The key to effective marketing essentially lies in taking action. Someone once said that you cannot score a goal unless you first take a shot, so in marketing terms the best intent in the world is worthless unless you actually go out and do something. The pharmaceutical industry is most competitive and requires a multifaceted approach to marketing, management of reputations, education and strategies included. Often, sales and marketing is involved with stating a case and protecting a position, rather than achieving the results in terms of dollar revenue. This subtle interaction of skills makes the selection of a core sales and marketing team very important, and because of this, many forward-thinking companies engage the services of a pharmaceutical consulting firm to help them implement.

Effective marketing begins and ends with the management of all those elemental sales and marketing activities. This will include coordination of day-by-day duties, but also a general oversight, levels of measurement and coordination. This is a team operation and all members must know what is required of them and how each is important in the achievement of the overall corporate goal.

Most pharmaceutical consultants will confirm that the heart of any plan implementation is in the execution, and no amount of paperwork, charting or spreadsheet construction will be of use unless things actually get done. The coordinator will marshal the operations of the sales force and will educate them in the difficulties they will face in the battlefield. This level of coaching is essential, especially where some members may be somewhat new to the arena. A single-minded determination is crucial if the employee is to be fully focused and determined. If a team member is not familiar with time management, this rises to job number one, as prioritisation is critical to production. Of course this does not mean that more mundane elements should be ignored, just categorised and prioritised accordingly.

Effective implementation requires attention to detail and an ability to be thorough. Every member of the sales team contributes to the whole objective and other members must be aware of each contribution. It is never smart to assume anything as something critical could be missed out in this way, while procrastination helps to achieve nothing!

Effective implementation does not require the practitioner to be an automaton, just because attention to detail and an ability to manage time are of high importance. He or she must understand that one of the obstacles ahead is the threat of becoming overwhelmed. Whomever is able to rise above distractions will really produce good results for the organisation. Through prioritisation, primary tasks are always achieved. If and when possible, delegate, but once again never assume that somebody else is “taking up the slack.”

Generally, pharma consulting organisations are well trained in the keys to effective implementation and are more than capable of training a sales and marketing force to take on the complex, challenging yet rewarding role of marketing within the pharmaceutical industry.

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.