Cold-calling a falling man

In these straitened times every client of mine is under pressure all the time.  The cultures of every pharma company pulse with implicit threat: -

Do more with less.  Do it sooner.  Do it right the first time or else...

Some days all of this makes self-employment feel a little better.  It feels as though I have more control over my destiny.  Arrant nonsense, of course, as there's nothing like a job scare to encourage a sales team to attempt a little DIY training.

This pressure on expenses is doubly felt by the pharmaceutical industry; not only is the sector going through the same GFC as everyone else but it faces a systemic threat in the number of hugely popular products that are coming off patent.  A branded medication can expect to lose as much as 80% of its sales within six months of patent expiry and by some calculations the big research companies (aka 'my clients') will lose a further $100 billion in sales to generic manufacturers in the next three years.

This is old news and the industry is responding.  Pfizer is closing research facilities in the UK and invest in sales teams in China.  Novartis has been positioning itself in the generics game with Sandoz since 2002.  Roche completed a takeover of Genentech in 2009 to try and dominate the biologics market.  This year Sanofi-Aventis has bought Genzyme and Takeda has bought Nycomed.  The M&A industry has plenty of reasons to love pharma.

This can make life a little tricky for a Headcount: 1 consultant trying a few cold calls but with one eye on his summer holidays.  Here's an ex-client's response to my friendly hi-how's-it-going email: -

Yes i do remember you.  It is probably not the right time to come in -- we have just been taken over by XXXX so things are a little unsettled at the moment.  Sorry can't help at this time

 Not my finest moment as a salesman.