For district managers and pharmaceutical sales representatives, the field ride-along provides the greatest opportunity for live coaching, support and development. Unlike sales positions in other industries, the face-to-face coaching time in pharmaceutical sales can be somewhat limited. Considering the tremendous impact managers have on the development and growth of their representatives, optimizing the field ride is critical for the success of the representative, manager and company.

A day in the field

In order to learn how to optimize a field ride, it's important to look at common mistakes made in the past. Over the years, reps have expressed consistent frustrations regarding field rides' lack of impact on performance. Common observations made by representatives include:

"I get limited suggestions on how to develop and improve."
"There is never an opportunity for me to offer my ideas or express my frustrations."
"I do not receive feedback regularly."
"My district manager interrupts me during physician calls and affects my physician relationships."
"My district manager spends more time taking calls than understanding my business."

You may have heard similar comments or you may have experienced these problems as a representative. Perhaps you are managing representatives who have the same frustrations. To respond to some of these criticisms and help you become a more effective leader and coach, we will now look at how you can optimize the field ride to improve performance and provide development.

Preparing for the field ride. Optimizing the field ride begins with solid and thorough preparation. There are a number of preparatory steps to consider prior to the field ride-along.

Once you have fully prepared for the field ride, you must get ready to make the most of your time with the representative.

Focusing during the field ride. Coaching, support and development are all vitally important during the field ride. Begin by setting expectations and linking past performance to the current day. Also make sure to discuss the key documents that have been prepared, like:

* The previous coaching report.
* Business plans/targets.
* Project updates.
* The rep's development plan.
* Administrative items.

Be clear about your desired outcomes for the field ride and listen carefully for opportunities to coach and support the representative. Some key conversation starters include:

"What outcomes are you after?"
"What is your call objective or strategy?"
"What do you hope to accomplish during your visit?"
"What will success look like for this call?"

Throughout the field ride, it is important to model key components of the selling process to reinforce and strengthen skills. The representative should always be given the chance to reflect on his own performance before the district manager offers advice. Offering advice first is a common mistake made by managers, and it often results in a passive learning environment where creative thinking is stifled and trust can be broken. If clear expectations are determined and agreed upon, the manager can effectively coach around the desired outcome. The result is a relationship in which manager and representative are working together in the development process, which ultimately creates greater satisfaction and success.

Etiquette should also be considered a critical part of optimizing the field ride. Managers are the face of the company and should always show professionalism. Representatives often imitate the behavior of their managers, so setting a good example is always important. Dressing appropriately, avoiding the use of a cell phone during a discussion, not being pushy, and showing respect for a physician's time are all examples of etiquette. Helping representatives understand different social styles and how to approach a variety of customers is another form of etiquette.

Providing feedback. Debriefing after each call is important for many reasons. It provides an opportunity for representatives to improve and learn from mistakes. For example, focusing on a specific situation or looking at what happened during a call will allow you to provide immediate and specific feedback. Identifying the reasons why a situation occurred will also improve the overall outcome for both manager and representative. It is important that when something goes poorly, you don't jump to conclusions or make assumptions based on past history. Listening carefully and offering advice allows the representative to be a part of the learning process. Some phrases you can use to engage while debriefing include:

"How did the call go based on your expectation of success?"
"What does it tell you about your approach?"
"What are your expectations for next time?"
"What feedback can I provide you to be most helpful?"

Asking smart questions during the field ride is crucial to understanding representatives. Like a good salesperson, a good district manager is constantly probing to understand others' thinking.

The way you word things can demonstrate support. Below are some examples:

* Encourage: "Please tell me more ..."
* Empathize: "I can understand why you feel that ..."
* Solicit: "I would like your advice on ..."
* Supplement: "Let's build on what you said ..."
* Summarize: "Let me see if I understand what you're saying ..."

Lack of development is a common frustration for representatives. Some managers only develop representatives' weaknesses. Make sure each development plan is built around both weaknesses and strengths and is specific to each representative. Development can be viewed as a number of strategies:

* Enhancing current strengths.
* Honing average skills.
* Moderating overused skills.
* Strengthening areas of weakness.
* Creating awareness of blind spots.

More often than not, we assign a book to develop reps' below-average skills. There are a number of other developmental assignments that offer great training and progress toward building a skill. Consider a project that provides influence without authority, such as taking the lead as a clinical product expert or getting involved in a task force. No matter what developmental assignment you and your representative agree on, it is essential that progress and growth be monitored and revisited on each field ride.

Next steps

After the field ride, it is important to recap observations from the entire day, including the specific calls and the skill sets that were observed during each call. Next steps involve agreement on business plan execution and development plans with milestones and timelines. Ask the representative how you can be of even greater help on the next field ride. Create a culture where both you and the rep will look forward to the field ride and make the most of the coaching opportunity it provides!