This document provides an overview of the pharmaceutical sales and distribution management structure in India. It describes the organizational structure including heads of various business units and therapeutic areas. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of various sales, marketing and training positions. It also describes processes for recruitment, evaluation, promotion and training of sales representatives. Finally, it discusses supply chain management practices around distribution, inventory management and relationships with distributors.
India & It's Neigbours - Macroeconomic & Business Perspective
Pharma Sales and Distribution Management in India - Overview
1. P H A R M A S A L E S & D I S T R I B U T I O N
M A N A G E M E N T I N I N D I A
A A S H I T A 0 8 1 | A N I R U D D H 0 9 0 | A N U 0 9 4 | A R I T R I K A 0 9 6 | K V S A U R A B H 1 1 4
N I K H I L S 1 2 4 | P A A R M I 1 2 7 | S A A R I N I 1 3 9 | S U R A B H I 1 5 2 | V A S U N D H A R A 1 5 8
3. S A L E S F O R C E
General
Manager
BU Head
Diabetes
BU Head
Hospitals
BU Head
Internal
Medicine
BU Head
Cardiology
BU Head
Central
Nervous
System
Area Sales Manager
Regional Sales Manger
Territory Manager
Chief
Operating
Officer
National
Sales Manager
(1 per BU Head)
(5 per NSM)
(5 per RSM) (5 per RSM)
Scientific Sales
Executive
Scientific Sales
Executive
4. M A R K E T I N G
General
Manager
Marketing
Manager
Diabetes
Marketing
Manager
Hospitals
Marketing
Manager
Medicine
Marketing
Manager
Cardiology
Marketing
Manager
Central Nervous
System
Chief
Operating
Officer
Product Manager
(2-3 per Marketing
Manager)
5. T R A I N I N G
General
Manager
Training
Head
Diabetes
Training
Head
Hospitals
Training
Head
Medicine
Training
Head
Cardiology
Training Head
Central Nervous
System
Chief
Operating
Officer
Regional Training
Manager
(5 per Training
Head)
6. REGIONAL MANAGER
JOB DESCRIPTION & RESPONSIBILITIES
JOB DESCRIPTION
•To achieve the financial goal of the company with available resources
•Maintain the gross profit margins of the region
•Manage top end customers in the region
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
•Coach the area managers to manage the SSEs
•Keep the sales team motivated
•Plan the training need analysis of the team
•Recruit right people for the roles
Ensure Right Drug to Right Patient
7. AREA MANAGER
JOB DESCRIPTION
•Work 6 days a week
•Joint Field Work – accompany SSEs every day
•Work with key opinion leaders to learn NEEDS of patients
•Meet 9-10 doctors everyday
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
•Coach and develop SSEs
•People Management : 5-7 executives
•Provide people right environment to achieve targets
•Identify areas of improvement for each SSE
Ensure Right Drug to Right Patient
JOB DESCRIPTION & RESPONSIBILITIES
9. E V A L U A T I O N
Data collected every week and
consolidated over the periods for appraisal
at the end of the year
PARAMETERS FOR MEASUREMENT
-Monthly sales objective
-Providing best solutions to the patients
-Adherence to dress code / professional practices
-Daily Schedule and monthly chart
-Daily Coaching Score
-Improvement Indicators
Fortnightly
Monthly
Quarterly
Half yearly
Yearly
11. P R O M O T I O N
EVALUATION PARAMETERS
-Understanding of the market
-Analysis done on data received from distributors
and pharmacies
-Conduct of daily activities
-Assessment of patients’ needs
-People Skills
-Desire to learn and adaptability POLICIES
-Appraisal once a year
-Based on the aforementioned parameters and
competency of the employee
-One round of interview with the AM and RM
13. R E C R U I T M E N T
Preferred Qualification :
B.Pharm / Biology background
GK Test:
Anatomy and physiology
Technical Interview round
with ASM and RSM
HR Interview Round
Final Interview with
BU Head
Probation Period:
6 months – 1 Year
Focus on:
Attitude
Communication
“We are a Women Empowered Organization
with
45.4% of our Workforce comprising of
women employees”
Number of leaves:
30Casual Leaves per year
PROCESS
15. T R A I N I N G
‘COACHING CULTURE’
• ‘Listen Ask Probe’ Philosophy
• Regular Training Programmes, Modules, Exams
• Focus on Commitment, Confidence and Quality
COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Regional Training and
Development Manager
• Skills Development
• Understand Territory,
Science, Communication
National Training Manager
• Teach Managers how to Manage
INITIATIVES
• MBA Programs for ASMs
• Internal Education Policy
• Socio – Cultural Events like Epilepsy Drives,
Polio Drives, Biopsy
• Awareness Camps
• Bonding sessions with Physicians,
Pharmacists, Doctors
• Understanding Internal Functioning of
Organization
17. S U P P L Y C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T
Manufacturing Units
Goa | Ankleshwar
Clearing & Forwarding Agents
(28)
2800 Distributors in 72 locations
Hospitals
Retailer
Wholesaler
CFAs can sell to hospitals and
wholesalers but not to retailers
The entire distribution system is
Outsourced to an agency
0.5-1% of the company turnover
Is paid to the agency
19. 1-1.5 %
69 %
The manufacturers
sell the product at a
net rate of 69% on the
MRP
8-16 %
Distributors sell at 10-20% for
non-NLEM medicines and 8-
16% for NLEM medicines [ This
varies depending on the size
of the distributor]
10-15 %
Margins are represented as % on the MRP(Maximum Retail Price)
D ISTR IBUTION MAR GIN
20. S U P P L Y C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T
COLD CHAIN
•Cold storage is maintained through
refrigeration at all levels
• Effort is made to ensure that no harm
comes to the quality of the product for
the lack of maintenance
EXPIRED PRODUCTS
•Stock documents include details about a
product batch
•Stock taken back 3 months prior to expiry as
per FDA norms
•Expired stock returned to the sales team: At
full credit
•All the expired products are sent to a
destruction cell
21. DISTRIBUTOR
•Distributor maintains an inventory of 15 days
•Inventory capacity is calculated based on sale
of previous months and trends
•Supply period is 2-3 days
•21 days is the payment rotation
SALES TEAM
•The sales team meets the distributors every
week or every 15 days
•They discuss the following:
•Volume of sales
•Closing inventory
•Hospitals that need stock replenishment
•A sales plan is then shared which considers:
•How to improve sales w.r.t. trends?
•What are the pertinent market factors?
•How the tactics used by the marketing
team will impact growth?
•What impact will other factors like
seasons have on sales?
S U P P L Y C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T
22. T R U S T W O R T H Y R E L A T I O N S H I P S
23. T R U S T W O R T H Y R E L A T I O N S H I P S
• Maintaining Ethical International Standards
• Scientific Basis to prove credibility
• Offer healthy variety of products
• Critical Patients in ICU: Discuss with Doctor; Ask
how they are doing
• Check if there is any Adverse Reaction to
Medicine: There is a Department for this.
Call the department --> Fill a Form. -->
Communicate with Doctor --> Collect Patient
Information
• Useful Information: Precautionary information
FOCUS ON
REPUTATION
PRODUCT QUALITY
CARE FOR THE PATIENTS WELL BEING
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
CONSTANT FEEDBACK AFTER SALES
DISSEMINATING USEFUL INFORMATION
25. 7AM
9AM
D A Y I N L I F E
Good
Morning!
Meet executives to
know how many
doctors to meet and
which medicines to
take
12NOON
Visit doctors based on
appointments taken
earlier2PM
4PM
Done with
day
Some physicians meet
late at night
OPD
12 / 1 AM
after surgery
26. M O N D A Y
T U E S D A Y
W E D N E S D A Y
T H U R S D A Y
F R I D A Y
S A T U R D A Y
S U N D A Y
TASKS AVERAGE TIME SPENT (min)
Meeting executives 120 (Max 180)
Travel to doctor territory 30
Visit doctor (appointment
based)
120 ( max 150)
Lunch 60
Visit physicians & take
appointments
180 (max 210)
Night brief 60
Late night visit 60
TIME ESTIMATES FOR DAILY TASKS
D A Y I N L I F E
27. A N A L Y S I S & R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
28. S W O T A N A L Y S I S
STRENGTHS
•10 Therapeutic Areas :10 year old international Brand
• Sales Force motivation :80-90% retention
• Strong Value System shared by all employees
• Credible and trusted among customers
•Favorable ethical position
WEAKNESSES
• No collaboration between Medical/Sales/Marketing
• Not ready for changing environment- no field structure
for new decision-makers
• Short range planning & lack of launch readiness
•Takes 2 years to break into a new market
OPPORTUNITIES
• Increased integration of medical + sales & marketing
functions
• Increase focus on new decision-makers : Medical +
Management professionals
• Focused approach to New product launches
• Implement SMART — take lead make SOPs more
structured within industry
THREATS
• Aggressive Competition - extreme cost reduction
• Government Regulations and Medical Associations
restrictions
• No proactive measures to check and control
Counterfeit drugs in Rural/ less literate markets
29. R ECOMMEN D ATIONS
• Last Mile Delivery: Ensure optimal conditions for drug through Cold
Storage management.
• Pick and Choose customers and alter communications: Communicate
over Mobiles, Internet for web-savvy customers, etc.
•Improve Inter-Department communication to strengthen sales
•Send newsletters to improve the know-how of the company – for
employees of various levels