All the pharmaceutical companies give physician's sample to their medical representatives to promote different products. Samples of some established brands are also given in order to 'oblige' a doctor. But more often than not, the physician's sample reach different hands rather than reaching to the actual physicians. Undercutting of rates, greedy doctors, greedy chemists, infiltration from other territories, unreasonable sales budget and somewhat lethargic sales representatives are some of the reasons for this situation. The list; I have mentioned; may not be a complete one and hence you are free to make your own addition and deletion. This story is about the so called 'judicious' use of physician's sample.
Once upon a time, all the representatives were given some units of a hotcake product. But those units were not from the physician's sample lot rather they were the actual market pack; with MRP neatly written on them. While giving the medicine 'XYZ' to us our first line manager told us to 'judiciously' use them. Almost all of us accepted the packets with child like glee. And I am sure that most of us must have used them quite judiciously.
After about a couple of months of that incident all the representatives of the region converged to a major town for cycle meeting. Such meetings often happen to review the sales situation so that timely corrective actions could be taken to meet or surpass the sales budget.
On the first day of the meeting, I was getting ready when I got a call on the intercom. It was my first line manager. He told me to meet him in room number 302 after finishing breakfast. Once I was in the restaurant; looking for something light for breakfast; I got to know that all the other representatives had got similar massage from their bosses. What was surprising was that all of them had been called to the same room, i.e. room number 302.
The moment I entered the room number 302, my first line manager asked me, "Can you recall that I gave you 100 units of market pack of XYZ about two months back?"
I asked with a sense of surprise, "Yeah, I can. Do you want them back?"
My boss said, "No, I just want to know how did you utilise them."
The room was full of other first line managers from the region and many representatives as well. I nonchalantly replied, "I gave them to Rakesh."
My boss appeared to be surprised and said, "What? You gave it to Rakesh; your wholesaler? Why?"
I calmly replied, "It was of short expiry. I gave it to him so that he could use them judiciously. As simple as that."
My boss said, "Actually, some big guns from the head office have come to attend this meeting. You are not supposed to give this answer in front of them."
I guffawed at his statement and said, "Now you have given me the guess question, so it is your duty to tell me the correct answer which I am supposed to give."
My boss explained to me the ideal answer to that tricky question. The same answer was spoon-fed to all other medical representatives.
After that pre-meeting planning, the meeting began at 9 AM. The first line manager from Kanpur was the first to speak. He was wearing spotless white shirt from a costly brand. The polka dot tie on the shirt spoke of his sense of fashion. He was using a highly literary language as if he was addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations. Everyone appeared to be taking keen interest in his speech but in reality nobody was taking him seriously. Finally, he came to the crux of the matter and said, "Sir, let me talk about the real 'innovative' use of the market pack of XYZ which was given to each team in this region. All of my representatives went to the district hospital and different guys went to different departments to conduct the blitz campaign. We made an interesting story so that the doctor could hear. We told the doctor that it was the birthday of our product XYZ and hence our company was generous enough to give market pack for his patients. We asked the doctor to prescribe XYZ to his patients for at least 15 days. Five days' dose was given from our side............."
On his clue, the senior-most representative from his team flashed a transparent zipper pouch; with XYZ tablets inside. He said, "Sir, that is how we gave these tablets to each patient to whom the doctor had prescribed XYZ. The senior guy was duly followed by other representatives in the team and everybody repeated the same ritual.
Hearing that, the hitherto silent audience erupted in a huge round of applause. The customary round of applause was followed by almost similar presentation of the first line manager and his team from another headquarter. We also repeated the same ritual when it was the turn of our team.
After that, the national sales manager brought a wry smile on his face and said, "I am overawed with your commitment to core values which you should always follow as great employee of this great company. It is heartening to see that all the first line managers thought on the same line. This must be because of the wonderful orientation which our company provides once someone gets promoted to the ranks of a first line manager. With such a dedicated field force like you, nobody is going to stop us from serving the humankind the way we have been doing till date."
His speech was followed by a deafening round of applause. After that it was the time for lunch break.
Once upon a time, all the representatives were given some units of a hotcake product. But those units were not from the physician's sample lot rather they were the actual market pack; with MRP neatly written on them. While giving the medicine 'XYZ' to us our first line manager told us to 'judiciously' use them. Almost all of us accepted the packets with child like glee. And I am sure that most of us must have used them quite judiciously.
After about a couple of months of that incident all the representatives of the region converged to a major town for cycle meeting. Such meetings often happen to review the sales situation so that timely corrective actions could be taken to meet or surpass the sales budget.
On the first day of the meeting, I was getting ready when I got a call on the intercom. It was my first line manager. He told me to meet him in room number 302 after finishing breakfast. Once I was in the restaurant; looking for something light for breakfast; I got to know that all the other representatives had got similar massage from their bosses. What was surprising was that all of them had been called to the same room, i.e. room number 302.
The moment I entered the room number 302, my first line manager asked me, "Can you recall that I gave you 100 units of market pack of XYZ about two months back?"
I asked with a sense of surprise, "Yeah, I can. Do you want them back?"
My boss said, "No, I just want to know how did you utilise them."
The room was full of other first line managers from the region and many representatives as well. I nonchalantly replied, "I gave them to Rakesh."
My boss appeared to be surprised and said, "What? You gave it to Rakesh; your wholesaler? Why?"
I calmly replied, "It was of short expiry. I gave it to him so that he could use them judiciously. As simple as that."
My boss said, "Actually, some big guns from the head office have come to attend this meeting. You are not supposed to give this answer in front of them."
I guffawed at his statement and said, "Now you have given me the guess question, so it is your duty to tell me the correct answer which I am supposed to give."
My boss explained to me the ideal answer to that tricky question. The same answer was spoon-fed to all other medical representatives.
After that pre-meeting planning, the meeting began at 9 AM. The first line manager from Kanpur was the first to speak. He was wearing spotless white shirt from a costly brand. The polka dot tie on the shirt spoke of his sense of fashion. He was using a highly literary language as if he was addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations. Everyone appeared to be taking keen interest in his speech but in reality nobody was taking him seriously. Finally, he came to the crux of the matter and said, "Sir, let me talk about the real 'innovative' use of the market pack of XYZ which was given to each team in this region. All of my representatives went to the district hospital and different guys went to different departments to conduct the blitz campaign. We made an interesting story so that the doctor could hear. We told the doctor that it was the birthday of our product XYZ and hence our company was generous enough to give market pack for his patients. We asked the doctor to prescribe XYZ to his patients for at least 15 days. Five days' dose was given from our side............."
On his clue, the senior-most representative from his team flashed a transparent zipper pouch; with XYZ tablets inside. He said, "Sir, that is how we gave these tablets to each patient to whom the doctor had prescribed XYZ. The senior guy was duly followed by other representatives in the team and everybody repeated the same ritual.
Hearing that, the hitherto silent audience erupted in a huge round of applause. The customary round of applause was followed by almost similar presentation of the first line manager and his team from another headquarter. We also repeated the same ritual when it was the turn of our team.
After that, the national sales manager brought a wry smile on his face and said, "I am overawed with your commitment to core values which you should always follow as great employee of this great company. It is heartening to see that all the first line managers thought on the same line. This must be because of the wonderful orientation which our company provides once someone gets promoted to the ranks of a first line manager. With such a dedicated field force like you, nobody is going to stop us from serving the humankind the way we have been doing till date."
His speech was followed by a deafening round of applause. After that it was the time for lunch break.
