Your monthly sales review is probably 30 days late.
By the time a decline in primary or secondary sales appears in your report, the problem may have been building for weeks.
The MR was still meeting doctors, but fewer doctors were trying the brand. Some doctors tried it once and didn’t prescribe it again. In another territory, prescriptions were being generated, but patients couldn’t find the brand at the nearby chemist.
All three territories may end up with the same sales shortfall. Each needs a different response.
So the first question in a pharma sales review should be “What changed in the market this month?” Keep the sales report open. Use these five questions to understand what’s behind it.
1. How many new prescribers did we add?
A territory can meet its doctor coverage target while adding fewer new prescribers. Start with your priority doctor list and look at where there is a credible signal of first-time prescribing. Compare that with the previous month using the same method.
If the field team is making the planned calls but seeing fewer doctors try the brand, ask the area manager to sit in on a few calls. Is the team reaching the right doctors? Can the MR clearly explain where the brand fits? Which objection keeps coming up?
2. How many doctors continued to prescribe the brand?
In a review meeting, “Doctor has started” is good news. The follow-up question is “What happened after that first prescription?”
Where you have reliable data, check whether doctors who first prescribed the brand continued to use it over a period that makes sense for the therapy. If repeat prescribing appears weak, look at doctor feedback, follow-up quality and local availability before deciding what to change. For a seasonal or short-course brand, allow for how often doctors see an appropriate patient.
3. Is prescription productivity per doctor improving?
Imagine two HQs, each with 20 active prescribers. In one, prescribing is spread across the doctor base. In the other, most of the activity comes from three doctors. The headline count looks identical. The second HQ is more exposed if one of those doctors stops prescribing.
Where reliable prescription estimates are available, review estimated brand prescriptions per active prescriber and how much activity is concentrated among a few doctors. Use a consistent definition of active prescriber and a consistent reporting period. If you have only field feedback, use it as a signal to investigate and keep it labelled as field feedback.
4. Can patients find the brand near priority clinics?
An MR hears, “Yes, I’m prescribing it.” The chemist nearby says, “It hasn’t come in this week.” Both can be right.
Ask the team to check the priority chemists around key clinics. Track which outlets have stock, where stock-outs recur and how long replenishment takes. Give each recurring gap an owner and a date for the next check. You can start with a small, consistent list of outlets in each priority HQ.
5. Are stockists ordering regularly or placing occasional bulk orders?
Two stockists may buy 300 strips over three months. One buys 100 each month. The other buys 300 once and places no further orders. The total is identical. The order pattern raises different questions.
Review order frequency, inventory and downstream movement together. A bulk order may reflect an expected demand increase or a change in ordering practice. If the report you call secondary sales measures stockist-to-retailer billing, check retailer movement separately wherever data is available. A large company-to-stockist invoice can lift primary sales. A large stockist-to-retailer invoice can lift secondary sales.
Run the review in this order
Market behaviour → Prescription movement → Channel movement → Sales outcome
Take one priority brand and one HQ. Identify what changed first, what evidence you have and who will check it in the field this week. Bring that answer to the next review.
A missed target tells you which HQ needs attention. A missed repeat, an empty shelf or a stockist who hasn’t reordered gives you a place to start.
What would your team have spotted two weeks earlier if it had asked these five questions?
PMT India Learning helps pharma teams connect brand strategy, field execution and sales reviews. If you’re reviewing a priority brand, bring one HQ’s monthly report and the field feedback behind it. We can help you decide what to track and what to act on first.