Pharmaceutical companies usually conduct group meetings which are technically called CME programmes. The idea behind such programmes is to buy some extra time and buy a captive audience for the company so that a detailed discussion about a particular product can be facilitated. But in practice, it all translates to wining and dining for the doctors at company's expenses. This is done in the hope of getting a more pliable pair of ears when the medical representative goes to meet a doctor on his next call. Everything boils down to expectation of increased prescriptions and increases sales from the target doctors.
My company came with an idea to a more pin pointed approach to this tactics; by conducting one to one meeting of some topnotch doctors in the territory. It was assumed that it would give a focused attention to the doctor and it would help in cracking even the hard to crack customers. The target doctors for such activity were carefully selected and mainly included opinion makers from the market.
In one of my territories, I invited a Head of Department from Medicine from the local medical college for such a meeting. My boss was also with me; because at that time I was still a greenhorn. I was not mature enough to handle such assignment independently.
I and my boss were staying in a decent hotel of the town. We had invited that doctor to the same hotel. Since it was a one to one meeting so there was no need to book a separate venue for the meeting. My boss's room served as the venue of the meeting.
I was waiting at the entrance of the hotel to welcome that doctor. While I was looking for a suitable parking space for his car, I was surprised to see him coming on a cycle-rickshaw. The doctor said that he did not want to drive while drunk so he preferred the cycle-rickshaw. I was pleased with his sense of responsibility and his understanding about the problems with drunken driving.
The doctor came at the right time as per his commitment; which was quite strange considering the habit of Indian Stretchable Time (IST). The doctor was in his early fifties. He was tall, dark but not so handsome. His ugly looks came partly because of his rough skin and partly because of plenty of fat at wrong places all over his body. Nevertheless, the doctor was wearing all white dress; including white shoes and socks. He must have been a great fan of the cine star of the sixties, aka Jitendra. The red tie provided the contrast against the white backdrop of his dress. The red tie also complimented with copious amount of betel juice dripping from the sides of his lips.
Once we were inside the room, my manager began with making pegs of whisky for all of us. When the manager was measuring exactly 30 ml for a peg, the doctor said that he preferred the extra large variety, i.e. Patiala Peg. My boss duly obliged him. That is how the endless round of booze started for the so-called one to one CME. Our discussions mainly veered around sundry political issues and on gossips about film celebrities. My boss was smart enough to add some sprinkling of product, indications, contraindications, etc. to that discussion. Once the doctor had gobbled about four pegs of whisky, he was at his savage best. He began uttering gory details of wrongdoings of many of his colleagues. He was least afraid of many skeletons tumbling down the cupboard because of the friendly image of pharmaceutical sales professionals. He also talked about his escapades when he was a student of the medical college.
When the doctor's body was fully concentrated with alcohol and could not take any more of it, we ordered for dinner. The doctor asked for a full plate of tandoori chicken. Within a few minutes, I could see a heap of bones in his plate. He also gobbled a lot of butter nan and at least four scoops of ice-cream.
After the heady cocktail of whisky and heavy food, the doctor did not appear to be in his senses. On his demand, I also arranged for betel for him. The tobacco; along with betel; created too many problems for his nerve cells. This was evident from all the nasty talks which were coming from his mouth.
I was getting worried about his safety. My boss asked me to drop that doctor to his residence but I refused. I refused because his residence was at least 10 km away from that hotel and it was quite unsafe in that town to roam on a cycle-rickshaw during late night. Sensing our plight, the doctor came to my rescue. He said that he was confident of safely reaching is home. He said that he was a well known face in the town so he would get timely help if a need arose.
After that, we came out of the room. Some waiters were watching us and were trying to hide their smile. From the room, we moved towards the staircase. Once on the staircase, it did not take too much effort for the doctor to come down to the ground floor because he simply slipped and slid down to the ground floor. It was difficult for me to control my laughter. A few waiters came to our help. They helped the doctor to stand on his feet.
Once outside the hotel, I called a rickshaw puller. We somehow managed to load the doctor on the cycle rickshaw. I gave double amount of money than whatever was demanded by the rickshaw puller. He said that he knew that doctor so I did not need to worry.
Once the rickshaw was out of our sight, I and my boss burst into a huge round of laughter.
My company came with an idea to a more pin pointed approach to this tactics; by conducting one to one meeting of some topnotch doctors in the territory. It was assumed that it would give a focused attention to the doctor and it would help in cracking even the hard to crack customers. The target doctors for such activity were carefully selected and mainly included opinion makers from the market.
In one of my territories, I invited a Head of Department from Medicine from the local medical college for such a meeting. My boss was also with me; because at that time I was still a greenhorn. I was not mature enough to handle such assignment independently.
I and my boss were staying in a decent hotel of the town. We had invited that doctor to the same hotel. Since it was a one to one meeting so there was no need to book a separate venue for the meeting. My boss's room served as the venue of the meeting.
I was waiting at the entrance of the hotel to welcome that doctor. While I was looking for a suitable parking space for his car, I was surprised to see him coming on a cycle-rickshaw. The doctor said that he did not want to drive while drunk so he preferred the cycle-rickshaw. I was pleased with his sense of responsibility and his understanding about the problems with drunken driving.
The doctor came at the right time as per his commitment; which was quite strange considering the habit of Indian Stretchable Time (IST). The doctor was in his early fifties. He was tall, dark but not so handsome. His ugly looks came partly because of his rough skin and partly because of plenty of fat at wrong places all over his body. Nevertheless, the doctor was wearing all white dress; including white shoes and socks. He must have been a great fan of the cine star of the sixties, aka Jitendra. The red tie provided the contrast against the white backdrop of his dress. The red tie also complimented with copious amount of betel juice dripping from the sides of his lips.
Once we were inside the room, my manager began with making pegs of whisky for all of us. When the manager was measuring exactly 30 ml for a peg, the doctor said that he preferred the extra large variety, i.e. Patiala Peg. My boss duly obliged him. That is how the endless round of booze started for the so-called one to one CME. Our discussions mainly veered around sundry political issues and on gossips about film celebrities. My boss was smart enough to add some sprinkling of product, indications, contraindications, etc. to that discussion. Once the doctor had gobbled about four pegs of whisky, he was at his savage best. He began uttering gory details of wrongdoings of many of his colleagues. He was least afraid of many skeletons tumbling down the cupboard because of the friendly image of pharmaceutical sales professionals. He also talked about his escapades when he was a student of the medical college.
When the doctor's body was fully concentrated with alcohol and could not take any more of it, we ordered for dinner. The doctor asked for a full plate of tandoori chicken. Within a few minutes, I could see a heap of bones in his plate. He also gobbled a lot of butter nan and at least four scoops of ice-cream.
After the heady cocktail of whisky and heavy food, the doctor did not appear to be in his senses. On his demand, I also arranged for betel for him. The tobacco; along with betel; created too many problems for his nerve cells. This was evident from all the nasty talks which were coming from his mouth.
I was getting worried about his safety. My boss asked me to drop that doctor to his residence but I refused. I refused because his residence was at least 10 km away from that hotel and it was quite unsafe in that town to roam on a cycle-rickshaw during late night. Sensing our plight, the doctor came to my rescue. He said that he was confident of safely reaching is home. He said that he was a well known face in the town so he would get timely help if a need arose.
After that, we came out of the room. Some waiters were watching us and were trying to hide their smile. From the room, we moved towards the staircase. Once on the staircase, it did not take too much effort for the doctor to come down to the ground floor because he simply slipped and slid down to the ground floor. It was difficult for me to control my laughter. A few waiters came to our help. They helped the doctor to stand on his feet.
Once outside the hotel, I called a rickshaw puller. We somehow managed to load the doctor on the cycle rickshaw. I gave double amount of money than whatever was demanded by the rickshaw puller. He said that he knew that doctor so I did not need to worry.
Once the rickshaw was out of our sight, I and my boss burst into a huge round of laughter.
