How Good Are Your Physician Targets?
The methodology under which physician targets are segmented and selected is a critical component of optimizing the productivity and efficiency of the sales force. The right sales force calling on the wrong targets dramatically hinders the sales force’s selling efforts and ultimately leaves sales on the table. So how do you know if your targets are as good as they could be? Let’s explore how you can determine if your sales force’s targets are the correct ones.
What Proportion of Your Calls is Unproductive?
One factor that can help determine if your targets are the correct ones is the proportion of unproductive calls. So what is an “unproductive” call? We at TMA define an “unproductive” call as one that does not maintain or produce business. Thus, by our definition, a prospecting call that does not produce positive results is an unproductive call. That is not to say that unproductive calls should not exist; without unproductive calls, there is no possibility of making prospecting calls. In fact, a good sales force should have a proportion of its calls classified as unproductive. But how much?
The proportion of allowable unproductive calls depends on a number of factors. Chief among them is where the product is in its product life cycle. New products can have as much as 40% of calls considered unproductive while mature products typically should never have more than 20% of calls considered unproductive. Note that many other attributes, such as whether the product treats a chronic or acute illness, whether the product is buy-and-bill, the size of the product’s market share, etc., also impact the proportion of unproductive calls that is acceptable. A company needs to know if the sales force has too high a proportion of unproductive calls due to targets that are not correct.
There are a number of other attributes in addition to the proportion of unproductive calls that can shed light on the effectiveness of life sciences targets. We put these attributes into an easy-to-remember acronym for physician targeting assessment: GAPPS®.
GAPPS®: A Scorecard for Life Sciences Targeting
GAPPS® is an acronym of the five target attributes that measure the effectiveness of life sciences targets:
The Marketing Advantage runs an analysis against these attributes—called a GAPPS® analysis—to assess life sciences targets and provide important feedback that can be used to optimize sales force productivity and increase overall sales. Each criterion is evaluated and given a rating from 1.0 to 5.0, where 1.0 indicates a significant need for improvement, 3.0 is passable (but could be improved) and 5.0 indicates superior results. A final overall rating is determined by combining the rating of the individual components. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your HCP segmentation and targeting methodology based on these individualized ratings can help pinpoint improvements that will increase the effectiveness of the sales force.
What is so powerful about our GAPPS® analysis is that its results can be used to project how much of an increase in sales could be realized if the right targets were pursued. When the sales force is calling on the right targets—such as those identified through our innovative Dynamic Targeting™ methodology—this projected lift becomes a reality. (In fact, Dynamic Targeting™ has statistically been shown to increase sales an average of 7% to 15% above traditional targeting methods!)
Conclusion
Oftentimes, it can be difficult for life sciences companies to truly know how effective—or ineffective—their HCP segments and targets are. Our GAPPS® analysis statistically evaluates the quality of physician segmentation and targeting methodologies for each product, and provides an assessment of how much the targets—and subsequently sales—might be improved. Request a free consultation with us today to get started on revitalizing your targeting and segmentation strategy to ensure maximum sales force productivity and efficiency.
