With advancements in technology, many have started questioning the value of humans in many industries. However, despite the availability of advanced technologies, the human element–intuition, expertise and quick thinking–remains irreplaceable.

In the pharmaceutical industry as well, human sales representatives (reps) still play a significant role. There is an irreplaceable value that humans offer for sales interaction that technology is not yet able to replace and that is the deep sense of trust with the customer.

Key areas where human representatives excel

Human sales representatives are a crucial part of the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, it has also been found in several sales effectiveness and operations-based analyses that message deliveries that are handled by human reps tend to drive better sales.

·       The best human sales reps focus on patients, not just prescriptions, truly engaging with disease communities and patient advocacy groups. They also prioritize being honest with patients, which means admitting the shortcomings of their products. This ultimately makes customers feel that they can trust the sales rep and their information.

·       Human reps are exceptional listeners. They listen attentively to their customers and their patients and come up with best practices and learnings to help healthcare providers (HCPs) address any arising challenges.

·       Proficient sales reps can also forgo scripted messaging, instead focusing on confidently answering tough questions and tailoring their responses to the specific concerns of the HCPs. This personalization gives HCPs confidence that they are talking to someone who understands and values them and that they are providing credible, practical information.

·       Human sales reps also help healthcare providers navigate the complexities of accessing and buying products. They focus on how to buy the product and not just why. This ultimately makes HCPs feel supported and relieved that all these complexities are being solved for the patients.

Human sales reps also focus on supporting the practice, not their product. They form strong relationships not only with physicians but also with office staff, working collaboratively to solve problems within the practice. 

Transforming pharma sales reps from messengers to mainstays

Given the importance of human sales reps in pharma, it is clear that companies must focus on transforming their function from simple messengers to trusted mainstays. Here are some practical first steps you can take, along with support from biotechnology consulting services to guide this transformation:

·       Talent: Redefine the role of sales reps and provide focused learning, practice and coaching to enhance their question handling and self-orientation skills.

·       Enablement: Align your marketing content with the needs of your sales reps by providing materials that address practical barriers, such as helping reps explain “how to buy” a drug, not just “why buy.”

·       Operations: Rethink how sales territories are managed. As trust and relationships are very important, it is better to avoid changing sales territories too often.

·       Measurement: Shift metrics and incentives toward building trust and customer relationships rather than simple message delivery. This means emphasizing customer knowledge and insight as a key performance indicator.

By empowering pharma sales reps to build genuine trust and human connections, companies can transform them from mere messengers into essential mainstays. This shift will ultimately resolve their sales rep identity crisis and restore their sense of purpose.