Personal Selling in Pharma Marketing

Shilpa Garg

PERSONAL SELLING
The purpose of personal selling is to bring the right product into contact with the right customer and to make certain that ownership transfer takes place.

SALESMANSHIP
It is a direct face-to-face, seller-tobuyer influence, which can communicate the facts necessary for making a buying decision, or it can utilize the psychology of persuasion to encourage the formation of a buying decision.

AIDAS Theory of Selling

Securing Attention Gaining Interest Kindling Desire Inducing Action Building Satisfaction

AIDAS
During the successful selling interview, the doctor's mind passes through five successive mental states: Attention. Interest, Desire, Action and Satisfaction. Implicit in this theory is the notion that the doctor goes through these five stages consciously, so the sales presentation must lead the doctor through them in the right sequence if a sale is to result.

Securing Attention

AIDA S

The goal is to put the doctor into a receptive state of mind. The first few minutes of the interview are crucial. The MR has to have a reason, or an excuse, for conducting the interview. If the MR previously has made an appointment, this phase presents no problem, but experienced MR's say that even with an appointment, a MR must posses considerable mental alertness, and be a skilled conversationalist, to survive the start of the interview. The doctor's guard is naturally up, since he or she realizes that the caller is bent on selling something. The MR must establish good rapport at once.

Securing Attention

AIDA S

The MR needs an ample supply of conversation openers. Favorable first impressions are assured by, among other things proper attire, neatness, friendliness and a genuine smile. Skilled MR's often decide upon conversation openers just before the interview so that those chosen are as timely as possible. Generally it is advantageous if the opening remarks are about the doctor (people like to talk and hear, about themselves) or if they are favorable comments about the doctor's business.

Securing Attention

AIDA S

A good conversation opener causes the doctor to relax and sets the stage for the total presentation. Conversation openers that cannot be readily tied in with the remainder of the presentation should be avoided, for once the conversation starts to wander, great skill is required to return to the main theme.

Gaining Interest

AIDA S

The second goal is to intensify the doctor's attention so that it evolves into strong interest. Many techniques are used to gain interest. Some MR's develop a contagious enthusiasm for the product. When the product is technical, flip charts, or other visual aids serve the same purpose.

Gaining Interest

AIDA S

Throughout the interest phase, the hope is to search out the selling appeal that is most likely be effective. Sometimes, the doctor drops hints, which the MR then uses in selecting the best approach. To encourage hints by the doctors, some MR's devise stratagems to elicit revealing questions. Others, ask the doctor questions designed to clarify attitudes and feelings towards the product. The more experienced the MR, the more he or she has learned from interviews with similar doctors.

Gaining Interest

AIDA S

But even experienced sales personnel do considerable probing, usually, the questionsand-answer variety, before identifying the strongest appeal. In addition, doctors-interests are affected by basic motivations, closeness of the interview subject to current problems, its timeliness, and their mood - receptive, skeptical, or hostile, and the MR must take all these into account in selecting the appeal to emphasize.

Kindling Desire

AIDA S

The third goal is to kindle the doctor's desire to the ready-to- buy / prescribe point. The MR must keep the conversation running along the main line towards the sale. The development of sales obstacles, the doctor's objections, external interruptions, and digressive remarks can sidetrack the presentation during the phase. Obstacles must be faced and ways, found to get around them.

Kindling Desire

AIDA S

Objections need answering to the doctor's satisfaction. Time is saved and the chance of making a sale improved if objections are anticipated and answered before the doctor raises them. External interruptions cause breaks in the presentation, and when conversation resumes, good MR's summarize what has been said earlier before continuing. Digressive remarks generally should be disposed of tactfully, with finesse, but sometimes distracting digression is best handled bluntly, for example, "well, that's all very interesting, but to get back to the subject ... "

Inducing Actions

AIDA S

If the presentation has been perfect, the doctor is ready to act - that is, to prescribe. However, prescription is not automatic and, as a rule, must be induced. Experienced MR's rarely try for a dose until they are positive that the doctor is fully convinced of the merits of the proposition. Thus, it is up to the MR to sense when the time is right.

Inducing Actions

AIDA S

The trial close, the close on a minor point, and the trick close are used to test the doctor's reactions. Some MR never ask for a definite "yes" or "no" for fear of getting a "no", from which they think there is no retreat But it is better to ask for the order / prescription straight-fowardly. Most doctors find it is easier to slide away from hints than from frank requests for an order / prescription.

Building Satisfaction

AIDA S

After the doctor has given the order / prescription, the MR should reassure the doctor that the decision was correct. The doctor should be left with the impression that the MR merely helped in deciding. Building satisfaction means thanking the doctor for the order / prescription, and attending to such matters as making certain that the order / prescription is filled as written, and following up on promises made. The order / prescription is the climax of the selling situation, so the possibility of an anticlimax should be avoided - doctor sometimes unsell themselves and the MR should not linger too long.