Pharmaceutical Sales Training Excellence:

Tools, Processes & Resources

That Drive Effectiveness

Best Practices, LLC Strategic Benchmarking Research

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 Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Research Overview
Participating Companies
Hallmarks of Excellence
Key Metrics at a Glance
Key Trends at a Glance
Benchmark Findings

Sales Training Program Operations & Models . . . . . . Page 12

Sales Training Content Delivery & Development . . . . Page 26
Technology Issues & Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 41
Sales Training Budget & Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 52
Organizational Structure & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 69
Trends in Pharmaceutical Sales Training . . . . . . . . . . . Page 76
Best Practices of the Benchmark Class . . . . . . . . . . . Page 81
Appendix: Participant Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 90

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Research Project Objectives, Methodology & Results
Best Practices, LLC conducted this benchmarking to identify performance benchmarks for the
size, cost, scope, content, delivery channels, lessons learned, and success drivers of leading Sales
Training organizations across the pharmaceutical industry.

Study Overview Topics Included

Research Objective: This benchmarking study Sales Training budget trends &
was designed to provide pharmaceutical leaders management
with metrics and insights they can use to Most utilized types of Sales Training
evaluate and compare the performance of their included in formal curriculum
Sales Training organizations. Collaboration level of sales training
with various stakeholder groups
The study identifies successful training venues,
technologies, organizational structures, delivery % Training content developed and
delivered by internal staff vs. vendors
approaches, performance measurement
processes, and resource levels that drive Technologies used to deliver training
effectiveness in high-performing Sales Training % training outsourced to vendors
organizations.
Key Industry Metrics:
Methodology: Best Practices, LLC engaged Avg. # days of sales training per rep
28 biopharmaceutical training leaders through
a benchmarking survey instrument. Research
Sales Training budget as a percentage
of revenue.
analysts also conducted six deep-dive executive
interviews with selected benchmark participants. # employees receiving sales training
per trainer
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25 Companies Participated in This Benchmarking Study
Twenty-eight Sales Training leaders from 25 pharmaceutical companies participated in this study.
Sixty-three percent of the participants are directors or senior directors. Logos represent the
company affiliation of the participants

Participating Companies: Benchmark Class

Benchmark Participants:

Train sales forces representing an average

of $5 billion annual revenue

Train on four continents, with 74% training

sales forces in the U.S.

Provide training covering more than

20 different therapeutic areas

100% have a focus on training specialty

sales forces, especially in
oncology, hematology, immunology &
neurology

48% also train primary care sales forces;

67% train sales managers

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Benchmark Findings: Structure & Resources / Budget

The following key findings and insights emerged from this study.

Training Heads Report up to Vice Presidents: More than two-thirds of Sales Training departments
are led by directors and senior directors. Nearly three-quarters of the department leaders report up to
vice presidents and senior vice presidents.

Companies Put Sales Training Close to Marketing: About two-thirds of participants locate their Sales
Training groups in close proximity to Marketing Departments. Only 32% are not within the same building.

Sales Training Budgets for Participants Average Nearly $6M: Participants Sales Training budgets
averaged $5.87million (US) during the last fiscal year, with a median of $3.35 million. On
average, companies in the study allocated 26% for ad hoc training, including POA meetings.
36% of Budget Goes to New Hires: Benchmark participants spent an average of 36% of their budgets
for new hire training in the most recently completed fiscal year. On average, new hires receive about 32
days of training during their first year on the job, compared with about 10 days of training per year for
existing, or experienced, reps.
More Companies Expecting Budget Decreases than Increases: A third of participants expect their
Sales Training budgets to remain flat over the next two years, while another 40% anticipate decreases.
Increased budgets are expected by 28% of the benchmark class. This trend reflects current market
realities: as blockbusters lose patent coverage, many companies are reducing sales force size.
Companies with growing budgets are scheduling new product launches.

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Key Trends at a Glance
The following are key trends observed in this study.
TECHNOLOGY:
Reducing travel costs, increasing field time, & learner preferences are driving companies to move
some live training into virtual classrooms. However, face-to-face learning continues to be important.

Technology creates opportunities to further individualize or segment training so new hires &
transfers are treated differently, as are primary care & specialty reps.

Mobile applications & gaming are gaining usage, but effectiveness has not yet been determined.

IT support relationships vary widely across companies.

PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT:
As sales forces shrink, emphasis shifts from new hire learning to advanced training & development.

24-hour access to on-demand training modules through LMS or other systems is expected.

Traditional foundation training content remains in place, but curricula

are expanding to include business acumen, health outcomes & more.

Companies are increasingly focused on reinforcement & are equipping

DMs with coaching skills & support tools that make training sustainable.

COST:
Theres a strong correlation between training cost & program size.
Those training more reps realize significant economies of scale.

Participants stretch budgets with technology & innovation.

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Key Program Strengths Are Collaboration, Dedicated
Resources & Management Support
Nearly all participating Sales Training Departments have dedicated resources, good relationships
with sales leadership and active support from senior management. Career path development and
use of effectiveness metrics are opportunities for many departments.
Q. Which of the following statements are true of the Sales Training program you represent?
Program Attributes
Program leaders collaborate closely with Sales leadership 96%

Strengths
Program is formalized with a dedicated staff and budget 96%
Program has active sponsorship/support from senior
management 96%
Sales Training leverages internal SMEs (subject matter
experts) in curriculum development and/ or instruction 81%
Program leaders collaborate closely with Marketing 81%
Program employs (or contracts with) professional
instructional designers 74%
Curriculum includes post-training reinforcement 67%
Training effectiveness is measured continuously 67%

Opportunity
Areas
Program effectiveness metrics are used to drive change 59%
Program includes career path development 44%
(n=27) % Responses
Measurement is an area for improvement for us. We continue to look at ways to measure effectiveness. We get good feedback
that they were great programs, but I dont know if that necessarily is translated to effectiveness yet. -- Associate Director
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Model:
Sales Training Model Integrates Competencies & Curriculum
One interviewed partner described a successful Sales Training model based on identifying
Sales competencies and building a curriculum to develop them.

Align Program with Corporate Objectives & Values

Establish
Create
Competencies Map Identify
Individual
Based on Curriculum to Individual
Development
Organizations Competencies Skills Gaps
Plans
Needs
Document
Create Library Training &
Create a
of Train Coaching
Competency Coach to
Competency- Managers to Consistently
Model for Each Curriculum
Based Training Identify Needs to Ensure
Role
Modules Sustainability
Build
Curriculum to Train Managers & Individuals to Use
Develop Each Competency Map & Library
Competency

As important as it is to create competency models based on roles, its equally important to ensure that the models and
competencies are aligned with the corporate culture and values. This is not an overnight processit takes two to three years.
--Interviewed Associate Director, Sales Training & Development
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Trainee Satisfaction Is Top Metric for Judging Program Quality
Most participants use a variety of metrics to evaluate the quality of their Sales Training functions.
Those with the highest effectiveness rating are trainee satisfaction, role-play certification, and formal
feedback from management.

Q. Rate each of the following metrics for evaluating the quality of the Sales Training function? (choose one for each)

Sales Training Program Quality

NA/ Not Used Not At All Effective Somewhat Ineffective Somewhat Effective Highly Effective
n=
Trainee satisfaction levels 12% 40% 48% 25

Role-play certification 4%4% 8% 44% 40% 25

Formal feedback from sales management 12% 4% 16% 36% 32% 25

Comparison of individual's performance before &
21% 4% 8% 38% 29% 24
after training
Comparison of test results before & after training 24% 8% 4% 44% 20% 25

% revenue targets met by sales force 28% 4% 16% 36% 16% 25

% sales goals met by individual trainee 28% 4% 20% 32% 16% 25

Employee retention metrics 40% 16% 8% 24% 12% 25

Return on Investment (ROI) 52% 8% 16% 16% 8% 25

% Responses
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Companies Adding Training Content on Customers & Patients
The need for content in disease state, compliance, product, selling and other traditional training
remains strong, but some new areas are growing in importance. Understanding customers and
patients are key growth areas.

Evolving role of the patient

Business of the physician

Individualizing customer interaction

Use of selling models

Impacts of Health Care Reform

How to add value for each customer

Understanding formularies & reimbursement

Advanced training/ Management training

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In-Person Classroom Instruction Is Top Delivery Approach
Traditional instructor-led classroom learning accounts for 53% of the sales training provided by the
benchmark participants. Interest is growing in instructor-led virtual classrooms, however, with 12%
of training offered in that venue. For self-paced training, e-modules are used more than twice as
often as paper-based modules.

Q. Approximately what percentage of your sales training is delivered using each of the following approaches?
(Estimate a percentage for each approach. Total should equal 100%.)
Training Delivery Approaches
Field All other
visits/practice approaches, 1%
Self- selling, 11% For one franchise, we
paced paper- developed a virtual core
based learning class with a mixture of iPad
modules, 6%
content, WebEx, video, and
interactivity on the iPad.
Self-paced e-
learning Instructor-
It involves pulling out
modules, 15% led, in-person
classroom, 53% components where we know
Asynchronous
we dont really need a live
virtual person.
classroom, 3%
- Interviewed Associate
Instructor-
led virtual
Director
classroom , 12
%
(n=24)
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18% of Core Training Is Delivered via iPad-Type Devices
Companies are increasingly moving Sales Training content to mobile devices. Only about 18% of core
training has migrated on average to date, however. Participants are actively creating apps for training
purposes.

Q. Approximately what percentage of your core training is delivered via the iPad and/or other similar mobile devices?
Q. What apps have you developed?
Mobile Training Training Apps
Custom app where all training content is loaded 24/7
Percentage of Core Training
(n=25) Delivered to Trainees Through Custom play books for each product, eLearning Systems
Mobile Devices housed on iBooks and product specific apps

Deploying a new CRM APP

Max 75% .
Google Drive proprietary product called DOCs
75th Percentile 25% (Demonstration of Comprehension)
Mean Handbook app
18%
Median Training platform launches brand specific new hire training
10%
Utilized for "just in time" training. All learning is no more
25th Percentile 5% then 5 -7 mins long. Allows rep to look up info when
needed before going into a HCPs office. All content is
Min 0% housed on the iPad; web connection not needed

The iPad is great for getting things out where speed is of the essence, but we cant just put everything out there in real time.
In our world of compliance and the regulatory environment, the company has to manage what a rep can download, copy, and
replicate. Interviewed Senior Director
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Technology Comparison: Best Uses Described
Interviewed training leaders described best uses, pros and cons for various types of training
technology.

Tech Type Best Use Pros Cons

Home study, Prepping Not available in field, No

Easy to track use through
E-learning Modules reps before face-to-face peer interaction, No
LCM, Available anytime
training events manager feedback

Disseminating Accessible in field; Can be Little opportunity for

Webinars
information to a group archived for flexible access trainee interaction

Group discussion, Can use for individual

Synchronous
Conference Calls Manager feedback, Info coaching or group practice
communication only
dissemination sessions

Tech requirements;
Available in field;
Content development
iPad Modules On the job learning Interactivity potential;
cost; Unknown
User demand
effectiveness
Capturing rep practice Enable student coaching
Video Uploads LMS limitations
sessions outside classroom
Providing classroom- Reduce travel; Some Tech requirements;
Virtual Classroom type instruction over student/teacher interactivity; Cost, Unknown
Internet Archivable effectiveness
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Participants Stretch Budgets with Technology & Innovation
Benchmark partners have successfully used technology, e-learning, increased internal expertise ,
and decentralized trainings to hold down costs in times of flat or reduced budgets.

Q. What successful or innovative practices have you used to stretch the Sales Training budget in times of flat or reduced
corporate funding? (please describe)
Budget Management

Switch to
contractors to * Other, 7%
supply Use of
training, 7% Technology/ e-
learning, 36% * Other: Hire highly
Evaluation of qualified training
strategies in managers, develop
content in-
place, 14% house, RFP all
projects, scale back
on meals and
gifts, reduce travel
Decentralized Increase cost, repurpose
trainings, 18% internal existing content
expertise/
content, 18%

(n=28)
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Reps Get About Three Weeks of Training for a New Product
New product training requires an average of 16.5 days of training for new hires and 14.4 for
experienced reps. One quarter of participating companies provides four weeks or more of new
product training. The survey maximum was 45 days, both for new and experienced reps.

Q. Please provide the following numbers for number of training days required per rep for a new product launch.

Number of Training Days Required per Rep for a New Product Launch

New Hires Existing Reps

(Reps within first year on job) (Excludes new hires)

75th Percentile 23.75 20

Mean 16.5 14.4

Median 10 9

25th Percentile 6 5

(n=18) (n=17)

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Best Practice:
Training Focuses on Needs of Learners & Internal Partners
Interviewed training directors shared best practices on partnering with internal stakeholders and
collecting feedback from trainees to ensure training is focused on meeting internal customers
needs.

Its important to remember those people are our customers

and the stuff that we are putting forth is designed to help them
achieve their strategies. So if we understand that and give people
the skillsets and the development they need to better achieve a
strategy, then thats how were bringing value. So we need to be
aligned with our business partners to that to make
that happen.

For our big products, we have somebody within our training

group dedicated to working with each of those plans to make
sure that everything we train new folks on is done from a
customer lens. Were involved from the very beginning.

Were big fans of doing everything we can to improve learner satisfaction where we basically ask them at the end of
the training, If you didnt have this training, could you be as successful in your job?

So learner satisfaction is a big driver for just about everything we do, and we get tons of feedback from our learners.
that we scan through after every class we run. Then we use it to try and make improvements.

Were trying to get to this culture of continuous improvement where everything we do we take time to analyze the
feedback from our learners, figure out, or evaluate where it falls and what we can do to improve upon it for the
next folks that come through.

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About Best Practices, LLC
Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the simple yet
profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying
the best business practices, operating tactics, and winning strategies of world-class companies.

Best Practices, LLC

6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
www.best-in-class.com

Sue Silverstein Martha Haswell

Senior Director, Advisory Services Project Manager
919.767.9227 919.767.9249
[email protected] [email protected]

Link for Report: Pharmaceutical Sales Training Excellence Benchmarking Report

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