Cooper Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics of Detailers:

The detailers for Cooper Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPI) are the A Positions of the company as they have a significant impact on the company’s success. The business strategy is to field a sales force of over 500 detailers to call on medical personnel to describe the product line and persuade them to use and subscribe CPI drugs (pg 1). Successful detailers need many KSAOCs to generate sales. CPI believes their detailers must have detailed knowledge of product characteristics, customer preferences, and the pharmaceutical industry. This knowledge is essential and is greatly linked to sales success. The more knowledgeable a detailer is about the product, the more confidence buyers will have in purchasing the product. Also, detailers must know what the customer wants, in order to satisfy the need with the proper CPI drug.

Important skills include interpersonal skills and selling skills that follow corporate promotional practices. These skills are necessary and directly linked with improved sales. Selling skills include procedures such as planning, time management during visits, and follow-up. Selling skills also cover a broad range of characteristics such as persistence, attitude, and likeability. Interpersonal skills tie into the key ability of being able to build and improve customer rapport.

The ability to build customer rapport is highly important and linked to improved sales. Customers are more likely to conduct repeat business if there is a strong rapport with the detailer. The ability to influence medical personnel to purchase CPI drugs is also essential for business. Other characteristics CPI stressed include the strong work habits, organization, good judgment, sincerity, cooperation, and responsiveness to management. These characteristics are essentially what are needed to be a successful detailer at CPI.

There are pros and cons in the recruitment and selection process that CPI uses to ensure detailers have KSAOCs. CPI effectively ensures detailers have industry knowledge by hiring pharmacy school graduates who have a few years experience in retail drugstores. Other than this minimum requirement, it seems the hiring process is conducted in a very subjective manner. District managers conduct the interview and rate the interviewee on subjective characteristics such as attitude, judgment, and sincerity. From these subjective ratings, a decision is made if the candidate has the potential to be a successful detailer. An alternative method is to have the interviewee take a standard psychological test that can better objectify characteristic ratings. Key characteristics can be measured and hiring decisions can be based on how well the candidate possesses the KSAOCs necessary for CPI detailers. Although an objective test may do a better job in ensuring candidates have key characteristics, it appears CPI currently does an effective job in hiring the right staff as their turnover rate is much lower than the industry average.

The training process also has pros and cons in how CPI develops KSAOCs. CPI effectively ensures each detailer completes one month of training in product characteristics and selling skills at the company headquarters. The problem is, some detailers like Bob, do not get the training right away. Bob spent four months on the job before receiving the training program. Detailers could benefit from the immediate month long training, to develop the product knowledge and develop strong selling skills. Requiring detailers to conduct the month long training before going on the job can prevent bad habits from forming.

The compensation and performance evaluation system are the HR practices that fail to motivate detailers to go above and beyond sales quotas. The compensation system is unique in that it is not the typical commission based system that sales jobs have. Instead, detailers are salaried and receive an annual bonus based on corporate performance. Performance is evaluated by meeting sales quotas, and improving customer rapport. If a detailer does a good job, they are rewarded with a tiered salary raise, such as $2,500. A bonus tied directly to meeting and exceeding sales quotas will motivate detailers to exceed the minimum expectations. The current bonus system may not motivate detailers to exceed sales quotas because there is a low line of sight connection with performance. High performers may be lured away by competitors who offer a compensation system that ties commission and bonuses directly to individual sales performances.

CPI’s HR practices are effective in helping new detailers improve their sales skills by providing the month long training and initial field training by managers. After the first year, it is up to the district managers to give ongoing coaching with 10-15 field visits with each detailer. With the high transfer rate of managers from district to district, it is important that managers are properly trained to give consistent developmental feedback and coaching to the detailers. From the case, it seems there is a lack of consistency among CPI district managers in their managerial practices.

Bob Marsh’s employment with CPI:

Bob initially was hired because Meredith believed he had many of the KSAOCs necessary to be a successful detailer. Bob had the necessary industry knowledge, and after the interview, Meredith rated Bob highly in “sincerity, aggressiveness, attitude, enthusiasm, learning ability, judgment, character, affability, and appearance” (pg 2). Because Bob had these characteristics, Meredith believed he could be developed into “an excellent salesman” (pg 2.).

After Bob’s initial field training, he quickly learned the product characteristics and basic selling skills. However, Meredith noticed some flaws with Bob: “lack of attention to organization, planning, and follow-up, and his tendency to question the logic of some company’s major promotion programs” (pg 3). Meredith wrote off his concerns because the attitudes were normal for new salespeople. If these attitudes were common for new hires, it seems CPI could put more emphasis in its initial training to prevent these detrimental attitudes.

Throughout Bob’s 12 year career, his performance ratings around KSAOCs fluctuated. Some years Bob exemplified most KSAOCs, and other years he didn’t. The main KSAOC that Bob consistently excelled in was his ability to build customer rapport. The main KSAOCs that Bob didn’t consistently have were organization, adherence to sales promotions, and doing background research on customers. This can be seen from Bob’s performance evaluations, as they were brought up