- For a drug launch, a pharma company aimed for top performance within the sales team.
- 1,300 salespeople experienced living as a patient with asthma to enhance understanding.
- With excellent outcomes, the organisation is exploring integrating the programme into its onboarding process.
Elevating Sales Teams Effectiveness
With the launch of a groundbreaking asthma treatment, the organisation faced the challenge of ensuring their US sales force was prepared to engage HCPs effectively. The goal was to enhance the quality of customer conversations, maximise time spent with HCPs, and improve the articulation of patient unmet needs.
The ultimate goal was to reduce patient suffering through respiratory disease by increasing access to better medication, through a more emotionally connected sales team.
Increasing Confidence in Having Patient-Focused Conversations with Customers
The A Life in a Day team worked with the organisation to deliver the experience in two key phases. Firstly, the field sales trainers went through the A Life in a Day experience of living with the physical, psychological, and emotional challenges of a person living with asthma. This helped solidify their understanding of the patients, empowering them to guide the sales team in improving their communication techniques.
The next phase involved the 1,300 strong sales team experiencing what it is like to live with the burden of asthma. The impact and learnings from the experience were captured through workshops that shaped how the sales reps would tailor their discussions with HCPs to focus on patient needs and how they can drive better outcomes for patients. The initiative was adapted to a format that suited the team’s availability without compromising its effectiveness.
More Time and Better Quality Conversations
The results of living like a patient for a day demonstrated significant positive changes across the whole sales team.
Thirty days after the experience, 31% of participants reported an increase in time given by HCPs driving more comprehensive discussions. Furthermore, 85% of the sales force improved their ability to articulate the unmet patient need, a key objective of the initiative.
Confidence levels also saw a notable rise, with 97% of participants feeling more equipped to navigate sales conversations after taking part.
The experience not only enhanced individual performance but also contributed to reducing inefficiencies within the sales process. Given its success, the organisation is exploring the integration of the experience into its onboarding process for new sales representatives, ensuring long-term benefits.
