Digital replacement for sales representatives

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Digital replacement for sales representatives

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Big pharmaceutical companies have found replacements for the sales representatives.

10 May,2011 08:57 pm

They have been replaced with digital sales tools that seek to sell doctors on drugs without the intrusion of an office visit.Tens of thousands of pharmaceutical companies are fillings websites iPad apps and other digital tools to interact with doctors who prescribe their treatments. Doctors can use the tools to ask questions about drugs and other things. Doctors can also be reached through live chats or phone calls. The changes are designed to cut costs and to reach doctors in ways other than the traditional office visit.Sales calls to doctors offices are still the most powerful tool for driving new prescriptions. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, drug companies spent lavishly to increase their U.S. sales forces but now many companies are trying their luck in digital marketing.Companies offering iPhone and iPad apps for doctors include Sanofi-Aventis, Merck, Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Novartis AG.