Eduardo Alonso, Oncology Products Manager at Zodiac

In order to discuss the topic, Top Team talked to Eduardo Alonso, majored in Marketing from UNICID, specialist in CRM from Getúlio Vargas and in Business Management from URFJ. Alonso worked for the industry for twelve years and in the Effectiveness department at Pfizer. He has worked at Zodiac for four years where has also worked in the Market Intelligence.

The biggest difficulties for Effectiveness teams
The Sales Force Effectiveness department has a strategic and crucial role. Among diverse difficulties I highlight the implementation as the main one, for several factors must be considered, like the strategy that must be clear and explained to everyone in the company. Integration is the key word. We can't just briefly look at sales force, but integrate it to marketing, medical area and training. Such areas are not usually structured to work with synergy - what is a cultural matter, once Effectiveness is recent in the pharmaceutical industry, gaining importance only over the last ten years. Another important factor is training - a great differentiation - by enhancing competence, behavior and skills. The District Manager should the link between strategy, team and implementation. This is the major trainer.

The biggest challenge
The biggest challenge lies on leadership. It is a big strength for the District manager concerning motivation, capacitating and focus. That's him who is in charge of making a plan act in different positions, including team, company and customer. He must show strategic vision, focus on results and personnel management skills. These are the main competences for a District manager.

Positive factors
We can highlight four. First: motivation is crucial and it passes through leadership. The manager plays an important role at this moment. Second: the wage, both fixed and variable, in order to attract and keep good professionals; Third: training, as it is determining to check how much the team is able to implement; Fourth: keep focused, because the profile has changed. Nowadays, keeping focused and being an expert are passive factors.

Effectiveness today
According to business nowadays it is relevant to highlight that the concept of Effectiveness of sales must be amplified by focusing also on the Marketing department. Actions must be strategically explored by sales reps and supported by actions previously established by Marketing, such as segmentation models and targeting, as well as investments and a good business plan. The pharma segment is unique and demands high knowledge level and skills to manage customers. Therefore, it is crucial to deeply know the strategy to generate results, not only on short term but also at medium and long ones, aiming at business sustainability.