The Future: From Sales Call to Video Chat?

If you're considering a change from science to sales, you may want to consider the fact that the future sales life may be quite different from the face-to-face contacts that have driven technical sales for more than a century. The Web has long been recognized as having tremendous potential for sales. Until recently, however, that potential has been realized most fully when the customer comes to the site already knowing what he or she wants. The result, as any sales person will tell you, is flat sales, slow-starting new products, and a gradual loss of customer identification and rapport with the company.

The rising cost of sales calls has forced some companies to look at innovative electronic alternatives. IPhysicianNet of Scottsdale, AZ, estimates that in U.S. pharmaceutical sales alone, the number of sales representatives has doubled since 1996, to a total of more than 84,000. Nearly half (43%) of traditional sales calls (or "detail visits") result in no contact with doctors, and 87% of details last less than 2 minutes. At up to $160 per visit, these brief encounters add up to tremendous expense. IPhysicianNet has introduced a new spin on sales that allows pharmaceutical representatives to communicate directly with physicians in their private offices using interactive, real-time, high-speed videoconferencing. In addition to talking with the sales rep, PC-based video detailing allows physicians to obtain in-depth product information, patient education materials, and product samples at their convenience. Initial surveys from the eight pharmaceutical companies participating in an iPhysicianNet trial indicate that video detailing hastens the acceptance and understanding of new products, greatly increases prescription volumes, and has no deleterious effect on the relationship between the physician and the company.

No one is predicting that face-to-face sales contacts will be phased out any time soon. However, prospective sales personnel should keep their computer skills honed for that coming day when the "early client call" is a mouse-click away. The ability to use a variety of Web formats and products to interact with clients may soon prove to be a strong asset for prospective sales representatives.

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