Working Life: Kevin Crowe
pharmafile | June 23, 2009 | Feature | Sales and Marketing | Merck Serono, WL, sales force effectiveness
How did you find your way into your current role?
I have worked for several years in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry (four and a half years with Parke-Davis, 10 years with Lundbeck) in sales, training, and sales management. In 2005 my wife and I were interested in gaining some international experience both in work and personal life.
We’ve lived and worked in the five biggest Canadian cities, in progressive roles. We were interested in the next challenge, which for us was to live and work in Europe. When my wife was offered a two-year assignment with IBM in Zurich, I had a tough decision to make: quit my job as a sales director in Montreal, and move to Switzerland! As always, an opportunity presented itself: In order to make myself more marketable for Europe, I completed an International MBA in Zurich during this period. I then joined Merck Serono originally as head of sales academy, primarily responsible for training sales managers on sales skills coaching. I was fortunate to be promoted to head of sales effectiveness after 14 months. With all of my experience in pharmaceutical sales and management, this role presented itself as a chance to ‘give back’. I know that sounds trite, but I’m in a position to have a really positive influence on the quality of our global sales forces.
How is your field changing?
In terms of sales force models, there have been major changes in the way we approach our customers and the way the industry does business. We all know that the old model of eight or nine reps per territory is no longer viable. Our customers saw to that, as access has become more difficult. In addition, we are moving away from the classic one-to-one, rep-to-physician office call. The physician is no longer the key decision maker; the number of stakeholders has increased. Therefore, a key account manager needs to have the skills to cater to these different needs. More product ‘details’ are being delivered to a diverse group of stakeholders, and as such, presentation skills and negotiation skills have become important attributes, and the corresponding skills training a priority.
What are the most enjoyable things about your role?
To me, sales effectiveness touches just about every area of the company. As such, I get to deal with a lot of interesting people, both here in headquarters and in the regions. I have a great team within my department. We are very solutions-oriented, and adding value to our internal customers’ activities provides me with a great deal of satisfaction.
And the least enjoyable?
Too much email – I am now a ‘Crackberry’ addict!
What are the most common misconceptions about your field?
I am continually surprised by the misconceptions that non-salespeople seem to have about the daily life of a sales professional within the pharma industry. The role is seen as an easy one. I can assure you that it is not. In my opinion, it’s an incredibly difficult job to be a consistently good sales representative or sales manager. There is a tremendous amount of self-motivation required in a very unstructured environment, and they are roles that require continuous improvement to remain effective.
Is there an individual in your field who has inspired you?
There are a lot of intelligent people in the industry. I try to learn something from everyone I meet. I’ve had the good fortune to work with some brilliant colleagues, from whom I’ve learned a lot. I can certainly recall my first sales training that I received. The principles and skills that I learned had a big impact on my pharma career and on the way I interact with people.
What is the secret to a happy working life?
Balance between work and play is key. Of course, this is always a struggle. It’s critical to stay on top of each work project and not let things slide. By the same token, one has to safeguard family and hobby time lest the job responsibilities creep in. I pride myself on being fairly well-organised, and I make this balance a priority.
If you had advice for anyone starting out in your field now, what would it be?
Pharma has and always will be an excellent industry in which to build a career. Sure, we are all facing challenges to our business models, but what industry isn’t?
Sales is an excellent place to learn the business; I think everyone in the pharma industry would benefit from spending some time in the field dealing with customers. I also strongly believe in the long-term success of our industry, and I work hard towards the future success of Merck Serono. I would encourage newcomers to the industry to always look for opportunities to develop themselves.
If you had advice for anyone starting out in your field now, what would it be?
Commit yourself with optimism, keep a positive outlook and maintain your enthusiasm. Always look for solutions and be ready to take on the seemingly daunting challenge. Teamwork is the key to success so be prepared to be brave when collaborating with others – it takes all sorts of characters and approaches to make a successful team and to achieve goals which may have seemed impossible. Keep a sense of perspective at all times and never forget where you started out.
How do you relax and forget about work?
I’m into a lot of different sports – basketball, hiking, golf, skiing, snowboarding, working out. One of the reasons we chose to live in Switzerland is the access to the mountains – so much fantastic alpine! My wife and I also really like to travel, and being so centrally located in the Geneva area, there are many interesting areas to explore.
In an alternate life, what would you do for a living?
Being involved in one of my favourite sports at a professional level would be pretty cool.
If you would like to contribute to a future Working Life, please contact Andrew McConaghie amcconag@wiley.com
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