Contents:

INTRODUCTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RESEARCH APPROACH Participating Companies Key Findings Segmentation and Definitions TRAINING DELIVERY Volume Approach Venue Instructors TRAINING CONTENT Training by Employment Interval Frequency of Training Types TRAINING BUDGETS Outsourcing SALES REP QUALIFICATIONS BEST PRACTICES IN SALES TRAINING TRAINING PRIORITIES TRAINING TRENDS APPENDICES Best Practices for Effective sales Training Programs Top Priorities for Improving Sales Training Effectiveness Back to Main Report Page List of Exhibits Executive Summary Participating Companies Participant Job Titles Industry Representation Geographic Responsibility Groups Trained by Participants Sales Force Size Categories Average Sales Force Size Number of New Reps Hired Annually Training Delivery Number of Training Days During First Year on Job Percent of Training per Employment Interval Average Hours per Sales Rep Trained (New Hire-U.S.) Average Hours per Sales Rep Trained (All Hires-U.S.) Training Content Training Provided at 0-90 Days Training Provided at 3-12 Months Training with Consistent Frequency Training with Declining Frequency Training with Increasing Frequency Training Budgets Average Budget per Rep Trained (All Reps U.S.) Average Budget per Rep Trained (New Reps Only U.S.) Training Resources: Proportion for New Reps Average Budget Per Hour of Training (All Reps U.S.) Average Budget Per Hour of Training (New Reps Only U.S.) Budget Efficiency Based on Number of Employees Trained Budget Efficiency Based on Hours of Training Percentage of Training Budget Outsourced Outsourcing vs. Internal Costs for Training Sales Rep Qualifications Most Desired Applicant Qualifications Qualifications for Experienced Hires Attributes of Newly Hired Sales Reps Hiring Policies/ Strategies – U.S. Hiring Policies/ Strategies – Non-U.S. Best Practices in Sales Training Best Practices Overview Training Priorities Top Priorities for Training Improvements Training Effectiveness Measures Program Effectiveness Ratings Training Trends Overall Need for Training Sales Training Budget Trend Top New Rep Training Needs by Subject Appendices Response Matrix of Best Practices for Effective Sales Training Programs Response Matrix of Top Priorities for Improving Sales Effectiveness

Summary:

"The effectiveness of sales training during a pharmaceutical representative’s first year on the job dictates the future success of the employee, affects sales force turnover rates and directly impacts the corporate bottom line. To remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing market, executives who oversee pharmaceutical sales training must ensure their programs offer the right content, formats, timing and volume to bring new employees up to speed as rapidly as possible. As an added challenge, training leaders must accomplish this task in an era of shrinking budgets. In this environment, training executives need to understand their program position relative to other companies with respect to performance metrics, budget trends, and best practices. This report examines these topics among leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies and provides detailed metrics on program operations. STUDY SUMMARY Pharmaceutical Sales Training: Turning New Hires into Top Performers (SM-171) provides a comprehensive look at sales training delivery, content, budgets and trends at leading pharmaceutical companies across the globe Based the perspectives of 24 sales training leaders at a diverse group of 19 pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, the report provides benchmarks, executive insights and best practices for such key areas as: - Training content by employment interval - Budget trends and outsourcing of training - Training program effectiveness measures - Projected future content needs - Budget comparisons for training new reps vs. experienced hires - Key qualifications of top sales reps The study also outlines what qualities companies most desire in the new reps they hire. (Details on desired qualities in experienced reps hired from other companies are also provided.) Data was collected through surveys and interviews with training vice presidents, managers and directors. The benchmark class for this study was especially robust, with U.S. companies representing 63 percent of the participants and other respondents representing companies training sales staff in regions that include Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe and Central/South America. Sales forces trained by the survey respondents range in size from under 1,000 to over 6,000 reps. Most of the companies train both specialty and general care sales forces. Of the companies that participated in the study, two have been nationally recognized for sales training excellence and a third is a Malcolm Baldrige award winner. After reading this report and studying the data from survey and interview participants, executives will gain the insights necessary to identify sales training performance gaps and to build a business case for closing them, with the goal of maximizing training resources and ensuring effectiveness in creating top performing reps in a competitive environment.

Companies Mentioned

- Abbott Laboratories - Amylin - AstraZeneca - Bayer - Bristol-Myers Squibb - Dey - Fournier Pharma -GlaxoSmithKline - Johnson & Johnson - Medrad - Merck - Novartis - Pfizer - Roche - sanofi aventis - Schering Plough - UCB Pharma - Wyeth