“We´re going to earn nearly € 300 million”
Smily and in good mood, the general manager of pharmexx group, Michael Schomaker, still remembers when the company carried out its first sales development and management project. “We recruited 150 sales reps for GSK in only two months. The customer got really amazed and the other pharmaceutical industries got curious about it. “This episode certainly helped us promote pharmexx brand”.
The company, founded in 1999, became leader in the CSO (Contract Sales Organization) German market within a short period of time, thanks to a daring strategy. “We opted for expanding our activities and invested in different kinds of services, by creating, for instance, two divisions, called pharmexx direct –focused on Well Being industry – and pharmexx expert, which enables high qualified sales reps”, explains the general manager.
Later, aiming at becoming a multinational, pharmexx acquired companies in Spain, Portugal, India and Canada, for instance. “This way, we set up subsidiaries all over the world.”
During his visit to inaugurate pharmexx Brazil, Michael Schomaker gave an interview to Top Team and said which will be the next strategies of the company. Follow it below:
Top Team: How do you analyze the current European CSO market?
Michael Schomaker: In Italy is just like in Brazil: 5% of the industry sales reps are managed by a CSO company. In Spain, this number comes to 10% and in Germany, 15%. In England and in France, on the other hand, it reaches 25%. We have, therefore, a great opportunity to grow, thanks to our strategies and also to the fact that the laboratories started to establish the quantity of sales reps that must be managed by a CSO company. GSK, for instance, established a rule that this must happen to at least 20% of its sales force.
Top Team: What is the current European POP scenario?
Michael Schomaker: In Germany, France and the United Kingdom, the government has lowered prices and the market has been very competitive. For this niche, we have formed special teams to train pharmacists and clerks about the products. This way, those professionals become able to guide the patients better. This is POP future.
Top Team: In your opinion, is the European industry creative?
Michael Schomaker: Not much, as the promotion of pharmaceutical products is controlled. I’ll give you an example: when I was product manager, I used to create some promotional materials together with the marketing agency, and the medical department of the company always declined our initiative.
Top Team: What about the Brazilian CSO market? How important is it to pharmexx group?
Michael Schomaker: Brazil is a country with great potential of development in South America. I consider it a rich country with an amazing amount of people, what means a great market for the pharmaceutical industry and, consequently, for a CSO company. That´s why pharmexx Brazil exists.
Top Team: What are pharmexx group strategies for this year?
Michael Schomaker: 2008 will be the year of consolidation for pharmexx group. We have a department to perform such action and we will also invest in the recruiting of professionals for international business development. We will give special attention to South America, by having professionals in charge of generating business in Latin America as a whole and not only in certian countries. We will also have executives in charge of Asia and Europe, etc. Working like that is much easier and interesting and the pharmaceutical industry should adopt such mechanism.
Top Team: What about the softwares? Has pharmexx got news?
Michael Schomaker: We have developed our own software for virtual training, called e-pharmexx and sharpened the recruiting software Rexx, which will have a new version for small companies. Besides, pharmexx will be also investing in a CRM system.
Top Team: To wrap up, what do you expect for pharmexx group in 2008?
Michael Schomaker: We will earn nearly €300 million, what represents 10% growth rate.
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