Abstract
Sales reps are a vital part of a life science suppliers success because they
provide a direct link to scientists. By improving your sales reps credibility
and effectiveness, lasting relationships with customers will be formed. These
relationships will boost satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately, long-term
profitability.
Sales reps are an expensive resource, and companies often do not realize the
maximum return on their investment. Merely focusing on the quantitative aspects,
such as increasing the size of the sales force, will not necessarily increase
revenue. Instead, a combination of qualitative and quantitative factors needs to
be addressed in order to maximize sales force performance.
Based on a 34-question survey of over 1,800 scientists, the second edition of
Improving Sales Rep Performance: A Global Analysis is designed to offer insights
on how sales executives can align their sales force recruitment and training,
organization and support in a way that reflects the needs and expectations of
scientific customers.
Table of Contents
Section 1. Analysis and Interpretation of Survey Results
Introduction
Sales Rep Selection and Training
- 1-3 Personal Qualities
- 1-4 Professional Qualities
- 1-5 Valued Assistance
- 1-6 Purchasing Support
- 1-8 Technical Support
Sales Force Organization
- 1-10 Forms of Organization
- 1-11 Frequency of Contact
Product Information and Promotional Items
- 1-14 Preferred Product Information
- 1-15 Preferred Promotional Items
Competitive Dynamics
- 1-17 Measuring Customer Satisfaction
- 1-22 Sales Reps From Most Selected Companies
Customer Profiles
- 1-24 Aggregate Customer Profiles
- 1-25 Customer Profiles by Geographic Region
Segmentation Analysis
- 1-27 Psychographic Segmentation
- 1-30 Demographic Segmentation
- 1-32 Summary
Section 2. Study Methodology and Demographics
- 2-1 Study Methodology
- 2-3 Understanding Quadrant Analysis
- 2-5 Definition of Terms
- 2-6 Demographics
- 2-7 Questionnaire
Section 3. Presentation of Survey Data
Sales Reps: Value of Assistance
- 3-1 Importance of sales rep assistance when looking for specific types of information
- 3-3 Overall satisfaction with the assistance of sales reps who typically contact lab
Sales Reps: Personal & Professional Qualities
- 3-4 Importance of specific personal qualities of sales reps
- 3-6 Overall satisfaction with the personal qualities of sales reps who typically contact lab
- 3-7 Importance of specific professional qualities of sales reps
- 3-9 Overall satisfaction with the professional knowledge of sales reps who typically contact lab
Purchasing Support & Advice
- 3-10 Products for which purchasing support assistance from sales reps is most useful
- 3-11 Most important questions to ask sales reps when considering a purchase
- 3-12 Percentage of orders in a typical year for which it is necessary to contact a suppliers sales rep for purchasing assistance
- 3-13 Preferred frequency of sales rep contact after the purchase of an expensive instrument or other piece of life science instrumentation
Technical Support & Advice
- 3-14 Primary sources of assistance when a technical problem is encountered
- 3-15 Percentage of orders in a typical year for which it is necessary to contact a suppliers sales rep for technical assistance
Sales Force Organization, Product Information & Promotional Materials
- 3-16 Organization of sales force that is most useful
- 3-17 Usefulness of a dedicated, single-point-of-contact sales rep responsible for coordinating ALL requests
- 3-18 Product information sales reps should leave behind after a visit
- 3-19 Most enjoyed promotional items received from sales reps
Experience with Sales Reps
- 3-20 Purchasing styles
- 3-21 Preferred relationships with sales reps
- 3-22 Average number of visits from sales reps per week
- 3-23 Percentage of visits that were unsolicited or unexpected
- 3-24 Average number of telephone calls from sales reps per week
- 3-25 Percentage of calls that were unsolicited or unexpected
- 3-26 Frequency of personal interaction with sales reps for specific types of products
- 3-28 Interaction with sales reps from specific companies
- 3-29 Satisfaction with sales rep assistance when looking for specific types of information
- 3-31 Overall satisfaction with the assistance of sales reps when looking for product information
- 3-31 Overall satisfaction with the assistance of sales reps when looking for logistics and order placement information
- 3-33 Personal qualities that best describe sales reps
- 3-35 Perception of sales reps as being knowledgeable of research details
- 3-36 Perception of sales reps as being a good source of technical support and advice
- 3-37 Circumstances in which sales rep assistance would be most useful
Demographics
- 3-38 Role in Laboratory
- 3-39 Year Born
- 3-40 Gender
- 3-41 Market Segment
- 3-42 Job Position
- 3-43 Geographic Region
- 3-44 Areas of Research
Section 4. Appendices
- 4-1 Insights and Perspectives
- 4-48 Cross-Tabulations of Survey Data
- 4-113 Additional Supplier Information
- 4-116 Other Publications
- 4-118 About BioInformatics
- 4-119 Our Valued Clients
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