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R.K.Laxman's Common man!
Showing posts with label Pharma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pharma. Show all posts

Sales Forecasting

Making SFE Work for Field Force

Presentation during #FFE2016 organized by Medicin Man Mr.Anup Soans - 16th Feb 2016 on "Making SFE Work for Field Force" FFE 2016 

MY 200 th Post on LCDing : SFE,What every pharma sales professional should know ?

I am glad that ...this is my 200th post on LCDing.
Here is my presentation at FFE2015 organized by Medicin Man, Anup Soans on 14th March 2015 at Hotel Westin,Mumbai

My Presentation on SFA : Sales force Automation in Pharma

Post Lunch Session :-)
This is my presentation on Sales Force Automation presented during 
SFE &SFA Conference bu UBM/CPhI at Mumbai on 18-19 June 2013

Concentration Curves : Tool for Resource Optimization

Every organization in these times is working against odds. One of the major actions of organizations during tough times is Ephemeralization or  "Do more with less"
During these tough times, organizations need to constantly evaluate their resource utilization and undertake  Optimization of the process so that you can really "Do more with less".
To me, resource Optimization is not cutting resources. It’s putting resources to good use.

 This principle holds good not only for organizations but also individuals who are attempting to optimize resources available to them. All you need to do is identify is the resources!

There are many tools to undertake work towards Resource optimization. One of the easiest and fastest is creating "Concentration curves".
Once you understand the basic concept, you can use it with Resources and Outcomes like Sales Vs. People deployed,  Sales Vs. Expenses Sales Vs. Time invested etc.
Concentration curves are simply a Graphical representation of Cumulated Outcomes Vs Cumulated Resources. In the graph,
     ~ The Vertical axis(Y-Axis)holds Cumulated Outcomes and
     ~ Horizontal Axis (X-Axis) holds Cumulated Resources.
So at a given point on the graph, you know exactly how much is the Outcome Vs. Resources were used to generate the Outcome. Take a look at this example on concentration curves of GDP of  181 countries and their contribution to World GDP. You can observe that 35 Countries Contribute to 90% of the World GDP and the Rest of the 146 countries contribute to a mere 10% of the World GDP.


So the information you get will be something like this.
~ 20% of the field force give us about 80% of the sales
~ 40% of the money spent  on the brand gave us 95% of the sales
~ 25% of Territories are responsible for 70% of the Sales generated
~ 20 Members out of 125 salesforces produce 75% of the Sales.

Does that ring a bell?  Yes.. 
It's akin to Pareto Chart,  Lorenz Curves  for Gini Calculations.
You may refer to my earlier post: What is GINI ? for more information

Coming back to concentration curves, Here is an example. 
This demonstrates World GDP with GDP of countries on Y-Axis  Vs  No. of Countries on X-Axis.
I have created a Template for you. You can create concentration curves using your own data.
Here are 3 simple steps
  1.Paste data in coloured cells. The rest of the computations are automatic.(In fact computations are simple)
  2.Tweak the slider to match your data (Shown in downloadable excel file)
  3.Read values at each data point by using the slider. 

Download the Concentration Curves Tool  Here
This is a DOCOMO stuff! (Download,Copy and Modify at your will...You can find them @Downloads

Bidding for the Patient : Empowerment to patient

Sometime back,I was asked about 'Indian Pharma / Healthcare  Crystal Ball' and I made some notes....Here is a small portion of the same.....
"Medical tourism both from foreign countries and within India will grow. Hospitals may bid for a patient on price and quality for a given surgery. Patients can shop online for comprehensive care and cost."
Here we go.. Today I received a message about the announcement of a new website ... Take a look...
Let's wait and watch How the market grows. Congrats to www.Medeel.com



DIY : Sales Tracker - Simple and Effective

Everyone in sales knows the importance of Sales Data.
Tracking Sales vs. Quotas at periodic intervals helps you manage performance and earn incentives.
Usually,Incentives on Sales are at various periods like Month, Bi Month, Quarter, 4 Monthly, Half-Yearly and Yearly intervals. 
Paying attention to Balance-To-Go for various brands at various time intervals helps you achieve overall sales goals, sales mix and earn 'hand'some incentives.
Here is a Sales Tracker for you...
It needs one-time “time” investment to plug in the data of last year sales and Quotas (Targets) for this year. Sales data for current year needs to be keyed in as months progress.

 The Sales Tracker...
   ~ Can be used by Sales Representative as well as Team leader.
   ~ Can Track up to 15 territories and 15 Brands in each territory.
   ~ Month,YTD, Bi-Month, Quarter, 4 Month , Half year & Year intervals.
   ~ Sales at team level
   ~ Graphs showing sales progress and achievement of Quotas (Targets)

 Sounds useful ? Go and Download the Sales Tracker from @Downloads or from BOX.You can also download Sales Tracker Demo with Dummy Data to get a feel of it.
It’s a DO.. CO .. MO stuff… Download, Copy and Modify as you please…
Please let me know your views...or leave a comment..
Share it if you have liked the post.

Identifying level for description of IMS data in Excel

This post/ tip is for Pharma market research professionals who use IMS data.
IMS Health uses EphMRA (European Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Association) classification system across the world while producing data.

These codes when downloaded from some IMS Data sources are demarcated by several "empty spaces" before each code/description. As the excel download of the data will have hundred of rows, identifying the level through a formula will make analytics easy.
Here is a simple solution using excel formulae.
You can download the excel file here or @Downloads.

The ' Z ' Graph for Sales - Short, Medium and Long-term Sales analysis - All at once at a glance!

Short, Medium and Long-term Sales analysis - All at once at a glance!
Sales progress is best shown in graphs.
Here is a consultant's style of showing Long-term, Medium-term and Short-term sales progress - all in one graph. All you need is, sales data for this year till this month, and the past 12 months of sales data.
The magic of the graph is it not only throws light on the long-term, medium-term and short-term, it also can show how good is your near future going to be!
Caution! 
Show it only if you have healthy & right data...if you are facing projector lens :-)
If you are the one on the other side of the lens , never forget to ask for this graph ;-)
This is called "Z" Graph.
Now let us see what are these long term, medium-term and short term sales progress
Long term sales progress is best represented by Rolling MAT
      MAT - Moving Annual Total (sum of last 12 months data - till this month)
e.g: MAT Jan-11 = Feb-10 + Mar-10 +……+ Dec-10 + Jan-11
      MAT Feb-11 = Mar-10 + Apr-10 +……+ Dec-10 + Feb-11
Medium term sales progress is best represented by YTD
YTD - Year To Date (Cumulative sales starting from the beginning of the year ..say JAN)
e.g. YTD Apr-11 = Jan-11 + Feb-11 + Mar-11 + Apr-11
       YTD Jul-11 = Jan-11 + Feb-11 + Mar-11 + Apr-11 + May-11 + Jun-11 + Jul-11
Short term sales progress is best represented by monthly sales
e.g. Jan-11 , Feb-11 , Mar-11 , Apr-11.....
Bring all the data on to a single graph, it becomes a Z-Graph.
Do not undermine the Graph, the shape of “Z”, the angle inclination, slope of arms of “Z” can through new insights.
“Z” Graph is best for sales dashboards.
Once you plot MAT,YTD and Month, You should get a graph that more or less looks like this…

The 
Red line represents Rolling MAT
Blue represents YTD and 
Green represents Monthly sales
Just to stir your thoughts, here I present you 3 scenarios!
The shape of the “Z” should give you the complete picture.

Here is one more idea to explore...
Plot your Months-To-Go and corresponding expected YTD and expected MAT figures as per the Targets/Quotas of Months-To-Go. You may get a perfect "Z" Ora a distorted "Z" like this.....


If the shape of "Z" is... as shown in the picture, it is obvious that risk is ahead unless you have a strategy to defy the trends!
All the best!
Download the excel workbook to understand better! Click Here
alternatively @downloads on this website
It's a DO.. CO..MO.. stuff (Download, Copy ,Modify)

Acknowledgements and Reference article by David Straker
One visit to David Straker’s sites will make you a regular visitor.
....In his words….
Syque (pronounced 'sike') is my knowledge-sharing site.
My purpose is to share knowledge and understanding on an unprecedented scale, adding real value for individuals and companies. Consider it as 'original books on the internet', with already over 7,000 web pages of industrial-strength knowledge freely available.

Sales Forecasting : Easy and Simple



Sales Forecasting is a Paradox. 
Theoretically, Faaaarther the Period, Poorer the Reliability.
Whereas, in the real world its the opposite...This month, not very sure; year end, guarantee. ;-)
I may not solve the Paradox but, here is a easy and simple tool to forecast sales.
Two simple rules and a bit of Stats were used to create this tool in Excel.
       ~ The near future most likely will be an extension of our known past....
           Like we know that tomorrow should more or less will be like today...The Armageddon is far away
       ~  Seasonality exists in sales and the reason may not always be the Mother nature
           Like we know soft drinks sell during summer and on a sales closing day, we do more sales
Download the Excel and take a look at the Powerpoint to understand and use the tool.
This is a DOCOMO stuff! (Download,Copy and Modify at your will...You can find them @Downloads

Segmentation Variables

Pharma Customer Segmentation Variables for India and most of the EMs.
Many a time I searched the net for Segmentation variables. Every time I failed.
So,I decided to create one. Here is the list...
Maybe not the perfect one. But, serves to ignite new ideas. It may serve some who wish to just believe in my understanding of the market and go with this list.
Yes! You may take the list as it is..it has over 125 segmentation variables...
The real success of the use lies in selecting the parameter that best suits your brand! 
That,  I leave it to your Wisdom.

you may download the file here: my downloads page. 
Remember even though it is Pharma specific,  with small tweaks here and there it can serve every industry!
If you wish to thank me, please Comment. If you have no comments to offer, Share with others.

Enabling Medical Representatives with Data

I was a speaker at UBM/CPhl  Pharma Rural Marketing  India 2012 held in Mumbai, I spoke on "Enabling Medical Representatives with Data ". Here is my presentation.

Indian Pharma -Key Stakeholder Management


I was a speaker at eyeforpharma's First Emerging Markets Commercial Excellence Conference held at Berlin in November 2011. Here is my presentation.

20 Vital Sales and Marketing Metrics

Today, we have abundant data, better information, fair knowledge and poor insight. Encountering wisdom is a rare occurrence! 
The data is out there on our spreadsheets, databases and hard disks.
Here are 20 simple effective metrics for a Sales Manager and a Brand Manager.
It is not all these metrics, probably an ideal combination of one or two of these metrics for a given business problem can show a direction - The right direction. 
The wisdom is finding out the combination. I leave the choice to you.
Lastly, as someone aptly puts it,
  • A collection of data is not information.
  • A collection of information is not knowledge.
  • A collection of knowledge is not wisdom.
  • A collection of wisdom is not truth.
Do not hesitate to click the link and download the PowerPoint.