It was a privilege to speak to the nationwide Business District Managers of GSK. GlaxoSmithKline is the world’s leading research-based company whose mission is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better, live longer.
I spoke on the first day of their 4-day conference. I heard that they have trainings as often as they can; no wonder GSK is one of the best companies in the world.
My topic is on EntreLeadership, which is defined as the process of leading to cause a venture to grow and prosper. Managers with an entrepreneurial mindset can serve a company well because they will begin to cultivate a sense of ownership for their company. They are not employees anymore; they are Team Leaders and Team Members!
In retrospect, I did my TNA (Training Needs Analysis) by interviewing former Medreps of 10-15 years from other companies — they’re already promoted to higher positions today. Their number one problem? Lack of formal training. Training is a necessity nowadays in a very competitive world.
I also interviewed my doctor friends who were willing to give their 2 cents worth of advice. One of them is a board of director in a dermatological society, and is visited by an average of 50 medreps a week.
I asked them to give me the top 3 reasons they choose a product to prescribe out of all the medreps who approach them carrying different brands.
Top 3:
1) Relationship
2) Quality
3) Price
I was bewildered by what he said: “What most pharmaceutical companies fail to understand is that the quality and price of their products are only secondary to why we choose a product to endorse. The main reason is if we have a genuine relationship with them.” He was saying that there should be more non-medical trainings (like personality development) for pharmaceutical companies, aside from their product trainings. They need to know the value of connecting to people first before making a sale.
The group from GSK seems to know this from the inside-out. When I asked them the same thing, they answered…relationships.
If there’s no relationship, there’s no sale, and if there’s no sale, there’s no business.
I enjoyed my talk with GSK. Great crowd, Great venue, Great company!