– As Pharmanews-WhiteTulip trains PharmacyPlus sales team
To break even in a competitive or challenging business environment, pharmacists in the country must master the art of salesmanship, a training expert, Pharm. Tunde Oyeniran, has said.
Addressing a group of sales representatives on “Selling and Salesmanship” at a one-week seminar organised by PharmacyPlus Limited at Solab Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Pharm. Oyeniran, who is chief operating officer for Pharmanews-WhiteTulip Consulting, explained that the concept of selling has evolved over the years and every salesman who desires success must learn to quickly adapt to emerging trends.
“Today, selling has taken another dimension. It must be systematic and as such, salesmen must be trained. To the customers, a salesman is an ambassador (representing the organisation), advocate (persuasive communicator) and sales consultant. But to the company, he is a researcher (obtaining and feeding back field information), public relations officer, business manager (contributing to profitability) and territory manager,” he said.
Differentiating between marketing and salesmanship, Oyeniran remarked that “Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods from the producer to the consumer, while salesmanship involves providing best solutions to customers’ problems through the use of persuasion and services at a profit to the company.”
Speaking further during the second and third sessions of the training, themed “Effective Pharmaceutical Selling Skills” and “Psychology of Prospecting: Overcome the Barrier to Look for the Customer” respectively, the expert stressed that the way pharmacists think and see themselves has a direct bearing on their performance.
“If you have a high, positive self-concept, prospecting becomes easy. if you have a poor self- concept with regard to prospecting, you will approach prospecting with fear and anxiety,” he said.
Motivating the participants, the training expert urged, “In the inner game of selling, do not doubt your ability to succeed. To be successful, you must always engage your mind in positive dialogues. Do not fear rejection. This will make you a top sales person. You are a good person. Any rejection is not personal. It might be towards your offering, presentation or prices. Do not take rejection to heart.”
It would be recalled that PharmacyPlus Limited (owners of the popular brands – Reload Multivitamins and Alphabetic) recently engaged Pharmanews-White Tulip Training team to conduct a similar one-week training for its sales team and regional managers during the company’s 2016 National Sales Conference from 24 to 28 January, 2016. Over 20 participants (from different regions) were in attendance.
This move by PharmacyPlus is evidently in line with the increasingly popular realisation in today’s pharmacy practice that human capacity development is crucial to the survival of every business, having been proven to boost the skills, confidence and morale of employees, as well as benefitting the company in many other ways.
