Authors



Brian Flanagan

Latest:

The Case for Coaching

I'm running as fast as I can." That describes how many pharma executives see their work-as a high-stakes race. Just as competitive runners find that a coach can be a vital part of their success, many business executives are discovering the benefits of working with a professional coach to improve their leadership skills. The result has been a transformation in the way coaching is applied and perceived. Far from being seen as a remedial step for "fixing" executives who are performing below standard, it has become widely used as a way to make already-effective leaders even better and to move them to the next level of their leadership.


John O'Malley

Latest:

Empowerment selling through persuasion

Aside from helping the prospects and customers succeed at what they do or want to do, salespeople are most interested in one specific behavior change: compliance to a request. In generating a positive response, six basic tendencies of human behavior take the stage: reciprocation, consistency, social validation, liking, authority and scarcity. The more of the six following persuasion influencers a salesperson uses in his or her presentation and selling approach, the greater his or her chances of closing the sale:


Robert DuPont

Latest:

Cementing relationships with residents

There is a great need (and an opportunity) to help younger physicians during the crucial beginning of their careers.


Rick Richmond

Latest:

Can You Keep a Secret?

Pharmaceutical companies big and small depend heavily on information, much of it confidential and valuable. From low-tech customer lists and marketing plans to the coveted results of expensive biotech research, the pharma industry is built on confidential information that must be protected, making the law of trade secrets a key component in a company?s strategy to protect its intellectual property.


Neil Baum

Latest:

The successful abbreviated detail

Making the most of less than two minutes.


Gwen McLean

Latest:

Call on everyone in the physician's office

Become a resource to the doctor's staff.


Stephen Allain

Latest:

Supplement your 401(k) with an IRA

Having so many retirement choices shouldn't leave you wondering which type of retirement savings plan is best for you.


Kimberly A. Farrell

Latest:

Looking ahead to 2002

Taking steps to grow into a well-rounded professional.


Joanna Breitstein

Latest:

Millennium's Deborah Dunsire: Woman of the Year

From her start as a physician working in apartheid-era South Africa to the dramatic turnaround and takeover of Millennium, Deborah Dunsire has lived a life that has defied all expectations.



Octave V. Baker

Latest:

Selling successfully to foriegn-born physicians

The growing number of foreign-born physicians in the United States presents both challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical sales representatives.


Ilyssa Levins

Latest:

Agency Best Practice in Regulatory Compliance

The pharmaceutical industry imposes higher standards on advertising, PR, and medical education agencies than any other industry, except perhaps the financial services sector. Agencies need to keep up with constantly changing rules for advertising and promoting drugs or devices.


Steven W. Mayo

Latest:

Committed to the Quest

It all started because of a commitment I made when I was too young to understand what I was getting myself into. My mother had headaches. Not "throbbing in the temples" headaches, but gut-wrenching, totally incapacitating, "rip the carpet out with your bare hands" headaches. Migraine, cluster headache, trigeminal neuralgia-whatever the flavor, they were really bad. She saw practically every specialist in the country. They gave her ergotamine injections until her fingers turned blue, narcotics powerful enough to stop a charging elephant, and dozens of other medications, many of which were experimental at the time. Nothing worked.


Kenneth I. Kaitin, PhD

Latest:

Meeting Unmet Medical Needs: The Disparity Dilemma

The US drug regulatory system fails to address the country’s most urgent medical needs with the resources appropriate for the task. But change is possible, say Christopher-Paul Milne and Kenneth I. Kaitin.


Paul J. Anderson

Latest:

The Outsider

In his new book, former Lilly CEO Randall Tobias explains his ideas about management. Do they work? He'll have a chance to prove it as he takes the reins of America's $15 billion global campaign against AIDS.



Pam Bailey Marinko

Latest:

Refresher course: office courtesy

Treating other reps well can be good for everyone.


Stan Bernard, MD

Latest:

From Customers to Competitors

"Payers have evolved to become powerful global contenders with pharma for increasingly limited funding of drug budgets."



Rob Benson

Latest:

DTC: European Style

In 1996, Sandoz (now Novartis) decided to brave new waters to create consumer demand for the antifungal Lamisil (terbinafine) in the United Kingdom. But with European law forbidding pharma companies to conduct brand-name advertising, Sandoz needed to find another way to encourage patients to talk with their doctors about onychomycosis and its treatment options. So the company re-named the condition the more consumer-friendly "fungal infection" and took out newspaper ads asking readers to call or write to "Step Wise" for a free brochure on foot care.


Julie E. Williamson

Latest:

Economy puts Medicare reform on Hold

Can George W. Bush, Tommy Thompson and Congress agree on how to move forward?


Mike Stone

Latest:

Relationship building: A potent tool

It seems nothing short of amazing to me that the vast majority of pharmaceutical reps bypass what is surely the most potent sales tool that exists. Before I became a provider 22 years ago, I was involved in sales. It was then that I realized that sales are greatly influenced by the nature and quality of the relationships between salespeople and their customers. Failure on the part of pharmaceutical representatives to develop good, strong relationships most often leads to poor prescribing habits on the part of the provider.


Stephen J. Smith

Latest:

Clipping Coupons

In 1894, a druggist named Asa Candler created coupons for Coca-Cola, a new "healthcare" product with "valuable tonic and nerve stimulant properties." After that early start in medical products, coupons developed as a marketing medium and were widely adopted by the consumer packaged goods industry. According to the Promotion Marketing Association's Coupon Council, 336 billion coupons were distributed in 2002, which were redeemed for approximately $3 billion in consumer discounts. Now, more than a hundred years after their debut, consumers are clipping coupons for prescription pharmaceutical products.


Lynda C. McDermott

Latest:

Bridging the Gap

An effective, high-performing alliance can generate a stronger bottom line outcome.


Julie Hall

Latest:

Information Into Action

The key is to convert raw data into actionable intelligence that can enhance operations and improve decision making.


Mark Heitner

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Internet healthcare

You, the doctor and the sales call.


Jeff Worthington

Latest:

A Matter of Taste

Developing Palatable Medicines for Children is Never Easy, But the Rewards Can Be Great


William D. Novelli

Latest:

Shake Hands on Rx Drugs for Medicare

I received a letter recently from an AARP member in Carrolton, Kentucky, who wrote: ?Medicare will not help seniors with medicine costs. My husband?s a diabetic, has had two heart surgeries and asthma since childhood. He is 68 years old. I am 65 and have congestive heart failure and a lung disease. We have to spend so much on medicine, we barely live?can?t go anywhere except to the doctors and grocery. Please help people like us.?


Peter Keeling

Latest:

Early Engagement with Medical Laboratories

Timely engagement is the key to expanding the use of companion diagnostics.