"3 Simple Rules for a Happier, High Performing Salesforce"
“Happiness is pretty simple: someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to.”
It’s safe to assume New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown wasn’t referring to pharmaceutical salesforce training when she shared these wise words in her latest novel, A Hiss Before Dying. Or at least, not specifically. But for anybody in the business of maximising performance, they ring perfectly true: To be ‘happy’ and ultimately, successful, a sales team needs something to believe in or ‘love’, a clearly defined role to fulfil or ‘do’, and a measurable target to be accountable for and ‘look forward to’. With Brown’s simple sentiment in mind, here are three ways pharma salesforce leaders can turn job satisfaction into ‘job happiness’ and, ultimately, high performance.
1. Give them something to love.
The more you love something, the more you want to invest yourself in it. Creating a ‘loveable’ brand your salesforce is motivated to sell starts with a deep dive beyond the features and benefits of what you’re selling, and an exploration as to the big ‘why’ behind your brand’s existence. Bring your salesforce along for the journey and feel the good vibes flow.
2. Give them something to do.
Whether their days are spent behind the wheel or behind a desk, a clearly defined sales formula that empowers your sales team to secure commitments from hard-to-reach HCPs is key. In Bastion Brands’ own Art of Storytelling workshop, this formula centres on bringing the patient perspective to life, and linking their needs to a set of unique key selling messages that set your product apart from its competition…
3. Give them something to look forward to.
Sales targets and remunerative rewards are just the beginning. Memorable, engaging experiences that allow your team to celebrate together can help to unify even the most disparate salesforces under one common goal. And if there are no milestones to speak of just yet, create them through gamification, or even a fresh CSR initiative that gets the whole team on deck.
Whether or not you believe a key to happiness is as simple as Brown suggests, it pays to remember that everybody, no matter their job title, wants to feel an emotional connection to what they do, to understand and live up to the role they’ve been assigned and to be rewarded for doing it well. A winning formula for sales success in anyone’s book.
We are always interested in hearing from great people dedicated to making a career in pharmaceutical communications. If you’re ready to make a positive impact with Bastion Brands, get in touch today.