The Impossible Beamer (BMW)
Oct 7, 2020 16:37:01 #
In most businesses there is a need to know what the competition is doing and a constant need to acquire intelligence. Some businesses do this through informal talks at trade shows and conventions, although that can be hazardous if there is any thing that influences the fixing of prices. Other means can be talking to salesmen who call upon the competing firms to find out what they are doing.
As far as a pharmaceutical salesman, there are several and varied methods used. One was if you routinely see your competitor working and would then notice what he/she had left on their visit to different doctors in the way of sample products. Another would be when calling upon the local pharmacists and in casual conversation, find out what products were moving in the area competitive to yours.
Another would be to do what is known in the industry as a “script survey.” This is where you would simply go through a pharmacy’s file of recent prescriptions and record what doctors were using what competitive products versus your products. Now it is both time consuming and not always allowed. You must have permission and a good relationship with the pharmacist. Since it did take an inordinate amount of time and was best to do it with as little notice as possible, I would usually do my surveys after hours.
While this is not an indictment of the other salesmen and their work habits, some were not to diligent about working long hours, so by doing a survey in the evening, after 6:00 P.M, there was seldom any likelihood of ever being noticed.
Obviously, when you have several physicians scattered in a lot of small towns, it requires close observation in all these places. As one example, I had a good idea what was going on all across the Valley except in on the north side of Harlingen, so I purposely began to cultivate the friendship with a young female pharmacist in a chain pharmacy in that area to learn more about the prescription habits of their customers. You need to have a good relationship or there is seldom permission given to do a script survey there.
Let’s give her the pseudonym of Juanita. After some time of paying extra time and attention to Juanita, she finally consented for my doing some basic digging into the prescriptions being filled at this pharmacy. The only catch was she wanted something in return. She asked me as a favor to drive her down to Brownsville to the BMW dealership so she could look at a new vehicle she was considering purchasing. It seemed only fair, even though an unusual request.
So, on her day off, we drive down to Brownsville and Juanita takes a test drive in a new BMW. While they are gone, another salesman or manager comes over and said to me, “Why don’t you buy her that car?” Which was somewhat of a surprise. I know he didn’t know me and probably did not know Juanita either, but he was assuming I was her “sugar daddy”!
I immediately told him if she wanted that car, she would have to buy it herself. Up until that time I never thought how this may have looked to the salesmen, but in retrospect I guess it was a reasonable conclusion, given our age differences. Maybe I should have been flattered. Just Sayin…RJS
As far as a pharmaceutical salesman, there are several and varied methods used. One was if you routinely see your competitor working and would then notice what he/she had left on their visit to different doctors in the way of sample products. Another would be when calling upon the local pharmacists and in casual conversation, find out what products were moving in the area competitive to yours.
Another would be to do what is known in the industry as a “script survey.” This is where you would simply go through a pharmacy’s file of recent prescriptions and record what doctors were using what competitive products versus your products. Now it is both time consuming and not always allowed. You must have permission and a good relationship with the pharmacist. Since it did take an inordinate amount of time and was best to do it with as little notice as possible, I would usually do my surveys after hours.
While this is not an indictment of the other salesmen and their work habits, some were not to diligent about working long hours, so by doing a survey in the evening, after 6:00 P.M, there was seldom any likelihood of ever being noticed.
Obviously, when you have several physicians scattered in a lot of small towns, it requires close observation in all these places. As one example, I had a good idea what was going on all across the Valley except in on the north side of Harlingen, so I purposely began to cultivate the friendship with a young female pharmacist in a chain pharmacy in that area to learn more about the prescription habits of their customers. You need to have a good relationship or there is seldom permission given to do a script survey there.
Let’s give her the pseudonym of Juanita. After some time of paying extra time and attention to Juanita, she finally consented for my doing some basic digging into the prescriptions being filled at this pharmacy. The only catch was she wanted something in return. She asked me as a favor to drive her down to Brownsville to the BMW dealership so she could look at a new vehicle she was considering purchasing. It seemed only fair, even though an unusual request.
So, on her day off, we drive down to Brownsville and Juanita takes a test drive in a new BMW. While they are gone, another salesman or manager comes over and said to me, “Why don’t you buy her that car?” Which was somewhat of a surprise. I know he didn’t know me and probably did not know Juanita either, but he was assuming I was her “sugar daddy”!
I immediately told him if she wanted that car, she would have to buy it herself. Up until that time I never thought how this may have looked to the salesmen, but in retrospect I guess it was a reasonable conclusion, given our age differences. Maybe I should have been flattered. Just Sayin…RJS
Oct 7, 2020 17:50:44 #
Or thought you were her daddy with no sugar when you said that to him.
Oct 7, 2020 19:11:00 #
Oct 7, 2020 22:00:17 #
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