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Becoming a
Business Partner
for a
Greater Purpose

Pharma sales contact on the decline

Just over half (54%) of physicians the research firm polled said that they have met with pharma sales reps in person this year, a substantial drop from 2018 when 67% reported such visits. 

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What’s more, the number of physicians who say they aren’t interacting with sales reps at all in the last six months has spiked this year to 39%, up from 24% last year. In some practice areas, the increases in the number of physicians not interacting with sales reps are even starker. For instance, the number of gastroenterologists not having contact with sales reps this year leaped to 8% from just 2% last year.

 

So what’s going on?

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Physicians are turning more and more to the internet on their own to answer questions about prescription drugs and biologics, their perception of pharma websites has improved substantially in the past two years.

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Physicians are saying don’t sell to me, don’t sell me a product, according to reports, 'Be a partner in care and help me care for my patients. As long as pharma does more of that and less ‘buy my product,’ their estimation should continue to increase in the eyes of doctors.'

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4 NEW ways Pharma sales reps can engage with Physicians 

Preliminary

Information

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Physicians are most open to product communication in the first year post-FDA approvals.

Value Added Support

Post-Preliminary information, physicians are looking for value-added support, patient resource and financial support.

Social Selling

Physicians are more open to unbiased information and engagement through social channels as long as those interactions are kept private.

Chat BOTS

Lastly, Pharma companies can invest in creating self detailing websites and chatbots to further engage with physicians

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