Adaptive Selling
TEST CASE
Adaptive Selling1 Mar-07 / 02
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Samit Mathur was a new Medical Representative for Ace Pharmaceuticals. He had finished his MSc in Biology from Pune University and had been lucky to almost immediately land a job with Ace which was one of India’s leading pharma companies. . At Ace, Mathur received an intensive two month training programme which focused on product knowledge, but also covered some selling techniques. On completion of his training, Mathur was assigned a territory in the suburban Pune.
Mathur’s territory had a mix of general practitioners, specialists, small nursing homes and medical stores. Although this was his first job, Mathur was enthusiastic because he believed that he had learnt a lot about Ace products during his training period. However, at the end of his month in the field, Mathur was disappointed. He had followed all the selling “steps” suggested by his trainers but he did not seem to be getting anywhere with the doctors and chemists in his territory. Often he had to wait for a long time to meet the doctors who ran private clinics. He was not sure if doctors were prescribing Ace products because chemists seldom ordered even the popular Ace drugs. Mathur wondered if he needed more experience.
At the end of the second month, Mathur’s comfort with his job had not improved, so he spoke to his field manager who suggested that Mathur spend a couple of days traveling with Ajit Palekar, the star Ace MR in the Pune region. At first Mathur was pained at the idea of traveling with another MR who was almost his own age and had worked for just over a year at Ace, however he decided to give it a try and requested his field manager to speak to Palekar and fix up a joint visit the following day. Shortly thereafter, Palekar came up to Mathur and informed him that they could meet at a popular restaurant at Ferguson College Road at
Adaptive Selling1 Mar-07 / 02
______________________________________________________________________________________
Samit Mathur was a new Medical Representative for Ace Pharmaceuticals. He had finished his MSc in Biology from Pune University and had been lucky to almost immediately land a job with Ace which was one of India’s leading pharma companies. . At Ace, Mathur received an intensive two month training programme which focused on product knowledge, but also covered some selling techniques. On completion of his training, Mathur was assigned a territory in the suburban Pune.
Mathur’s territory had a mix of general practitioners, specialists, small nursing homes and medical stores. Although this was his first job, Mathur was enthusiastic because he believed that he had learnt a lot about Ace products during his training period. However, at the end of his month in the field, Mathur was disappointed. He had followed all the selling “steps” suggested by his trainers but he did not seem to be getting anywhere with the doctors and chemists in his territory. Often he had to wait for a long time to meet the doctors who ran private clinics. He was not sure if doctors were prescribing Ace products because chemists seldom ordered even the popular Ace drugs. Mathur wondered if he needed more experience.
At the end of the second month, Mathur’s comfort with his job had not improved, so he spoke to his field manager who suggested that Mathur spend a couple of days traveling with Ajit Palekar, the star Ace MR in the Pune region. At first Mathur was pained at the idea of traveling with another MR who was almost his own age and had worked for just over a year at Ace, however he decided to give it a try and requested his field manager to speak to Palekar and fix up a joint visit the following day. Shortly thereafter, Palekar came up to Mathur and informed him that they could meet at a popular restaurant at Ferguson College Road at