are writing my product?”
Recommendations from independent pharmacists:
Masood runs a small chain of independent pharmacies in Southern California. For him, respect is the most important element of a sales call. “Some representatives think that because I’m not a big-name chain, I’m not that important, or maybe they don’t need to be nice to me. But that’s not the way to think about it. I’m very busy here, with many customers every day. The smart reps know I’m a big deal for them in this city.”
The consensus among independent pharmacists is that representatives will be more successful if they DO:
o Provide NDC #’s.
o Understand that pharmacy customers are the first priority. Be patient.
o Educate the pharmacist about possible side effects.
o Ask for the opportunity to schedule an educational presentation for lunch.
o Treat independent pharmacists as well as they treat chain pharmacists.
“I’ve worked in both settings and have seen many drug reps bypass independent pharmacies,” says Alan, a Wisconsin pharmacist. “You may think that because we are small we are not ‘real’ pharmacists. But we have the same educational background and have the same interactions with doctors and patients as any other licensed pharmacist.”
WHOSE:
o Request confidential information.
o Ask a pharmacist to stock your product without a prescription.
or “Sell” to the pharmacist.
Recommendations of hospital pharmacists:
A hospital pharmacy may serve only inpatients, only outpatients, or a combination of both. Inpatient pharmacies are generally restricted to stocking products that are on the hospital’s formulary. Hospital outpatient pharmacies operate like any other retail pharmacy. They are not usually restricted to the hospital form.
Tim is a hospital pharmacist in Maine who welcomes drug representatives. “Representatives are a great source of information for me. I know that if I tell a representative that a patient had an unusual reaction to their medication, the representative will pass it on to their company for investigation. Pharmaceutical companies are highly motivated to check it out and follow up, which helps me better serve my customers.”
Recommendations for pharmaceutical representatives when visiting hospital pharmacies. DO:
o Ask about scheduling an educational presentation for lunch.
o Request information about the form process; Offer yourself as a source of information.
o Ask for the hours of the hospital’s P&T committee.
o Know your medication. Be prepared to clarify and support any information that is included in your product’s IP.
WHOSE:
o Ask for a list of doctors who are on the P&T committee.
o Lobby the pharmacist to stock the product without a prescription.
o Making a sales call without a clear reason for the call.
Which brings us back to the bottom line: Pharmacy calls are sales presentations. And just like prescriber calls, pharmacy calls are powerful tools for improving patient care and boosting your business.
If you make the effort to develop productive relationships, you’ll find that every pharmacist in your territory is just another person on your sales team.
