Q. What is a Salesforce Effectiveness (SFE) study?
A. Salesforce Effectiveness (SFE) studies are important for assessing the impact of a pharmaceutical salesforce, perhaps more important than ever in the age of increasing electronic communications – determining optimal strategies for connecting with physician prescribers.
The goal of such research is to determine best-in-class methods of communication and delivery of a clear and compelling pharma product message.
Today it is also important to understand the influence of the channel of communication, the frequency of contact, the messages that resonate and impact prescribing behavior.
Many of the questions within a salesforce effectiveness study are similar to that of an ATU (awareness, trial and usage) study, with review of current treatment options, attribute importance and satisfaction with brand performance, but with added importance and focus on measuring the impact of various field force activities.
The targeting goals for the sales team are incorporated into the reporting for a salesforce effectiveness study in order to determine outcomes for measurable factors such as the use of marketing materials, messaging recall, specific barriers to communication and sales team performance scoring metrics.
The larger role of this project type is to guide the sales team towards optimal promotional efforts.