star

• Candidate>
  • Introduction
  • Candidate Help
  • Getting into Medical Sales
  • Candidate Testimonials
  • Healthcare Company Profiles
  • Pharmaceutical Company Profiles
  • PCT List
  • Hospital List
  • Helpful Links
  • Industry Overview
  • Career Insights
  • Customer Insights
• Client>
  • Introduction
  • Contract Resource Division
  • Master Vendor
  • Testimonials
  • Company In Focus
  • Client Feedback
  • Contact Sales Teams
  • Vacancy Management
  • Key Account Management
  • Differential Resourcing
  • The fluid process
• Industry Articles
• About star>
  • Introduction
  • Visions and Values
  • star Team
  • Join Us
  • Customer Service Policy
  • Equality Opportunities and Diversity Policy
  • Complaints Policy and Procedure
• News>
  • star Blog
  • star Selected News
• Home

Contract Sales Organisations and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Broadly speaking, the purpose of Contract Sales Organisations across all sectors is to assist companies with the sales and marketing of their products and/or services. Historically, within the pharmaceutical industry, pharma companies have resourced their own sales and marketing positions, but in recent times, contact sales organisations have migrated from optional to essential.  The US Pharmaceutical market has seen a 10-12% increase in the use of outsourced companies, and biotechnology companies have doubled their outsourcing usage over the last five years.

Contract Sales Organisations entered the market place in the late 1970s to early 1980s, an affluent era during which pharmaceutical companies were launching block buster products into the public domain, in dichotomy with the economic pressure we face now. Contract Sales Organisations were employed to provide personnel quickly to capitalise on timely product potential, and react to rival movement more rapidly and efficiently than pharmaceutical companies were able to on their own.

The situation pharma companies find themselves in now presents a spectrum of variable challenges. The current economic burden pharmaceutical companies’ face has led to greater efforts to ensure optimum efficiency, and the reliance on third parties to bolster resources on a strategic basis; this is understandable given that approximately 75% pharma companies’ marketing budget is spent on their sales forces’ activity.  

In addition to the global financial challenges that are adversely affecting multiple industries, the pharmaceutical market has its own barriers to overcome. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent organisation which provides guidance for public health, directed at those working in the NHS, local authorities and the wider public/voluntary sector. It also gives guidance on the use of existing and new medicines, treatments and procedures on the NHS, and on clinical practice. The influence of NICE has escalated since its inception in April 2005; its authority creates an involuted scenario for pharma companies who cannot fully prepare a sales strategy whilst recommendation from NICE is pending. This scenario leaves pharma companies with less time to prepare and recruit for a new product launch. Furthermore, the emergence of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Organisations has led to the formulation of a new body of decision makers, consequentially creating an extra tier in the sales process which needs to be addressed. Primary Care Organisations are accountable for 75% of NHS budgets and gaining access to decision makers in these institutions is not easy. Whilst GPs are still responsible for their own prescribing choices, there is more pressure than ever before from Primary Care Organisations and Strategic Health Authorities, particularly in terms of cost effectiveness. Within Primary Care Organisations, the select few individuals responsible for prescribing are heavily targeted - their time is harder to secure and the competition is even stronger. In a recent study 80% of PCT leads & GPs questioned believed that pharmaceutical companies should work in partnership with Primary Care Organisations to identify local needs and formulate strategies in partnership to meet those needs.

With the pharmaceutical industry facing new and unprecedented challenges, the role of the Contract Sales Organisation has evolved necessarily from a basic recruitment function, to a provider of sales and project management, consultancy, and in some cases working alongside pharmaceutical companies to devise pipeline strategies, new product development propositions and brand planning, at the discretion of the client. 

Typically, a Contract Sales Organisation will employ an individual, and then deploy them to a client, having thoroughly briefed and gained permission from the candidate to do so, on more flexible terms. It is this flexibility that allows Contract Sales Organisations to efficiently answer demand in particular areas, to support a new product launch or ‘hotspot’ drive, or to provide cover for sickness, maternity cover, resignations and secondments. Large companies managing vast sales teams will in particular find it impossible to react swiftly to market changes and/or tactical competitor movement; in scenarios such as these, Contract Sales Organisations are invaluable, able to swiftly recruit and train the right people to address market needs. The first eighteen months of a new product’s life cycle are the most crucial; many pharmaceutical companies are finding that Contract Sales Organisations can help them to capitalise on a new product’s potential during this time, and redeploy them when this period is over. Smaller companies are increasingly aligning themselves with Contract Sales Organisations, positioning them as valued partners.

Contract Sales Organisations are also able to absorb many of the risks associated with recruitment; they are accountable for poor performance and/or redeployment, saving the pharma company the financial cost and logistical difficulties of dealing with recruitment and redundancies.

For staff employed for a contract position, the concern may be that contract staff are often the first to be removed during downsizing; a point often neglected is that during periods of upsizing, contract employment is usually the first choice. Individuals employed on a contracted basis are often paid very good wages, and in reality, the contract can be treated as a sort of probationary period during which candidates can prove themselves suitable for forthcoming permanent headcount jobs. Due to the increasing popularity of Contract Sales Organisations (a number of large companies in the UK are outsourcing 30-40% of their representatives) their market place perception is changing; Contract Sales Organisations are now perceived to have in place, or access to, a more valuable pool of talented individuals than ever before, and contract positions can allow talented individuals a ‘foot in the door’ to their company of choice and the opportunity to broaden their professional experience.

star’s contract sales division currently has a number contract vacancies across various disciplines; for further details of contract positions in your area, please submit an information request form at this location: star Contract Sales Position contact form  or call 01225 336 335 for further details.

<<back

top ten jobs