Keeping your pharmaceutical sales force educated and compliant with video-based training

Disseminating timely information to teams in the field has become critical in every industry, but probably none more so than pharmaceuticals. With organizations having to adhere to drug regulators such as the The Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization or the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, corporations are tasked with developing curriculums to ensure their reps in the field are armed with the latest knowledge to be compliant. Non-compliance can cost organization billions of dollars from fines or recalls. Not to mention the fact that prospective customers can get answers as quickly as they can Google them. What value is there from a sales rep who is weeks late providing pertinent information? Rapid learning for the sales force is key.

Due to the multitude of regulations they must face, it is incumbent upon companies to develop CIAs (Corporate Integrity Agreements) where regulators can review the effectiveness of their training. CIA programs must be able to track numerous facets of individual employee’s training including their attendance and number of hours completed. For trainers, this compounds the complexity of being able to provide timely information.

While training is paramount, on-site training is costly, with industry norms ranging between $1,000 to $2,500 per rep for and industry average of fifteen days of new product training. Marry this cost with time lost in the field and the numbers begin to swell. Additionally, many firms are holding bi-annual, if not quarterly training to ensure proper compliance.

While many corporate trainers have adopted learning management systems or sales asset management systems to disseminate curriculums to sales organizations, these technologies fall short of delivering needed value. With upwards of 80% of field sales reps armed with iPads. However, legacy LMS systems and the content within them aren’t necessarily compatible. And, the content doesn’t render well on mobile, or there may even be Adobe Flash based elements which won’t render at all.

Ultimately, the needs of the pharmaceutical sales force are the same as that across any industry: convenience, timeliness of content and the ability to engage in peer-to-peer coaching are critical. In order to allow sales reps to be successful, and compliant, it is a must that sales trainers provide mobile first, just-in-time training where teams can access timely information both vertically and horizontally across an organization.

With the prevalence of “always on” mobile devices, it’s no doubt that 3 in 5 young executives say they’ll be more reliant on video in the workplace. This coupled with the fact video-based training is retained at rates of up to 80%, means sales trainers ought to be seeking to cater to their reps’ preferred mode of learning as well as the most productive one.  Sales organizations and the trainers that support them need to look at newer technologies that will allow them to be compliant, as well as give them the opportunity of delivering relevant, timely content to their team.

Learn how the Allego platform can be the catalyst for transforming the value from your organization’s learning and sales enablement activities.