Portfolio Selling in Pharma

Portfolio selling in pharma | There has been a lot of downsizing and consolidation in the industry over the past years due to the patent expiries. This has brought about some new emerging giants like Teva, Sandoz and Mylan, who have enormous growing generic portfolios and who are also building their branded product portfolios. The acquisitions made by the more traditional big pharma companies, driven by targeting a specific product or disease state portfolio, means that many pharma companies have inherited portfolios of mixed assets, that now need strategic portfolio marketing decisions, and a different way of marketing.

Brands (including sub-brands and line extensions) are proliferating at a breakneck pace in industries such as beverages, consumer durables, food, household goods, and pharmaceuticals.

The death of the traditional sales approach

With the over saturation of promotional efforts in the GP sector, the traditional sales approach is also almost dead. While some incumbent pharma leaders seem to persist in pushing SOV (share of voice) techniques, contrary to the customer shouting out loud that this is the reason that pharma are not adding much value and being locked out, a SOV approach in a portfolio selling scenario gets very confusing.

So where does this leave the ‘selling approach’ for GP reps, who are representing more than a few brands and trying to prioritise the messaging to ensure they hit the mark and are remembered? They are working in an environment with GPs who rotate patients through their office like the turn-styles at the customs desk at a busy international airport. This is a fast paced environment and time is precious.

The answer lies in stepping in the GP’s shoes.

Think like the customer

Patients are complex beings with interdependent health issues to manage. GPs seek to understand from this complex person first, that is, what is going on and what brought them to the clinic. Then they deep dive into analysis based on the symptoms presented. Therefore, consider doing the same. Start by presenting a typical patient profile, not the targeted disease state, and drill down from there to identify the opportunity to add value.

It could look like this:

The rep initiates the conversation by presenting a complex patient profile and then tries to narrow the conversation through questioning towards a patient type frequently seen at this clinic. This opens up the opportunity to then channel the conversation to where and how your company’s offerings can help. This can then lead to presentation and education (or a refresher) on the products your company has to offer in a context that is relevance and thus memorable. Plus the rep now has the basis upon which to close the conversation and ask for action. The rep knows they have discussed a common patient profile, frequently seen in the clinic, and they know where the offerings can help achieve health outcomes for the GP and the patient.

Marketing a portfolio

Marketing a portfolio requires finding the coherent link between brands that makes sense to the GP. Back in 2015, PharmaExec, USA, with pharma in the midst of the patent cliff, claimed portfolios of treatments were becoming more and more common, and the need for a clear co-positioning strategy had never been greater. We are now living in that future-scape.

Most marketers recognize that brands come under some sort of umbrella as a portfolio, even if it is the company brand. Traditionally many marketers managed and marketed a single big brand. They lived and breathed this one brand and could tinker with their strategy and activities over time. Now they are tasked with managing multiple smaller brands, with smaller budgets, in a co-ordinated way and must avoid being confusing to the GP.

Using a portfolio approach means clarifying the needs of the whole market, then identifying where the portfolio can satisfy. The attractiveness of the segments and the ‘fit’ should be assessed. This will then drive the portfolio strategy development and the prioritization of the brands. It will also drive the channel strategy and the selection of brands to be promoted by the high cost human channel – the GP rep.

Robust metrics and an agile back end to the business are critical to the success of portfolio marketing, along with the incentive programs. The approach will be doomed if the marketing strategy is a portfolio approach, while the sales incentive is focused on driving one major brand.

If you would like to know more about Actando’s offering around portfolio analysis solutions, download the brochure.

Opportunities

Since we are shifting towards omni channel marketing, the rep role is evolving, not dissolving. The rep is now responsible for curating content across a multitude of channels with the GPs. The need for a consistent unified portfolio approach is critical to ensure a good customer experience across multiple channels and devices.

Healthcare providers are choosing multiple channels to receive their information on pharma products. The traditional reach and frequency model will some day be obsolete, and sales reps will instead spend more time coordinating custom communications delivered through multiple channels targeting individual physicians and multiple products to that fit with broad patient profiles.

Having a portfolio with overlapping brands might sound like a massive headache, but it equally comes with lots of opportunities. By offering GPs a portfolio of treatments which can improve outcomes for a range of patients, you can truly demonstrate a commitment to the therapy area and improve your company reputation.

Get your story straight - from the executive team, to the marketers, to the salesforce! The purpose of the positioning should be clear in the minds of the customers, that is, where and why they should use your brands.