Sales Training Examples to Help You Boost Pharma Sales

Pharmaceutical sales can be an incredibly competitive field. Major players in the industry have to fend off competition from smaller companies that release cheap imitations of their products. Smaller players often have a hard time breaking into new markets and getting the recognition they need to become trusted suppliers of pharmaceutical products and services.

On the forefront of every pharma company’s struggles to grow or even just maintain market share is the pharmaceutical sales team. These sales professionals close the leads brought in by marketing, help maintain positive relationships with existing customers, and create opportunities to grow revenue by upselling customers relevant and useful products or services.

However, to maximize sales results, sales reps need the right skills. This is where pharmaceutical sales training becomes important.

Why Pharmaceutical Sales Training Matters

Pharmaceutical sales training is a basic necessity for any successful team of pharma sales reps. Continuous, ongoing sales training helps sales team foster strong sales skills, increase awareness of important regulations, and provide a refresher of other information to prevent the phenomenon of “knowledge decay.”

Medical sales training can be particularly valuable for limiting a company’s risks. For example, say that regulators decide to release a new rule governing pharma sales interactions—something that’s been known to happen from time to time. Without training to explain these risks and make sales reps aware of the new regulation, there could be a risk of them violating the regulation.

Regular training helps mitigate such regulatory compliance risks—making it a near-mandatory tool for any pharmaceutical company. However, not all training is created equally. Some training exercises might do a better job of improving sales skills than other.

Another potential use for sales training exercises is to help with team building. Group activities can help promote a sense of camaraderie between members of the team so they’re more willing to communicate with and support one another.

What Makes a Good Sales Training Exercise?

So, what should you look for in a good sales training exercise? There are a few different factors that companies may want to look for in their training resources:

• Ease of Distribution. How easy is it to disseminate training tools and resources to the sales team? Ideally, training exercises should be easy to share with sales reps—especially when reps are working remotely in the field. Online training videos and classes are an example of a training exercise that would be great for ease of distribution since they can be accessed from anywhere the sales rep can get internet access.
• Cost of the Exercise. How expensive is it to arrange the training exercise? A pricier training exercise or session doesn’t always mean a better one. Ideally, the training should have a minimal cost per person. An example of a great training exercise with minimal costs would be a one-on-one roleplay session.
• The Interactivity of the Exercise. How interactive is the exercise? For many people, a hands-on activity is much more informative and memorable than a training video or reading a book where they have nothing to do. Sources such as eLearning Industry have noted that “people learn better when they’re actively involved than when they’re just passive observers.” Some organizations take interactivity to the next level by employing gamification strategies to encourage competitiveness and interaction with learning exercises.
• How Memorable the Exercise Is. Most people forget the majority of training content within a few days of completing the training course. This is especially true when training materials aren’t what the trainee would consider relevant, important, or particularly memorable. While repeat, ongoing sales training can help mitigate the effects of the “forgetting curve,” it’s also important to have memorable training sessions that stick out in learners’ minds longer than a bland lecture would. Interactive exercises are good for this, as are fun and spontaneous events.

3 Sales Training Exercise Examples

So, with factors like interactivity, ease of distribution, and cost in mind, what are some high-quality pharmaceutical sales training exercises that you could easily integrate into your own company’s learning initiatives?

Here are a few examples to consider:

1. Live Roleplay Sessions

No blog or list about effective sales training techniques is complete without a mention of live roleplay sessions. This training exercise is a classic for several reasons: it’s simple, effective, memorable, interactive, and doesn’t cost anything but time!

Roleplay sessions give sales reps a chance to practice new sales techniques and work out the kinks in their strategy—all in a safe and supportive environment with minimal pressure. While traditionally done face-to-face, modern companies can use videoconferencing tools like Slack, Zoom, or Dialpad Meetings to conduct them remotely.

2. Sales Training Games

Gamification has become a major driving force in modern training initiatives. Games are an easy way to encourage some competition, provide interactive training, and make lessons more memorable. And, in some cases, sales training games can be surprisingly inexpensive.

Productivity tracking solution provider Deputy has a list of some simple, but impactful, sales training games that you might find useful. One particularly interesting sales training exercise example from the article is a game called “S’up.”

The goal of the game is to have sales reps approach total strangers and ask them for tokens or personal quotes—which are then turned in for points later. The more personal the token or quote is, the more points it will be worth.

Deputy noted that the game is effective because “Sales is all about getting out of your comfort zone. No one likes to face rejection but, the more people are exposed to rejection, the more they learn that it’s nothing to fear.” In other words, sales reps playing this game with random crowds of strangers in public will face a lot of rejection—but it will ultimately help build vital interpersonal skills through those rejections (and occasional successes).

HubSpot also made a list of top-tier games for sales training, and one of the more intriguing suggestions was called the “Match Game.” In this game, trainers create a list of products or services and a set of ideal situations or customers for them. The two lists are jumbled up and presented to sales reps to pair the appropriate product or service to the correct customer need.

This training game helps newer employees internalize the features and benefits of different products so they can upsell the right things to the right audiences at the right time. This, in turn, helps improve sales results.

3. One-on-One Coaching Sessions

Mentorship can be a great way to have top performers pass on their secrets to success to newer sales reps. Arranging some one-on-one coaching sessions between your company’s best sales reps and those who may be struggling to meet their sales goals (or are new and in need of advice).

The requirements for these meetings aren’t usually too strenuous—the most basic thing is to arrange some time for the high-performer and the other employee to meet with one another. However, it’s important to have a reliable method of actually identifying the best sales reps in your organization, so tracking sales rep performance metrics can be crucial.

Need Help Building Your Sales Team?

These are just a few potential sales training exercises that pharma sales teams might use. If you need help building a talented sales team quickly, be sure to reach out to Axxelus today! As a contract sales organization (CSO), Axxelus specializes in helping pair skilled and motivated medical sales reps with organizations that can benefit from their skills.