Sales Management – Final Report

Abstract

As a part of our MBA project, we have been assigned to write a detailed report about an
organization belonging to any manufacturing industry. We choose a leading organization of the
Pharmaceutical Industry that is Abbott Pakistan. The core reason for this selection is that, the
primary education of all the group mates is Pharm-D, therefore we all have sound knowledge of
this industry. Abbott is a multinational company operating in Pakistan since 1948. It has wide
range of products extending from Nutraceuticals to Established Pharmaceutical Products.
We have written a detailed report about the Sales team management of this organization
including all aspects of the concerned subject. Abbott has state-of-the-art sales team that is
reflected in the current performance of the organization. A sales team network that is wide and
diverse and covers every corner of the country.
We hope that this report will be able to deliver all the necessary information and knowledge that
is expected of us.

Sales Management – Final Report

 Table of Content
S no. Content
1 Abbott's Introduction
2 Brand Portfolios
3 Sales Team Hierarchy
4 Sales Planning And Forecasting Mechanisms
5 Sales Implementation
6 Recruitment
7 Selection
8 Sales Team Training
9 Compensation Practices
10 Recommendations

Sales Management – Final Report

Introduction

Abbott was begun by Dr.Wallace C. Abbott, a practicing doctor.

Abbott Research facilities is one of the most seasoned and
most effective pharmaceutical companies within the Joined together States.
Abbott Research facilities has over 130 years’ involvement within
the buyer wellbeing care and pharmaceutical industry. The company has
31 fabricating locales and 12 improvement centers around the world.
Abbott positioned No. 1 in around the world grown-up nourishment and
blood testing in 2017. Abbott begun operations in Pakistan as
a showcasing associate in 1948; the company has consistently extended to contain a
work constrain of over 1500 representatives. As of now two fabricating offices found at Landhi
and Korangi Karachi proceed to create pharmaceutical products.

Company profile:
Mission: To deliver consistently superior products and services which contribute significantly to
improve the quality of life of consumers.
Vision: To be the most admired healthcare company in Pakistan. most admired healthcare
company in Pakistan.

Business model of Abbott:

Customers segments:

Abbott sells directly or through third party wholesalers, retailers, and distributors to retail
consumers and institutions, including government agencies, health care facilities, pharmacies,
blood banks, hospitals, commercial laboratories, clinics, and others – depending on the business
segment. Its sales are evenly split between developed, mostly in the US and Western Europe, and
developing markets.

That said, sales in developing markets are growing at a rapid rate – 17.1 percent in 2015 and 12.5
percent in 2014.

Established Pharmaceutical Products –These are sold for the most part exterior the
US specifically wholesalers, merchants, government organizations, wellbeing care offices, drug
stores, and autonomous retailers.

Diagnostic Products – These are sold around the world specifically to blood banks, healing
centers, commercial research facilities, clinics, physicians' workplaces,
government offices, interchange care testing destinations, and plasma
protein restorative companies.

Sales Management – Final Report

• Nutritional Products – These are sold around the world straightforwardly to shoppers and
to teach, wholesalers, retailers, wellbeing care offices, government organizations, and third-
party merchants.

• Vascular Products – These are sold worldwide, directly to hospitals in the US and directly to
customers and third-party distributors outside the US.
•
Value Proposition

Abbott has three main value propositions – its commercial presence, leading-edge innovation,
and its brand.

• Commercial presence –Abbott offers its items all over the world, in over 150 nations and may
be a driving company in numerous key markets counting India and Latin America.

• Leading-edge Innovation – Abbott contributes intensely in investigate and improvement,

and numerous of its items are not accessible from other companies – this ties clients who require
its items to Abbott.

• Brand – Abbott is an established brand with over 125 years of history. It was recently awarded
the Most Admired Company in the pharmaceutical industry in Fortune magazine’s annual
rankings.

Channels:
Abbott employments a multi-channel approach, with channels depending on
the locale or nation of operation and the sort of item being sold. Abbott has nearly half of
its deals specifically to customers, through its Abbott-
owned conveyance centers, open distribution centers, or third-party associates and wholesaler

Customer relationship:
Abbott keeps up client connections in spite of the fact that it’s in-house deals groups, through
its nation workplaces, and through 24/7 live online client back – the last
mentioned gives clients with prompt self-help get to to imperative data such as
orders, item data and item bolster.

Key Activites:
Abbott's key movement is the revelation, improvement, fabricate, and deal of
a wide and expanded line of wellbeing care items.

Sales Management – Final Report

Key Resources:
Abbott’s key assets would be its property, plant and gear, its goodwill, and other
intangible resources counting licenses and other mental property, item rights, and innovation.

Cost Structure:
Abbott’s key cost drivers are price rebates, research and development costs and selling, general
and administrative expenses.

Revenue Stream:
Abbott’s key income streams come from its fundamental section - Established Pharmaceutical
Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Vascular Products. Of these, the
nutritional products segment is the largest, covering over half of Abbott’s annual revenue.

Brand Portfolios:
Portfolios in Pharmaceutical industry are bifurcated based on their Therapeutic Areas (TAs).
Abbott Pakistan is dealing in the following portfolios:
1. Abbott Nutrition
2. Women’s Health
3. Respiratory
4. CNS
5. Pain
6. Gastro
7. Hospital Care
8. Peads
9. General Groups (I & II)
Each of these portfolios cover a wide range of products. Abbott enjoys the position of the 3rd
largest company (MAT June 2021) in Pakistan’s Pharmaceutical industry followed by GSK &
Getz Pharma.
Abbott has a great share in each of its TAs, almost all of them have established brands & each
TA possess one or more market leaders. Some of the well known brands holding marketing
leading positions are as follows:
1. Ensure
2. Pediasure
3. Surbex-Z
4. Brufen
5. Klaricid
6. Arinac
7. Epival
8. Serc

Sales Management – Final Report

 Sales Team Hierarchy:
The hierarchical system of sales team is majorly geographical based. The entire country is
divided into two zones i-e South & North.
South zone consists of the following regions:
• Karachi
• Hyderabad
• Larkana
• Sukkur
• Quetta
• Multan
• Rahimyar Khan
• Other peripheral areas like Nawabshah, Mithi, etc
North zone consists of the following regions:
• Lahore
• Faisalabad
• Gujranwala
• Bahawalpur
• DIK
• Islamabad/Rawalpindi
• Peshawar
• Mardan
• Abbottabad
• Other peripheral areas like Sheikhupura, Sahiwal,Jhelum etc

Hierarchical Structure of the Sales team

Head of Sales -
National

Head of Head of
Sales Sales
South North

Regional Regional
Managers Managers
Karachi Islamabad

Territory Territory Territory Territory Territory Territory Territory Territory

Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager
Territory 1 Territort 2 Territory 3 Territory 4 Territory 1 Territory 2 Territory 3 Territory 4

Sales Management – Final Report

Apart from the geographical bifurcation, each team is grouped according to their specialty
portfolio. Therefore, Abbott has 10 teams based on their respective Therapeutic Areas (TAs).
Each team is divided on their geographical location, starting from Head of Sales (National) to
Head of Sales (Zonal), each zonal head has a set of Regional Managers (RSMs). And each RSM
is responsible for Territory Managers, who look after a small fraction of geographical part of
land(i-e Territory). These territories are further divided into small bricks and then to the
customers (i-e Doctors).

Sales Planning and Forecasting mechanism:

Sales forecasts enable to manage the business more effectively. Accurately forecasting the sales
and building a sales plan can help to avoid unforeseen cash flow problems and manage the
production, staff and financing needs more effectively.
Demand forecasting is one of the main processes of planning. Its objective is to determine which
products are purchased, where, when, and in what quantities. Demand forecasting is the starting
point for all planning activities and execution processes. Sales planning can help shape the global
brand strategy and drive R&D decisions. A complete sales planning tool can provide corporate
planners, the tools they need to drive growth and plan for contingencies.
The essence of demand planning is to use current market dynamics to see how much product
should be produced in the months and years ahead. There are several ways to accomplish this.
The first is to harness the sales force, whose reps and managers work with customers on a daily
basis and thus know what they are up to. Demand planning requires that this feedback get
integrated into short- and mid-term forecasts.
A second way to monitor market activity is through channel data. Basic access to IMS and other
pharmacy data can reveal what products are selling, how much, and with which specific
customers.
Generally, sales forecast is done at the beginning of the year when sales targets are allocated to
the Field Force but Abbott believes in staying ahead of market and therefore revise this forecast
every month. There is no single way to predict sales forecast, especially for an organization like
Abbott which has a huge range of products ranging from diagnostics to nutritional.
Following are the methods employed by Abbott to predict an accurate Forecast:
1. Seasonal Forecasting: One of the simplest ways of predicting market behaviour in
Pharmaceutical is season. Example: Products related to Diarrhoea and gastric upsets have a peak
season in Summers whereas products related to Respiratory Infections has a good season in
Winters.
2. Time Series Forecasting: It is yet another technique used in Abbott. Seasonless drugs are
usually forecasted using this method. Example: During the season of Ramadan, there is an

Sales Management – Final Report

overall decline in sales due to shorter working hours or doctors & sales team, therefore sales
downfall is expected.
3. Cause & Effect Forecasting: This technique represents that one or more than one factors are
involved in the demand behaviour. Example: When COVID-19 hit the world, the global
pharmaceutical industry predicted the higher demand of Sanitizers, gloves & PPEs leading to
more companies supplying these materials.

Sales implementation:
Pharmaceutical companies need the most effective sales force to generate sales. The sales force
should also know how to integrate strategic business objectives with selection program
strategies. As the current pharmaceutical market environment is dynamic, the role of the sales
force is changing. Sales representatives in leading pharmaceutical companies are now
responsible for delivering the company’s marketing message and offering physician information
and educational opportunities This helps in enhancing relationship between sales representatives
and physicians thus helping change their beliefs and behaviour. In addition to this, physicians
require more detailed, comparative, and customized information from pharmaceutical sales
representatives. As a result, a new sales representative should have the correct set of skills to
fulfil these roles. Pharmaceutical companies should also employ an effective recruitment strategy
in order to have the best sales force.
The execution of sales force has helped the pharmaceutical companies to reach out to more
consumers through a dedicated strategy. Pharmaceutical companies usually target physicians as
their prime customers. But as the market is growing, the companies have now also started to
target other customers such as pharmacists or patients. To implement this strategy,
pharmaceutical companies need to integrate effective salesforce execution model to get
connected with new accounts or leads in a short period. It is helpful as it managed both the
marketing and sales aspects. Strategic salesforce execution helps you identify the opportunities
out of leads. It keeps track of your customers by capturing their conversation.
Sales team allows the pharmaceutical companies to interact with the consumers through the
platform to know the demands and wishes of them. You can take the opportunity to ensure that
the consumers are well aware of what you have to offer. Implementing the multichannel
marketing measures is one of the best strategies that can help pharmaceutical companies thrive.

Recruitment, Selection & Training of sales team:

Recruitment: Abbott is known to choose candidates that are highly competitive. The recruitment
process at Abbott is quite fast and simple, which consists of two steps. It involves the initial
screening interview that is conducted by the HR as well as the concerned department officials.
After the initial screening the head of HR & the head of concerned department takes another
interview which is the final interview. Both these interviews are highly structured and does not
take much time of the candidate.

Sales Management – Final Report

Selection: Once the candidate is selected, he/she is given an offer by the HR. After the offer
acceptance, the candidate is expected to resign immediately and submit the accepted resignation
letter to the Abbott’s HR department (if currently employed).
Training of Sales Team: Abbott has a state-of-the-art training department. New recruits are
inducted into various trainings which includes:
o Disease trainings
o Product Trainings
o Selling Skills
All these are induction trainings, which each and every recruit has to complete before starting
his/her job at Abbott.
Apart from these trainings, Abbott has a development program for its sales team. This program
helps the sales reps to get a flavor of marketing activities, which helps them to become future
successors for the marketing department. Its an excellent initiative which helps the individual
grow in knowledge and exposure. Each year some competent candidates are selected from all the
portfolio teams across Pakistan and inducted in this program to be future leaders.

Compensation Practice:
Sales is a highly volatile field where the turnover is extremely high. Majority of the sales
representatives are neither not satisfied with the company policy or the compensation offered.
But fortunately, Abbott is known to have a high retention rate. Majority sales force is working in
the company for more than 5 years and are seen to be satisfied. They are given market
competitive salary with excellent perks & benefits.
The exact pay scales can not be revealed as if is a matter of confidentiality but following
compensatory benefits are provided to the sales team of Abbott:
o Gross Salary (Fixed)
o Traveling allowances (Variable)
o Incentives (Can be both in cash or in kind)
o Bonuses
o Medical (Employee and family)
o Provident Fund

CRM & Customer Loyalty Program:

There are two major set of customers for Abbott i-e Doctors & Chemists
For Doctors: Abbott has a very strong brand equity when it comes to customers. Abbott is one
of the most trusted companies not only of Pakistan but of the entire world. This is the reason that
despite of an abundance of malpractices within the industry, Abbott stands tall and corruption
free. Abbott does not involve in any kind of bribery and yet enjoys a huge market share within
the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan.

Sales Management – Final Report

Abbott believe in providing updated education material to its doctors, therefore it gives medical
books to the doctors for keeping them up to date about the new guidelines.
Abbott tries to provide patient welfare wherever possible for which they have helped install
items of medical utility such as BP Apparatus, Otoscopes, Proctoscopes, Weight Machines, PPEs
etc.
For Chemists: Abbott has a dedicated team for the trade activities. This team looks after all the
activities conducted at the retail or chemist level. Chemist is a very important stakeholder for
pharmaceutical industry, therefore a proper planning is mandatory to ensure that this stakeholder
is not neglected.
Following CRM activities are conducted for Chemists:
o Trade Offers
o Bonuses
o Discounts
o Chemist Education Programs
o Point of Sales
Trade activities are majorly conducted for the brands of nutraceutical nature as they are
consumer brands and does not nee prescription from a doctor.

Challenges:
a. Unethical Practices by National Companies: The major challenge faced by all the
Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies in Pakistan is the unethical practices conducted
by the national companies. Abbott strictly abide by the ethical code of conduct and
therefore will never involve in malpractices no matter how lucrative the outcome might
be.
On the other hand the national companies are bribing the target customers (i-e Health Care
Professionals & Chemists) in various ways. Some of the most common practices include:
o Gifting to doctors
o Monetary benefits
o Discounts offers
o Foreign tours
o Bonus offers
This has become norm in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry, regulatory authority such as DRAP
needs to take some serious measures to ensure that these unethical practices are forbidden.
b. Hectic Procedures: Abbott is a hardcore organization where all the departments are
strongly interconnected. For every single project whether its big or small, many
stakeholders are involved, making the duration of completion a lengthy matter. Whereas,
the similar job in national companies are completed in a considerably lesser time and
hence executed promptly.

Sales Management – Final Report

 c. Low Priced Competition: Abbott does not compromise when it comes to the quality of
products. High quality raw material, equipment & SOPs are followed. Therefore, the
products of Abbott are quite high priced as compared to other generics available in the
local market. As Pakistan is an out of pocket market where majority of the population
belongs to the socio-economic class that lies below the poverty line. So, the sales are
compromised because low priced generics are available.
d. Re-current COVID-19 Waves: COVID-19 induced pandemic has affected businesses of
all sectors. There’s a common misconception that the Pharmaceutical sector has boosted
in the pandemic era, but unfortunately its not true. HCPs (Health Care Professionals) are
not meeting the medical representatives due to the fear of COVID infection, making it
highly difficult to engage customers. Similarly, patient flow has highly reduced due to the
fear of getting infection from hospitals & clinics. Patients avoid visiting doctor unless
absolutely necessary. Moreover, getting raw material across the borders have became a
problem. So, overall this pandemic has negatively impacted the sales of Pharmaceutical
industry in general.

Recommendations:
• Multinationals needs to adapt as per the demands and needs of the local market. Abbott
needs to find innovative ways and means to engage customer without being unethical.
• Abbott should simplify their approval processes introducing less complicated
mechanisms, leading to quicker response and early implementation of a plan.
• Abbott should enhance their digital support in order to counter the challenge of face to
face doctor meetings.
• Abbott should lower their prices as Pakistan is a price sensitive market and therefore the
local competition takes advantage of cost effectiveness.

Sales Management – Final Report