Consulting Firms for Pharma

[Anonymous]

Just some thoughts on the eve of our downsizing...

Anyone find irony in ZS consultants (as well as others) being brought into all the pharma companies to "right size" sales forces back to the days when territories had one or two reps per territory representing multiple products? I do recall it was these very same companies 15 or so years ago selling pharma on the "larger share of voice" model that began the massive escalation in pharma rep numbers. Just think about how ridiculous it sounds today to have 4 to 6 reps per product...seeing the same doctor everyday...touting the same message...doing the same brand team close. Granted, most of Pharma bought into it and hired more reps to shout down the competition, and it worked for a decade or so. What's really amazing is that so many offices and physicians tolerated this model for so long.

Anyway, it just seems these consulting companies are selling pharma the sales rep staffing model that existed 20 years ago...

 

[Anonymous]

Just some thoughts on the eve of our downsizing...

Anyone find irony in ZS consultants (as well as others) being brought into all the pharma companies to "right size" sales forces back to the days when territories had one or two reps per territory representing multiple products? I do recall it was these very same companies 15 or so years ago selling pharma on the "larger share of voice" model that began the massive escalation in pharma rep numbers. Just think about how ridiculous it sounds today to have 4 to 6 reps per product...seeing the same doctor everyday...touting the same message...doing the same brand team close. Granted, most of Pharma bought into it and hired more reps to shout down the competition, and it worked for a decade or so. What's really amazing is that so many offices and physicians tolerated this model for so long.

Anyway, it just seems these consulting companies are selling pharma the sales rep staffing model that existed 20 years ago...

So true. To answer your question, the reason physicians tolerated it is we were able to pay honorariums, take them on special excursions, take them to their favorite restaurant with their wife and bring useful office supplies and good info for patients.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, think about the millions of dollars spent on consulting firms to essentially have pharma companies later eat millions of dollars. There does not seem to be any accountability or vision here.

 

[Anonymous]

In our defense, itmis the pharma companies that decide whar reach and frequency they would like and that dictates size of ff. it depends on the life cycle of the product and the potential within its class. This is all dictated by generic penetration, mco, and customer access. Companies like the Z merely have the data and software to help teams make their own decisions and easily carve out maps. Ours is a much more tangeable servicenthen lets say an external sales training consultant which you over utilize even more.

 

[Anonymous]

In our defense, itmis the pharma companies that decide whar reach and frequency they would like and that dictates size of ff. it depends on the life cycle of the product and the potential within its class. This is all dictated by generic penetration, mco, and customer access. Companies like the Z merely have the data and software to help teams make their own decisions and easily carve out maps. Ours is a much more tangeable servicenthen lets say an external sales training consultant which you over utilize even more.

Btw. The maps are in eh hands as of yesterday. Timelines up to them now. Good luck.