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February 22, 2006
GlaxoSmithKline engages sales force to change perception
I applaud GSK for its recent decision to actively engage its 8,000 U.S. sales reps as "public relations ambassadors" to improve GSK’s image and that of the entire pharma industry. GSK has realized – correctly, in my opinion – that corporate reputation is forged on the individual level, not through advertising or even public relations (hopefully not a career-limiting statement for me, given that PR has been my firm's bread and butter for 53 years).
A company's sales force is its most visible public face and holds enormous power to change perceptions. And while this supposition is true for all employees of a company, sales reps – and especially ones in the beleaguered pharma industry – are a particularly valuable asset.
GSK has dubbed their program "Value of Medicine." I was intrigued by a comment that Michael Pucci, vice president of external advocacy, made to Ad Age about the campaign: "What we're leveraging here is asking our employees to talk to people, even if they just start with their family members," he said. Pucci acknowledges what so many companies don't: that regardless of "only PR can talk to the public" policies, all employees talk to members of the public on a 24/7 basis. Rather than denying this, GSK has decided to try to turn this to their advantage.
According to Ad Age, GSK has given sales reps talking points and answers to tough questions and is then sending them to Rotarians, Elks, Lions Club members, senior-citizen groups, weekly newspapers, schools and every community group they can think of. Pucci said the majority of questions the reps receive revolve around pricing, and he has given them what he calls a "learning system" that takes 50 minutes to master and will enable the rep to satisfy queries about the company and the industry. GSK reps made 15,000 presentations last year, Mr. Pucci said, reaching 1.8 million people.
I disagree with an anonymous chief marketing officer for a top-10 drug maker who provided a counterpoint in the Ad Age coverage. He or she said "I'm not sure I want 8,000 people on the ground given that level of responsibility to basically speak for a company and an industry. With that many, the odds say there’s going to be a percentage of them -- however small -- that will make a mistake, or stray from the script, or whatever."
With all due respect, I believe this person misses the point. This is not about sticking to the script, it's about creating relationships with the public that will change perceptions. GSK is putting a human and credible face on the pharma industry and acknowledging the reality that their sales reps were most likely hungry for this kind of engagement. I welcome your thoughts and perspectives on this issue.
Posted by Christopher at February 22, 2006 12:35 PM
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