First MSL territory plan

Discussion in 'MSL Board' started by Anonymous, Aug 9, 2013 at 9:08 AM.

Tags: Add Tags
  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I'm a PhD with pharma experience, and just landed my first interview with a company that was recently a client of mine. I'm comfortable with their product and will prepare a scientific presentation, but I was also asked to give a 20 min presentation of my goals and objectives for the first 30, 60, and 90 days of my territory plan, and what I'd like to accomplish in those time frames.

    I have never made a territory plan before. Can anyone here give some advice on basic concepts the interviewer will be looking for me to address?

    I've asked a friend who is a sales rep, and they provided some of the information below. However any additional information I can gain from an MSL themselves would be greatly appreciated!

    "I'm guessing the 1st 30 days would consist of doing pre-call background research on each KOL, KOL introductions/explaining your role and features/benefits you bring.

    60-day plan would be following up on introduction calls and ranking KOLs high/med/low to help understand where time/resources are best utilized.

    90-day plan would be to have KOL input fully documented in a format for corporate. Analysis on where the possible product stands...Positives/negatives...suggestions. Have a list of candidates interested in round table discussions and start to roll those out."

    Thank you!!
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Any response from anyone on this?

     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Any feedback from anyone on the MSL territory plan?
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I think it's strange that they would ask someone new to the job to do such a presentation, especially since they already know you.

    Your suggestions sound reasonable but it could vary depending on the drug and company.
    Eg Perhaps you will have to research all the KOLs from scratch, or maybe the company has this for you. Time frame could therefore vary.

    In the first 30 day plan, maybe include something about introducing yourself to internal people and finding out their roles/responsibilities so that you are better able to work as part of the team.

    Your 90 day plan sounds optimistic, especially if you do not know any KOLs. Maybe you could just say, update my territory plan routinely and provide feedback internally on possible opportunites to collaborate.

    Not sure if this will be too vague for your company. Guess you can make the best judgement. Being a MSL is kind of a vague position in general!

    Good luck! Do post and let us know how you did.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Never done one, never will either. Too salesy.

    I would ask myself "why are they linking me to a plan?". SOunds like you'll be working as a glorified RepBot. I'd run from that company.

    My 2 cents
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Hello everyone,

    I'm an MD with 10 years of experience in pharma industry and clinical operations.

    I have been thinking about switching to Medical Affairs. I was just notified that my first interview will be in 4 days and I have been asked to complete a 30-60-90 plan in PowerPoint format in addition to the presentation that I have already submitted on the product and the company.

    This role deals with a very large territory (25 states) and will be working with KOLs from multiple therapeutic areas.

    Any advice and suggestion on how to how to complete the 30/60/90 plan in addition to the general ideas mentioned by the first post is highly appreciated.

    Thank you all!
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Agreed. Too salesy. Too much focus on quantity and not quality.

    Too easy to be held to numbers that are too high or too low, and too easy for management to manipulate.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I do agree with the salesy comment. However unfortunately they are asking for it and some of us are not in the position of turning jobs down because we don't like certain aspects of them.

    My two cents!
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you are going to be covering 25 states I would focus the first 30 days on making sure I had rock solid childcare with backups for your backups. Plus update all your frequent flyer/ hotel accounts. Not that I would necessarily put that in a ppt slide.

    For the slides I would focus on getting to know the data, KOL backgrounds, internal partners for 30 days, putting together plans and initial intro visits next 30, then follow up visits based on plans and what learn in the intros.

    The more you focus on the science and getting to know your KOLs the better off you will be in the long run for this role and future roles
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I would add to this that you should talk to your manager about how you communicate with internal customers (sales, managed markets, other medical/clinical) so that you can set realistic goals and manage their expectations. The old adage is "the most demanding customers are inside the company" is true. They can make or break you depending on you interact with them and show they how you bring value. That can be a huge challenge if your company is very firewalled between commercial and medical, but there should be ways of working around that, particularly since you will be communicating with some of the same outside customers and nobody wants to walk into a surprise.