”What you must do after a new product launch?”
This is a highly practical question that is asked by almost every interviewer in the pharmaceutical industry. If you have recently joined as a Medical Representative or if you are among the Freshers preparing for an interview, then you should definitely bookmark this blog for your future reference.
Generally, in our pharmaceutical sales profession, we see a new product launch happening at least once a year, mostly during our grand budget meetings. The excitement is always high, but the real challenge begins in the field. That is exactly why this question is so important for your career growth.
So, what exactly should you do step-by-step to make a new product launch successful? Let’s break it down into practical field phases.
1. The Early Phase: Conduct a Proper Market Survey
The very first step of a new product launch begins before the actual product hits the market. This early phase is all about conducting a thorough market survey on the upcoming molecule combination.
Suppose your company is planning a launch for a new combination of A+B+C. Your primary step should be to execute a proper market survey of this exact combination. You should conduct this survey at the top 10 to 15 pharmacies in your HQ, ex-station, and out-station territories.
To maintain professionalism and accuracy, you should either use a printed Excel sheet or a dedicated diary to note down all the crucial survey points.
Key Survey Points You Must Note:
- Which Doctors are currently prescribing this combination?
- On average, how many prescriptions (Rxs) does this pharmacy receive for this combination daily or weekly?
- Which competitive brand is the fastest-moving or highest-selling at this specific counter?
After completing this detailed survey, you should organize the data and submit it to your line manager.
2. Pre-Launch Phase: Create a Targeted Doctor List
The next crucial phase before the final launch is to make a highly targeted Doctor list. You cannot promote a new brand to everyone. You need to pre-launch the combination only to those targeted Doctors who have high potential.
As a Medical Representative, you may have a core Doctor list of 100, 120, or 150 doctors. However, for this new brand, you should strategically plan a targeted list of just 20, 30, or maybe 40 Doctors.
How will you select them? This is where your market survey data will help you. Based on the chemist’s feedback, you will identify the right prescribers and create this shortlist. During this pre-launch phase, you can also take direct Doctor-to-Doctor feedback regarding your new brand’s formulation to build initial interest.
3. Post-Launch Phase: Availability and Execution
Once the product is officially launched, your strategy must shift towards availability and prescription generation.
Stockist Allocation & Chemist Availability
After launching the new brand, your very first step should be stockist allocation. It simply means you have to make this new brand physically available at your authorized distributors. Your manager will definitely track and ask you about this allocation status.
Suppose you have a total of 6 distributors at your HQ and 1 distributor at your ex-station. You should immediately allocate initial stocks of your new brand to all these stockists.
The immediate next step is chemist availability. Here again, your pre-launch market survey will guide you. You should make your brand available initially at those top potential counters where you found the highest prescription flow for that combination.
Conduct Medical Camps & Sampling Strategy
The next major field activity should be to conduct a Medical CAMP with some of those highly potential Doctors using a few samples.
During this camp, you will actively request those Doctors to write your new brand for their patients, and to support them, you will provide free samples. For example, if a Doctor is going to prescribe your brand to a patient for a 3-month therapy, you should ideally provide free samples for at least 15 days or 1 month to ensure patient compliance and start the habit.
However, as a modern Medical Representative, you must keep one vital thing in your mind: nowadays, we have strict limitations and guidelines for providing free samples and promotional inputs due to the UCPMP (Uniform Code for Pharmaceuticals Marketing Practices) guidelines. Always plan your sampling ethically and within the company’s rules.
Successfully handling a new product launch is a true test of a Medical Representative’s planning, execution, and relationship-building skills. For Freshers, understanding these three phases—Market Survey, Targeted Pre-launch, and Post-launch Execution—is the ultimate key to cracking interviews and shining in the field.
Master this step-by-step process, execute it confidently, and you will definitely see your new brand ranking at the top!