News

Find out what’s happening at APS and stay abreast of our latest publications.



  • Uncover Hidden Revenues With Skilled Internal Selling April 11, 2013 While effective internal selling doesn’t directly produce the big flashes of revenues that external selling can, it does increase efficiency and ensure that more external sales happen-two outcomes that can have a marked impact on your company’s bottom line.
  • 6 Strategic Behaviors of Best-in-Class Sales Professionals February 8, 2013
    Decades of research from our work with top innovative global biopharmas reveals best-in-class sales professionals do certain things very effectively…
    …we call these “strategic behaviors,” and our research shows these behaviors are the most valuable…
  • Our Top 5 Most-Read Articles from 2012 January 8, 2013 In case you missed them, here are our most-read articles of 2012

    Just click on “Read more” to download a copy…

  • Best Practices for Collaborating with E-Learning Vendors November 1, 2012
    Your organization is spending tens of thousands of dollars for each hour of
    e-learning your vendor produces. 
    At those prices, why aren’t the results more impressive?

    Sure, part of the answer to this question may be that you aren’t using the right …

  • Employees Who Really Know Your Business are Your Most Valuable Resource September 25, 2012
    The Issue: According to Gallup, only a third of healthcare industry workers know their company’s mission. And even fewer understand how their company operates. 
    Employees who lack this critical business knowledge are frequently sales professionals. The…
  • Training that Doesn’t Break the Bank August 28, 2012 How Can Sales and Training Leaders Offer More Support to Reps while Spending Less?
    While pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales and training budgets are shrinking, the sales force’s need for application-based training is growing. Leaders who want to meet…
  • Deliver Customer Value, Differentiate Your Business July 10, 2012 The Issue: To differentiate in a crowded marketplace, science-led healthcare businesses must train their sales professionals to deliver customer value.
    Sometimes, this is easier said than done. Successfully delivering customer value takes a research-base…
  • Turn Your Negotiators Into Profit Margin Protectors May 17, 2012
    The Issue: Negotiators Often Move Too Quickly to Leave Money on the Table
    The pressure of negotiating large, complex sales often drives sales professionals to make mistakes that shrink margins. Though they have received negotiation training—usually bas…
  • Business Acumen: GearWorks™ April 3, 2012 The Challenge for National Accounts Managers
    While typical biopharma account managers are experts at identifying customer needs from a clinical perspective, they are less skilled at identifying customer needs from financial and organizational perspective…
  • Our Top 5 Most Read Articles of 2011 February 2, 2012 Which APS articles, white papers, and case studies were the most popular in 2011?
    Our top 5 are listed below. If you missed them, simply click on a link to download a copy.
    1. Yes, Virginia, You Can Sell Mature Drugs
  • Six Signs It’s Time to Reengineer Your New Hire Curriculum November 11, 2011 Pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms spend millions of dollars each year onboarding new sales representatives. While the dedicated dollars suggest these companies recognize the importance of providing their newest reps with the knowledge and skills to s…
  • Coaching for Success: New Sales Managers, Same Old Skills? November 11, 2011 Making the case for a comprehensive sales coaching training platform.
    Promoted to District Manager Because They Could Sell, are these Top-Performing Reps Equipped to Lead?
    The District Manager (DM) plays a pivotal role in any major account sales organiz…
  • Get Golden Results: Inspire Rapid Adoption of a Strategic Sales Training System October 10, 2011 Challenging Reps to Work Smarter, Not Harder. Calling on new accounts with a “me-too” product in a highly competitive market puts a sales force to the test, especially when reps lack a consistent skills foundation and commercialization goals are aggressive. Sales leaders must support reps facing these challenges with a sales training system that emphasizes information gathering and strategic account planning—a system that teaches reps to boost sales with their brains, not increased frequency of calls.
  • Accelerate Toward Your Product Launch Goals August 25, 2011 Can substantial commercialization goals be achieved in record time?
    Pharmaceutical sales representatives motivated not only to compete, but also to collaborate can boost the velocity of a product launch. By sharing their sales successes with colleagues a…
  • Creating Value for Your Most Challenging Customers July 19, 2011 Are your products lacking the strong competitive advantage needed to make it in this market? No problem.
    Even sales forces that call on no-see/no-change doctors without differentiated products can create value for their customers. How? They focus on unco…
  • Critical Trends: 2011 January 30, 2011 A current outlook for the economy and the healthcare industry that identifies key trends to follow in 2011 and pinpoints strategic insights related to those trends.
  • The Power of Knowing Your Customer January 25, 2011 What’s the difference between good salespeople and great salespeople?
    Good salespeople know their customers. Great salespeople REALLY know their customers. And in the healthcare industry, really knowing your customer means knowing more than just clinical…
  • Yes, Virginia, You Can Sell Mature Drugs January 6, 2011 Reps Need More Than a New Detail Aid to Sell Mature Products
    Reps constantly request new tools and data for mature products. Marketers work hard to put new wrapping on old messages, but it isn’t enough. Reps are still running out of things to say to cust…
  • Access Denied. Getting Behind the Physician’s Velvet Rope December 7, 2010 Is it really that difficult for reps to see doctors?
    New survey data reveals sales representatives aren’t exaggerating much when they say trying to get access to physicians these days is as difficult as trying to break into Fort Knox. But physicians, lik…
  • From ’Scripts to Solutions: Developing The Business-Savvy Sales Rep October 25, 2010 Executive Summary
    Companies operating in the healthcare industry today face huge challenges in enabling their sales representatives to sell successfully. Many ask, “How can we equip our salespeople to sell in such an increasingly difficult  environment?”…
  • Why Telling Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Change—Part 2 October 18, 2010 Last week, we learned the brain is likely to blame for the discomfort Dr. Sanchez experiences as you try to convince her to switch to your company’s latest product, Newazol. Neuroscience taught us two things about Dr. Sanchez’s behavior. First, it reveale…
  • Why Telling Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Change—Part 1 October 11, 2010 You finally get five minutes with Dr. Sanchez. As you pitch your product, she looks like she’d rather be anywhere but listening to you. You’re doing what was discussed in the semester’s POA meeting, the product has some distinct benefits over its competit…
  • Why Bad Things Happen to Good New Products October 10, 2010 A major mystery of sales intrigued Neil Rackham. He had seen many a good, new product start strong, stumble, and recover. The recovery, curiously enough, usually happened after the product’s performance caused it to lose management favor. Rackham wondered…
  • From the Ground Up: How to Implement a Company Training Program October 10, 2010 Rob Chinn, Senior Director of Managed Care and Trade at Novo Nordisk, wanted to build a “best in class” account management team. He knew his team needed to be more business-focused and to develop customer-focused sales skills. Chinn also knew any training…
  • Increasing Face-to-Face Time with Doctors October 10, 2010 An Excerpt from “Managing Major Sales” by Neil Rackham and Richard Ruff
    In “Managing Major Sales,” sales thought leaders Neil Rackham and Richard Ruff explore the sales process and identify ways to boost efficiency and effectiveness of sales. A key secti…
  • Profile of Sales Leadership in Action October 10, 2010 Joe Janeway, Director of Managed Care and National Accounts at Pharmacia & Upjohn, set out to lift his firm’s U.S. operation to among the top five in the industry. And, in one year, he successfully helped boost Pharmacia & Upjohn’s U.S. sales 28%….
  • Understanding Your Customer’s Business October 9, 2010 Sales staff of a specialty medical company needed to adapt to the new healthcare environment by selling to materials management directors and purchasing staff members in addition to doctors. They required new knowledge that would help them figure out the …
  • Implementing a Successful Product Launch October 9, 2010 Biotech A needs ExcelDrug to win early acceptance from a large number of formularies in an indicated market dominated by an entrenched competitor with a reimbursed product. To ensure a successful launch, the company wants to create an agile account manage…
  • Managing Successful Performance September 29, 2010 What does successful performance management look like across an organization?
    Alliance Performance Systems can paint a picture of successful performance management based on its more than 15 years of experience working with leading firms in the pharmaceut…