Decades ago, Peter Drucker was invited to address the senior management team at General Motors, he asked them a simple, but penetrating question: “Why should I buy a GM car?” Many senior executives attempted to answer that simple question but, nobody was able to give a convincing answer! The senior managers at General Motors had unlearnt the art of winning customers by not being able to answer the simple question - “Why should I buy a GM car?” But they kept introducing more and more new models which less and less customers bought. And that was the prelude to GM’s decline and bankruptcy. That question still resonates for every business including Indian Pharma. I wonder how many field sales people - Medical Reps and their managers can answer the question - Why Should the Doctor Rx Your Product? Having a clear answer to that question is the key to winning customers - be they doctors, chemists, distributors or hospitals. As companies grow larger, hierarchies are created and sales processes like CRM/SFA evolve and become embedded. In the absence of a dynamic top leadership, hierarchy and processes become rigid and difficult to change even though rapidly changing market dynamics demand that they do. Bureaucracy slows down customer-centric decision making and inaction becomes part of the organisation's culture. The emphasis shifts from developing employees and winning customers to launching products and hitting numbers. Peter Drucker rarely blamed individuals; he saw root causes in the design of organizations—in their structures, processes, norms, and routines. He would ask leaders a few provocative questions: “What is your mission? What should you stop doing? Where has the drive for short-term efficiencies undermined long-term effectiveness? What should be your objectives and guiding principles?”

1. MEDICINMANField Force Excellence
TM
July 2015 | www.medicinman.net
Since 2011
D
ecades ago, Peter Drucker was invited to
address the senior management team at
General Motors, he asked them a simple, but
penetrating question:“Why should I buy a GM car?”
Many senior executives attempted to answer that
simple question but, nobody was able to give a
convincing answer! The senior managers at General
Motors had unlearnt the art of winning customers by
not being able to answer the simple question -“Why
should I buy a GM car?”But they kept introducing
more and more new models which less and less
customers bought. And that was the prelude to GM’s
decline and bankruptcy.
That question still resonates for every business
including Indian Pharma. I wonder how many field
sales people - Medical Reps and their managers can
answer the question - Why Should the Doctor Rx Your
Product? Having a clear answer to that question is the
key to winning customers - be they doctors, chemists,
distributors or hospitals.
As companies grow larger, hierarchies are created
and sales processes like CRM/SFA evolve and
become embedded. In the absence of a dynamic top
leadership, hierarchy and processes become rigid
and difficult to change even though rapidly changing
market dynamics demand that they do.
EDITORIAL
WHY SHOULD THE DOCTOR Rx
YOUR PRODUCT?

2. Editorial
Connect with Anup Soans on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter
Anup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the
Editor of MedicinMan.
Write in to him: anupsoans@medicinman.net
Meet the Editor
Bureaucracy slows down customer-centric
decision making and inaction becomes part of the
organisation’s culture. The emphasis shifts from
developing employees and winning customers to
launching products and hitting numbers.
Peter Drucker rarely blamed individuals; he saw
root causes in the design of organizations—in their
structures, processes, norms, and routines. He would
ask leaders a few provocative questions:“What is
your mission? What should you stop doing? Where
has the drive for short-term efficiencies undermined
long-term effectiveness? What should be your
objectives and guiding principles?”
Pharma companies have made a virtue of creating
hierarchies in the field force without role clarity and
they need to redefine their role and responsibility
around answering this penetrating question - Why
Should the Doctor Rx Your Product?
Winning customers should become the number one
agenda not just for sales and marketing people but
for everyone from HR to manufacturing and product
package designers. If everybody in the organisation
is aligned around answering this question clearly
and lucidly, then hierarchies and processes will have
one central purpose – How to win the customer?
While pharma businesses should certainly launch
new products through innovative and meaningful
marketing strategies, field sales people need to
win over the doctor by constantly sharpening
their ability to build rapport and understand the
customer better through each in-clinic interaction.
Companies that can train their field force people
keeping the central goal of winning customers
will have a bright future. The rest will struggle to
convert, coax, coerce and even confuse customers,
just like the senior executives at GM. -MM
MedicinMan wishes its readers
a Happy Doctor’s Day!

3. 1. New Era in Pharma Growth .............................5
Innovation and technology are key to growth
of pharma companies in emerging markets
according to a workshop conducted by Cambridge
Consultants in Mumbai.
Cambridge Consultants
2. India Makes it Big at Cannes Lions Health 2015
...................................................................................8
Indian agencies picked up 10 shortlists in the
healthcare category with Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai
and Medulla Communications winning a Silver Lion
and a Bronze Lion respectively.
MedicinMan Report
3. Leading with Conviction ..................................10
In order to lead with conviction, leaders must make
the effort to develop themselves and others.
Sunil Bajaj
4. Pharma Sales Management and the New
Front-line Manager ...............................................13
How a new Front-line Manager can make the
transition from being a great performer to getting
great performance from others.
Anup Soans
5. Do We Need Front-line Managers? ................17
A hard look at the impact of front-line managers on
pharma top-lines and bottom-lines.
K. Hariram
6. Winning the Casino Royale of Multi-Channel
Marketing ..............................................................19
How the changing habits of India’s net-savvy and
mobile friendly population is impacting pharma’s
marketing strategies - and how to set yourself up to
win.
Phanish Chandra
(Click to navigate)
CONTENTS
MedicinMan Volume 5 Issue 7 | July 2015
Editor and Publisher
Anup Soans
CEO
Chhaya Sankath
Chief Mentor
K. Hariram
Editorial Board
Salil Kallianpur; Prof. Vivek Hattangadi; Shashin
Bodawala; Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay
Executive Editor
Joshua Soans
Letters to the Editor: anupsoans@medicinman.net
MedicinMan Congratulates Pankaj Gursahani,
Director-Sales Training at AstraZeneca Pharma
India Ltd at the AZ Asia Area Day at Bangkok.
This award represents an individual contributor
from each country demonstrating AZ Values in
letter and spirit.
Pankaj was a speaker at FFE 2015 organized by
MedicinMan at Mumbai.

4. CAREERPROGRESSIONRESOURCES
NOWAVAILABLEON
(click on the books to purchase on
flipkart)
SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager
is a tool to help pharma professionals transition from
super salesmen to great front-line managers and
leaders. The book will equip front-line managers to
Manage, Coach, Motivate and Lead their teams to
deliver outstanding performance. An engaging read,
filled with examples and illustrations, SuperVision for
the SuperWiser Front-line Manager has been used by
thousands of managers across the industry.
HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is a specially crafted
training manual to enable Medical Representatives
to gain the Knowledge, Skills and Attitude needed
to succeed in the competitive arena of pharma field
sales. Medical Representatives joining the field are
often not aware about the key success factors of their
job and as a result they get discouraged when things
don’t go as planned. HardKnocks for the GreenHorn
is a powerful learning and motivational tool for field
sales managers to build their sales teams.
GET YOUR PHARMA CAREER OFF TO A FLYING START!

5. 5 | MedicinMan July 2015
E
NEW ERA IN PHARMA GROWTH
Innovation and technology are key to growth of pharma companies in
emerging markets according to a workshop conducted by Cambridge
Consultants in Mumbai.
E
merging markets are predicted to
account for a third of global pharmaceu-
tical spend by the end of next year – and
seen as critical for the sustained growth of
leading pharma companies. That’s according
to a new report, which says innovation and
technology will be important differentiators
as pharma organisations try to drive growth in
developing countries.
The report summarizes the findings of a Cam-
bridge Consultants workshop held in Mumbai,
India, earlier this year. The product design and
development firm brought together senior
personnel from both Indian and multinational
pharma companies to debate whether emerg-
ing markets can be an opportunity to drive
sustainable growth.
The consensus was that the term‘emerging
markets’covers nations in parts of Africa, the
Middle East and South East Asia, as well as the
more traditional countries of Brazil, Russia,
India and China. But all the delegates said
emerging markets cannot be grouped into a
single cluster to chalk out common strategies.
Clustering markets around parameters such as
regulatory pathways or therapeutic applica-
tions was considered the best approach.
“Emerging markets are facing rapid growth of
chronic‘Western’diseases like diabetes, hyper-
tension, chronic respiratory problems, cancer,
heart disease and neurological disorders,”said
Ambuj Jain, India general manager at Cam-
bridge Consultants.“In some cases, conditions
like diabetes are turning into near-epidemic
situations.

6. 6 | MedicinMan July 2015
“In India, for example, the prevalence of diabetes and
cancer is projected to rise by 25-40% over the next 10
years. This shift gives pharma companies an oppor-
tunity to market their global products in emerging
markets, backed by tested‘go-to-market’strategies
and operating models.”
The report says key barriers which need to be ad-
dressed in many emerging markets are the afford-
ability and accessibility of medicines. Improvements
in affordability will be driven by rising disposable
incomes and increasing insurance coverage. Growth
in accessibility will come from increases in govern-
ment spending and medical infrastructure, and new
business models for rural areas. The acceptability of
medicines is also expected to rise, as a result of the
growth in chronic conditions – and the resulting
increase in the self-administration of drugs.
Workshop delegate Sanjay Bhanushali, a director
of global pharma company Cipla, said:“Emerging
markets are critical for the sustained growth of lead-
ing pharmaceutical organisations. They represent a
significant proportion of the world’s population and
many of their governments are increasingly focusing
on improving healthcare. Innovation and technology
– with the emphasis on patient and stakeholder needs
– will be crucial to success in these markets.”
Diagnostics was seen by the workshop delegates as a
key focus area where innovation can drive sustained
growth. One of the problems is a shortage of diag-
nostics laboratories. Physicians often prescribe an
empirical therapy because the cost of diagnosis is
much higher than the cost of the therapy. For exam-
ple, antibiotics are commonly prescribed for respira-
tory infections – where the causative pathogen may
actually be a virus.
But the idea that healthcare innovation in emerg-
ing markets has to focus only on cost reduction was
dismissed by the pharma experts. The example of
smartphones was highlighted – how their adoption
has penetrated all levels of society. This suggests that
‘value’, at the right price point, is more relevant in
driving adoption of new technologies.
Download a copy of the report here: http://www.slide-
share.net/anupsoans/cambridge-report
Cambridge Consultants | New Era in Pharma Growth
Cambridge Consultants develops
breakthrough products, creates and licenses
intellectual property, and provides business
consultancy in technology critical issues for
clients worldwide. With a team of around
500 staff, including engineers, scientists,
mathematicians and designers, in offices in
Cambridge (UK), Boston (USA), Tokyo (Japan)
and Singapore, Cambridge Consultants
offers solutions across a diverse range of
industries including medical technology,
industrial and consumer products, digital
health, energy and wireless communications.
For more information, visit:
www.Cambridge Consultants.com
”
In India, for example, the
prevalence of diabetes and
cancer is projected to rise
by 25-40% over the next 10
years. This shift gives pharma
companies an opportunity to
market their global products in
emerging markets, backed by
tested ‘go-to-market’ strategies
and operating models.

7. CME PROGRAM

8. 8 | MedicinMan July 2015
N
owhere is the power of creativity more
important than in healthcare where it
can transform lives. Lions Health has
bloomed in its second year with 1862 entries
and a 30 per cent growth from the inaugu-
ral year. At this year’s Cannes Lions Health, a
festival and award show that recognizes the
most creative ideas in the Pharma and Health-
care communications industry from across the
world, India made an impressive mark with 10
shortlists. Medulla Communications Pvt. Ltd.
was announced to have received 6 out of the
10 shortlists from India; Medulla being the only
independent specialist healthcare agency in the
list — the other shortlists were shared by big
network agencies (1 for Ogilvy, 3 for McCann).
Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, opened its 2015
Cannes innings with a Silver Lion for its‘Giant
Footprints,’campaign for Sabin Vaccine’s Filaria
Dose in the category Direct and Promo & Acti-
vation.
Medulla Communications which had the high-
est number of shortlists this year in the Pharma
section bagged a Bronze Lion. It won the award
for Johnson & Johnson’s‘Spinning Living Room’
campaign on vertigo awareness in the Print cat-
egory for the brand Stugeron. This is the third
prestigious award in line for this campaign after
winning a Gold Award at The Rx Club, New York
and a Bronze Award at the Abby’s, Goa.
More importantly, not only was it the agency to
receive the highest no. of shortlists in this year’s
Pharma category but also stood third in the
tally for Lions Health - Healthcare Agency of the
Year! This is the first time any Indian agency has
made it to the“Agency of the year”tally, in any
category at Cannes.
This was so unexpected that Praful Akali,
founder-director, Medulla Communications
was probably the most surprised person in the
auditorium!
E
Indian agencies picked up 10 shortlists in the healthcare category with
Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai and Medulla Communications winning a Silver
Lion and a Bronze Lion respectively.
The Spinning Living Room campaign for Johnson & Johnson’s brand Stugeron which
won Medulla Communications a Bronze Lion in the Healthcare Print section.
INDIA MAKES IT BIG
AT CANNES LIONS
HEALTH 2015

9. 9 | MedicinMan July 2015
Speaking about the win, Praful Akali said,“The
awards were all part of a big plan for Medulla - to
marry medical expertise, with planning/strategy and
great creative thinking and execution. We were clear
that just because we’re a healthcare agency that
shouldn’t mean that our creative is any inferior to
that of a mainline agency. And getting six out of the
10 shortlists from India, winning a Cannes Lion was a
vindication of the same. But yes, we didn’t expect to
be announced No. 3 Healthcare Agency of the year!
We didn’t plan for that, didn’t even think of that. In
fact while I was sitting at Cannes towards the end of
the ceremony, waiting for it to end, they suddenly
announced the tally on stage! And I was probably
the most surprised person in the auditorium!”
Report: India makes it big at Cannes Lions Health 2015
”
“I was probably the
most surprised person
in the auditorium!” says
Praful Akali, founder-
director of Medulla
Communications on
his agency’s Bronze
Lion win at Cannes
2015. Praful was a
speaker at BrandStorm
2015, organized by
MedicinMan at Mumbai.
TheSpinningRoomscampaignonvertigoawarenesscreatedby
MedullaCommunicationsforJohnson&Johnson.

10. 10 | MedicinMan July 2015
J
ust as our predominant thoughts determine our
actions, and thereby our destiny, I have understood
that the degree of our conviction on any given
matter determines the level of our commitment to it and
the consequences thereafter. For instance, leaders across
organizations know the importance of development of
people, but, in reality, how many leaders do we see ded-
icated to the cause of people development and creating
a worthy leadership pipeline?
‘Lack of time’, is one of the most common reasons cited
for not being able to do justice in this area. I tend to
disagree and would like to believe that it is a matter of
not giving people development the sort of priority it de-
serves. Instead, there is a relentless focus on sales targets
month after month, with enhanced efforts and maybe
even resources, to gain“support”from customers.
Higher outputs are expected from the internal custom-
ers, month after month, year after year, but are com-
mensurate efforts put towards the enhancement of their
competencies? Or is it expected of them to“develop
themselves”?
E
LEADING WITH CONVICTION
In order to lead with conviction, leaders must make the effort to develop
themselves and others.
Sunil Bajaj
Sunil Bajaj is an L&D and Marketing
consultant for the Pharma industry.

11. 11 | MedicinMan July 2015
A leader is likely to attract other leaders based on
his/her own leadership abilities. How many leaders
invest time and other resources towards their own
development? Quite a few pursue higher educa-
tion and attend various certification programs, but
I wonder what percentage of organizations either
ensure that the learnings are put to practice, or
have tools to measure the impact of such courses
on leadership. Just as the title of a leader does not
make one a leader, I am of the strong opinion that
certifications alone do not enhance the leadership
ability.
Every leader, or manager, for that matter, needs
to have a very high degree of conviction about
the need for continuous enhancement of his/her
abilities. Leaders should consciously dedicate time
and chase the needed resources or may be, even a
mentor, to achieve the desired development.
Instead of L&D or Training Departments“pushing”
people into training programs, it would be such a
delight to witness a“pull”for learning & develop-
ment from the pool of managers and leaders in
any given organization.
Time has come, when learning & development
should become every professional’s individual
responsibility, irrespective of what his/her organi-
zation has in its offering. This is critical for person-
nel who are new in their managerial or leadership
roles; more so, for the newly promoted first line
managers, who have had no prior experience of
people management. In the absence of an imme-
diate structured induction, the newly promoted
manager most often tends to emulate his/her
earlier manager’s (or managers’, as the case might
be) way of dealing with people.
Experienced leaders in organizations must attach
a higher accountability towards the development
of the skills of the new and the incumbent. Timely
directions, mentoring and coaching would not
only make their people capable of delivering high-
er levels of performance, but would also pave the
way for the often heralded“delegation”of respon-
sibilities. Now that’s what I call,“Empowerment”!
Leaders should also own up the action plans
prepared by their subordinates post any training.
If the leaders make a conscious effort to team up,
collaborate, and work in unison with the con-
Sunil Bajaj | Leading with Conviction
”
Every leader, or manager,
for that matter, needs to
have a very high degree
of conviction about the
need for continuous
enhancement of his/her
abilities. Leaders should
consciously dedicate time
and chase the needed
resources or may be, even
a mentor, to achieve the
desired development.

12. 12 | MedicinMan July 2015
cerned Training Managers, the efforts put in by
them towards development of people, will have a
synergistic effect.
It is high time to do whatever it takes, to build
conviction in the minds of leaders, about the need
for conscious and concentrated efforts for the con-
tinuous development of the talent of their team
members. If the leader feels that he/she lacks, in
his/her abilities needed towards people develop-
ment, then mastering the courage to admit so, and
scouting for“helping hands”either within the or-
ganization, or may be, even approaching external
resources, in line with the organization’s policies,
would be the preferred option.
Most of us may not have had the fortune of work-
ing with a“chosen”boss; but if the boss treats us
as the“chosen one”, and helps us shape up and
bloom to our fullest potential, wouldn’t it make
the boss the“adorable one”? To be living forever in
the hearts of their people, leaders must urgently
give,“Development of people”the status of high
importance.
Investments made by real leaders with conviction
and commitment towards people development,
will lead to sustainable skill-sets to meet the
challenges of today, and build a consistent pool of
future leaders to drive the organization towards its
long term goals and vision. -SB
Sunil Bajaj | Leading with Conviction
”
Time has come, when
learning & development
should become every
professional’s individual
responsibility, irrespective
of what his/her
organization has in its
offering.

13. 13 | MedicinMan July 2015
T
he Front-line Manager is the first link in the pharma-
ceutical sales management hierarchy. Prospective
FMs are identified from among Professional Sales
Representatives (PSRs) for their performance as well their
potential ability to lead sales teams and execute marketing
plans. FMs are responsible for executing the company’s
business strategy on the field on a daily basis. Unless this
execution is of a very high order, the marketing plans con-
ceived by the top management cannot be realised.
During his first few months, it is common for the new FM
to run around in circles, take wrong turns and even get
lost. It takes a few months just to get acquainted with the
new role, a few more to become conversant with it, and
a long journey to become proficient in it. Perseverance is
the virtue that sustains the new FM during this transition
period.
The act of stepping into the role of an FM is similar to that
of a cricketer becoming a coach. The experienced cricketer
has developed skills that help him better understand what
to expect from his team. Once a PSR is promoted, he has
crossed a barrier that is permanent. It may take some time
for the new Front-line Manager to fully appreciate and
accept the change. Ironically, PSRs accept their colleague’s
promotion more easily and begin to visualise him in his
new role. For him, however, moving from Selling to Man-
aging is a big change.
E
PHARMA SALES MANAGEMENT
AND THE NEW FRONT-LINE
MANAGER
How a new Front-line Manager can make the transition from being a
great performer to getting great performance from others.
Anup Soans
BOOK EXTRACT: SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager by Anup Soans
Connect with Anup Soans on
LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter
Anup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the
Editor of MedicinMan.
Write in to him: anupsoans@medicinman.net
IQ
EQ

14. 14 | MedicinMan July 2015
But one thing hasn’t changed. He still has a sales
target and now it’s several times bigger. The es-
sence of pharmaceutical field sales management
is achieving sales targets and business objectives
through team effort. The sooner a new FM accepts
the fact that he is no longer one of the gang, the
sooner he begins to practise the skills he has learnt
and developed in order to succeed as an FM. He
must patiently accept the fact that there is much to
be learnt. Learning to lead people is not a hun-
dred-metre sprint; it is a Marathon. The role of an
FM at its core is the ability to create a performance
culture that fosters and grooms PSRs into confi-
dent achievers. The sales management process
is unique in that it has no beginning and no end.
It is a cycle which continually repeats itself. The
field sales management process consists of three
primary activities:
1. Field-training of PSRs
2. Executing the business strategy to achieve
sales targets
3. Performance management of PSRs
An FM may find himself performing all three activi-
ties in a day; he could be training new PSRs at 9:00
a.m., planning institutional sales with a senior PSR
(executing business strategy) at 11:00 a.m. and dis-
cussing performance issues with an underachiev-
ing PSR at 5:00 p.m. The quality of execution of all
these activities depends on the skill-levels that he
has developed in each area.
An FM may feel overwhelmed initially and may
even doubt his ability to deliver, but he should
remember that he has been promoted to the new
position because the Management thinks that he
has what it takes to lead a winning sales team. PSRs
want to be led. They want a leader who inspires,
challenges and directs them. They look for an FM
who fosters a win-win culture based on principles
and values that makes them believe their work is
important.
A person with good selling skills has a high prob-
ability of success as a PSR. Likewise, a new FM
who develops leadership and management skills
can also expect to succeed. It is important for the
new FM to remember that he did not become a
successful PSR overnight. It took time. But once he
had developed the necessary skills, he succeeded.
Anup Soans | Pharma Sales Management and the New Front-Line Manager
”
The role of an FM at its
core is the ability to create
a performance culture that
fosters and grooms PSRs
into confident achievers.
BOOK EXTRACT

15. 15 | MedicinMan July 2015
The same principle holds good when launching his
sales management career. He has to excel in these
three areas of activity by updating his Professional
Knowledge, sharpening his Managerial Competen-
cies and developing Emotionally Mature Leader-
ship skills.
One of the exciting aspects of becoming an FM
is the ability to put one’s personal stamp on the
environment in which PSRs work. Whenever a new
FM is appointed, PSRs wonder:
• What kind of person is the new FM?
• What is his style and temperament?
• What can we expect from him?
• Has anyone in the team worked with this
person?
It is but natural for PSRs to speculate about their
new Supervisor, his personality, style of working
and the kind of environment in which they will
have to work. Every FM has a distinct personality
and creates an environment that is distinctly his
own. Newly appointed Front-line Managers should
ask themselves the following questions:
• What type of environments have I worked in?
• What characterised each?
• Which environment worked best for me?
• What changes should I bring in?
• What new skills should I develop to be effec-
tive?
Carefully thinking out the answers to these
questions will enable new Front-line Managers to
visualise the work environment they must create in
order to motivate PSRs to achieve their goals. The
Front-Line Manager should not think of himself as
just a manager or a supervisor, least of all as a boss,
but rather as the Team leader/Captain who gives
direction to the team. Thinking of yourself only as
a supervisor places you in a position of traditional
authority based solely on respect for the position.
Rather, SuperWiser FMs must be leaders who
understand the personality traits, work preferences
and motivations of individual PSRs and have the
SuperVision to align the personal aspirations of
PSRs with the business objectives of the company.
The primary task for an FM as a team leader is to
create a vision that is compelling enough to moti-
vate PSRs to work towards attaining organisational
goals.
Anup Soans | Pharma Sales Management and the New Front-Line Manager
”
PSRs want to be led.
They want a leader who
inspires, challenges and
directs them. They look
for an FM who fosters a
win-win culture based on
principles and values that
makes them believe their
work is important.
BOOK EXTRACT

16. 16 | MedicinMan July 2015
The FM’s genuineness in his approach to PSR
development will play a large role in creating a cli-
mate of co-operation and contribution. The other
task before the Front-line Manager is to constantly
upgrade his Professional Knowledge, develop
Managerial Competence and gain Emotional Intel-
ligence that will empower him to motivate PSRs to
believe that their future will be brighter than their
past if they perform their tasks with a passion for
excellence. -AS
Anup Soans | Pharma Sales Management and the New Front-Line Manager
”
The other task before the
Front-line Manager is to
constantly upgrade his
Professional Knowledge,
develop Managerial
Competence and gain
Emotional Intelligence
that will empower him to
motivate PSRs to believe
that their future will be
brighter than their past
if they perform their
tasks with a passion for
excellence.
NOWAVAILABLEON
(click on the book to purchase on
flipkart)

17. 17 | MedicinMan July 2015
D
o we at all need Front-line Managers (FLMs)
especially in the context of Indian pharma?
The moment a team is formed either based
on a geographical need or based on the specialty/
portfolio need, the FLMs are put above them on a
ratio of 1:5/6/7.
What is the rationale or more importantly, what is the
purpose behind this hierarchical set up?
The justifications usually are – to get things done,
to lead a team towards performance, to achieve
budgets, to develop KOLs, etc. It could also be“since
every company has FLMs ours should have them as
well”; or“we have had them since time immemorial
and hence we should continue to have them”; or“our
FLMs are the business drivers”.
Let us look at the economic point of view. Every FLM
costs at least two or more times the cost of a single
sales person and correspondingly in terms of salary,
allowances, incentives, etc.
“Oh…that’s not a problem. The FLM must have a
multiplying effect on business and hence this is not
an issue. They are not COSTs but INVESTMENTs.”
If that is so, then why so much of noise about FLMs
and their lack of effectiveness, lack of control, mana-
gerial/leadership requirements, etc. It also goes to the
extent of questioning their role in joint field work and
the calls. And often, the very purpose of their exis-
tence is questioned.
Simon Sinek in his series of TED talks mentions that
all great things start with WHY and then to HOW and
WHAT. Putting it differently, I call this as PURPOSE,
PROCESS & PERSPECTIVES.
Based on decades of experience in the Indian pharma
industry it is quite obvious that the clear PURPOSE of
the FLM’s existence is very often missing. Hence this
E
K. Hariram
DO WE NEED
FRONTLINE
MANAGERS?A hard look at the impact of front-line managers on
pharma top-lines and bottom-lines.
K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at
Galderma India.
He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a
regular contributor. khariram25@yahoo.com

18. K. Hariram | Do We Need Front-line Managers?
18 | MedicinMan July 2015
confusion and criticism about their lack of effective-
ness.
If you look more deeply, the problem begins with
their recruitment/ internal promotion based on the
team design. The best sales person or the one who has
produced results by hook or crook gets promoted. He
is put on the job without adequate training. From day
one, the pressure is on him to deliver results. He extrap-
olates his past experiences and thrusts it on his team
members. Added to this, his manager/ boss hardly
adds any value to him or develops him.
So, do we create hierarchies or promote people to
blame them? Can we do away with FLMs? Maybe. There
will be more money to pay the sales people and thus
their quality and standard of living can be better.
The way to go about thus would be to:
1. Pay the sales force better with the additional funds
now available.
2. Put in place a proper sales management culture, so
that the process boundary lines are clearly drawn.
3. Build proper SFE tools and metrics.
4. Take charge of the control/monitoring mechanism
at HO/Sales administration level.
5. Improve visibility/connectivity through technolo-
gy.
6. Empower, train and develop the regional/second
(by default today) line manager to handle the
managerial aspects.
7. Social media approach to‘ON THE JOB’learning
and development on an ongoing basis.
8. Better engagement methods with doctors (includ-
ing patients) through tech based marketing tools.
9. Continuous development of selling skills.
10. Training and access to required data and infor-
mation including analytics and improving their
decision making skills based on them.
11. Structure career growth, accordingly.
12. Give them the freedom to perform and deliver
results.
I have listed only a few of them. Maybe, there are many
more the enlightened readers can come up with.
The unasked question is, in the changing context, do
we need the FLMs?
“It’s that feeling of cognitive dissonance, the feeling
you get when you have a stone in your shoe. You ought
to stop and shake it out, but you just keep moving it
around hoping you can put it somewhere it doesn’t
bother you. But it always does.”
Are we willing to“CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO?”- KH
”
Based on decades of
experience in the Indian
pharma industry it is
quite obvious that the
clear PURPOSE of the
FLM’s existence is very
often missing. Hence this
confusion and criticism
about their lack of
effectiveness.

19. 19 | MedicinMan July 2015
M
ulti-Channel Marketing (MCM) is a novel
and effective approach to address the new
challenges in pharmaceutical marketing. Us-
ing a well-planned campaign, over multiple sales and
marketing channels – from digital marketing to direct
doctor interaction – can boost company performance
significantly. It has the potential to increase revenue
and improve bottom-line by reducing cost.
MY NAME IS BOND … JAMES BOND!
MCM can be understood with a simple analogy from
the famous James Bond movie sequels. If you have
seen the movies, you will undoubtedly remember a
dialogue from the movie -“My Name is Bond… James
Bond”. The repetition of the name‘Bond’in the dia-
logue itself and its effective delivery across the movie
and its sequels has made it a grand hit in Hollywood
dialogues.
The objective of MCM is to communicate the marketing
message by securing attention and claiming a share of
the doctor’s time using different marketing channels
both offline and online, in order to project the message
effectively. The message has to be pervasive and be
communicated again and again – just like that dialogue
from James Bond movie that is repeated through the
movie and across sequels.
E
Phanish Chandra
WINNING THE CASINO ROYALE OF
MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING
How the changing habits of India’s net-savvy and mobile friendly population is
impacting pharma’s marketing strategies - and how to set yourself up to win.
Phanish Chandra is the CEO & Co-Founder
of DocPlexus.in.
DocPlexus helps its pharma clients transform
their marketing and KOL engagement
strategy using the DocPlexus.in platform
where 85000+ Indian doctors are looking for
answers to their unique clinical cases.

20. Phanish Chandra | Winning the Casino Royale of Multi-Channel Marketing
20 | MedicinMan July 2015
Compare it to the average time the Sales Rep gets to
interact with the doctor for each visit. Once it was 3-4
minutes but has now it is reduced to less than one
minute per visit.
TO IMPLEMENT MCM EFFECTIVELY, YOU
NEED TO GET TWO THINGS RIGHT -
1. Understand your audience well
India has 300 million Internet subscribers, which
secures it the 3rd position behind China and the US.
It is growing by 31% year on year. The findings of
the latest Ericsson ConsumerLab study carried out
in April-June 2014 among 4,000 smartphone users
across 18 urban cities in India revealed the following –
Indians spend at an average of 3 hours and 11 min-
utes on Smartphones per day as compared to 2 hours
and 8 minutes in front of their televisions.
Indians check their phones 77 times a day on an av-
erage, with about 26 per cent saying they do so more
than 100 times a day.
The growth of big screen smartphones has meant
that our content consumption habits have changed
and quite drastically at that. Now, there is hardly any
time when a person“does not do anything”. Even if a
spare minute is available, they reach for their smart-
phones to view videos, listen to music or update a
status on social networks.
Start by accepting that the audience behavior is not
static and changing rapidly. Doctors as audience of
Pharma Marketing spend their time across different
media. In last 5 years, the way doctors are spending
their time on different communication platform has
changed fundamentally. Pharma companies must
adapt to this change.
2. Fishing where the fish are
Since the undercurrent has shifted the big game be-
yond the obvious fishing points, the sales and market-
ing professionals in Pharmaceutical industry must fish
where the fish are. A denial of changing market and
failure to adapt will lead many dominant players of
today to lose their market share. Companies who will
be swift to adapt and integrate MCM will be leaders of
tomorrow.
Choose right combination of offline (Sales Rep visits,
Print, Event promotion) and online (Websites, social
media, e-CMEs, Webinars and mobile apps) models
of engagement based on behavior of your target
audience.
”
Indians spend at an
average of 3 hours and 11
minutes on Smartphones
per day as compared to
2 hours and 8 minutes in
front of their televisions.
Indians check their phones
77 times a day on an
average, with about 26
per cent saying they do so
more than 100 times a day.

21. 21 | MedicinMan July 2015
Transforming yourself to win the game every time
To transform your marketing team to become like
James Bond, you need to first define your strategic
goals and constraints. Once you are done with that,
you must find the right team and partner to execute
your MCM strategy. Any marketing channel which is
a part of your MCM strategy must be measured for its
performance with right analytical tools.
Once you have the willingness, strategy, right team
and partners to execute your plan, you would certain-
ly win the Casino Royale of Multi-Channel Pharma-
ceutical marketing. -PC
Phanish Chandra | Winning the Casino Royale of Multi-Channel Marketing
”
To transform your
marketing team to
become like James Bond,
you need to first define
your strategic goals and
constraints. Once you are
done with that, you must
find the right team and
partner to execute your
MCM strategy.