Lead - SFE

Job Purpose

• SFE lead, will be responsible to drive growth agenda of the organization and deliver strategic and operational support for the overall business health of Cipla / Cluster / BU
• The role is to measure, challenge and support business teams to excel and bring the best efficiencies and effectiveness of the sales force to positively impact the and deliver customer satisfaction resulting in to planned, profitable and sustainable business
• Support the sales function by developing the sales force effectiveness framework and productivity by providing the function with right tools at the right time to help achieve the sales objectives and improve overall profitability and growth for the business
• The scope of the role encompasses management of sales force excellence, CRM Management, Sales analytics and MIS with support of analytics team, design and execute Rewards and Recognition, market research, cross-functional projects, identification of business risks and plan mitigation plan with BUs.
• The role involves cross functional collaboration with HR, IT, Finance and Training teams and work closely with business unit head, Sales leaders and marketing teams

Key Accountabilities (1/6)

Responsible to drive growth agenda of the organization and deliver market research and operational support

• Provide insights into sales and effort performances, market insights along with market research team through structured market research to enable senior management to take faster and accurate data and insight-based decisions
• Measure tactical translation of Business unit strategy
• Analyse critically and objectively to define and solve problems and to identify business opportunities.
• Sales risk analysis and planning mitigations with Business units

Support businesses in ensuring optimal portfolio placement and developing market segmentation and targeting strategy in coordination with the sales and marketing teams for the respective allotted therapies

• Periodically evaluate product portfolios and right fit in to teams and define Right organizational structure to maximise the sales
• Support businesses in defining guidelines for portfolio placement and product detailing
• Create brand/speciality matrix in coordination with sales and marketing for detailing purposes
• Define, confirm, and review the right target mix based on product profiles, market benchmarks and new launches
• Define MSL guidelines for each BU and teams within the BU
• Define speciality wise coverage requirements, optimal sales force architecture and top quartile coverage of doctors

Key Accountabilities (2/6)

Assist in defining guidelines for entry into new markets and manpower expansion for the allotted therapies and differential GTM models

• Growth focused and market opportunity-based field force sizing- Structure and sales force deployment that optimizes resources.
• Work closely with business teams to identify differential go-to-market models and field structures
• Develop guidelines for effective resource allocation in the defined territories through analysis of market potential value, resource requirement, industry averages, etc.
• Define broad guidelines for confirming employees for headquarter positions
• Closely partner with HR, Training, SFA, IT and Finance for timely placement

Key Accountabilities (3/6)

Identify and suggest opportunities for productivity improvement to drive sales efficiency

• Monitor Sales performance and provide recommendations to achieve sales productivity.
• Implement enabling technologies including CRM/sales force automation platforms for field sales teams in order to enable effective sales execution and data capturing
• Proactively identify opportunities for sales process improvement by working closely with sales management in order to inspect sales process quality and prioritize opportunities for improvement.
• Assist sales management in understanding process bottlenecks and inconsistencies in order to rectify and mitigate the risks associated with the same
• Responsible for the development of the right tools and system capabilities in order to maintain the sales communication channels though sales reports, meetings, newsletters bulletins etc.
• Improve selling tools available in house in order to revolutionise the way information is available and identification of what can be done to make it better
• Compile issues faced by the team in using the tools in order to update it with necessary changes to add value and efficiency
• Ensure the sales staff undergoes the sales and effectiveness trainings in order to help them perform their roles better

Key Accountabilities (4/6)

Partner with stakeholders (internal &External) to design structure & processes to maximise customer value.

• Drive execution excellence and performance through process- drive sales excellence through close monitoring of key performance indicators
• Plan, design and deployment of customer segmentation, targeting and profiling to ensure best ROI of resources deployed

mplement the right target setting, sales recognition and performance incentive program in order to motivate the sales team in order to achieve the sales targets

• Target setting considering market potential, deployment and sales saliency.
• Planning, deployment, measurement, enabling computations with MIS Team and supporting disbursement of effective sales force reward and recognition plans.
• Implement the program in order to communicate the objectives of the program effectively
• Work with Finance, and HR team in providing assistance with sales incentive compensation administration in order to arbitrate or clarify the application of sales compensation program policies and procedures
• Implement an appraisal system that describes the responsibilities and performance standards for the sales force as a whole in order to track the sales performance

Key Accountabilities (5/6)

Manage sales reporting, administration & performance review for the field for the allotted therapies by providing accurate information with respect to sales budgets and forecast in order to assist in achievement of sales objectives

• Define performance matrix (lead and lag)
• Ensure readiness of Business Intelligence tools
• Set governance measures for the field force
• Administer budget and sales forecasts in order to track and achieve the nos for the financial year
• Generate sales reports on a regular basis for the management in order to monitor the forecasts and status on sales vs actuals
• Monitor accuracy and efficient distribution of sales reports and other intelligence essential to the sales organization in order to ensure most up to date data access

Key Accountabilities (6/6)

Support and develop the regional sales managers by effective coaching and implementation of performance improvement plans to help them perform at the required standards

• Conduct training/refresher courses on field force excellence to the sales force.
• Coach Regional sales managers on areas that they need development like coaching on optimal selling skills in order to improve their personality types and communication skills, coaching on sales tools
• Implement action plans in close collaboration with Regional Sales Managers to address underperforming representatives and ensure they return to the required standards

Major Challenges

• Getting buy-in of relevant stakeholders for executing pilot projects/ proof-of-concepts and other potential optimization opportunities
• Ensuring implementation of novel ideas/ new systems or processes
• Critically analyse and objectively define problem and provide solutions
• Add value and cater to needs of the sales representatives optimally on account of resource crunch
• Manage and align the sales force on a common objective in order to get the results
• Adoption of new processes by the field through effective change management
• Huge database with duplicate data, low quality and missing key attributes

Key Interactions (1/2)

Internal

• India business head

  for performance review and driving new initiatives (monthly)

• SFE team

  to track and monitor progress on the objectives (daily basis)

• Therapy Cluster Heads

  for segmentation, performance review (regularly)

• Marketing team

  for continuous review of ICE, communication insights, etc. (regularly)

• Finance & HR

  for understanding capability gaps, interventions required, financial performance review, productivity and performance matrix (need basis)

• Sales academy

  for capability development, adoption of new practices, coaching and mentoring (regularly)

Key Interactions (2/2)

External

• Suppliers

  for CRM system on a need basis to make sure contract are in pace and for any additional orders and reports

• Global partners

  on a need basis for process improvements

• Digital Agencies, Hardware Vendors, Technical Developers

  and

  Doctors

  to ensure current product is meeting business requirements and also understand new developments in the Industry

Dimensions (1/2)

• Responsible for driving sales effectiveness for ~2500 employees across 3-4 therapy areas with Rs. 1500-2000 Cr cluster business
• Responsible for driving productivity improvement: 15-20% improvement yoy
• IB wide governance for performance, reviews and delivery of targets including performance management
• Responsible for growth in prescription generation: 10-12%
• Optimization, segmenting and targeting of ~350,000 doctors
• Responsible for ensuring accuracy of data for better decision making, higher user adoption and inculcate best industry practices

Key Decisions (1/2)

Decisions

• Set sales targets and incentive criteria for sales representatives
• KPIs to be included along with thresholds for evaluation
• Provide solutions to existing escalations and issues faced by Business teams

Key Decisions (2/2)

Recommendations

• Recommend targets and segmenting of customers to the business
• Recommend any improvement in sales reporting or new and different ways to represent
• Recommend optimal go to market model, field force sizing/ deployment and portfolio shifts

Education Qualification

Masters degree in business management

Relevant Work Experience

8-10 years

• Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar role preferably within Pharma industry
• Experience in Sales Force Effectiveness, Sales Force Automation, CRM, Business Strategy, Project Management, Pharma business processes and Business Intelligence
• Understanding of business performance metrics
• Ability to work with and harmonize demands from multiple stakeholders
• Ability to manage stakeholders & work under pressure and tight deadlines
• Good organizational and interpersonal skills, including ability to work effectively in a fast-paced dynamic business environment
• Advanced excel and PowerPoint skills
• Ability to influence business leaders with insights and enable data-based decisions
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Should be driven and mature enough to handle senior level relationships
• Understanding of Data bases, Data warehouse and Business intelligence concepts.