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The Pharma Career Ladder · The first-line manager · Step 3: The field day · Lesson 3

Coaching in the field

What a manager actually does on a double visit

By Ahmed El Menshawy · 20 years in pharma, from medical rep to country manager in the UAE. Founder of RepPharma. LinkedIn
Published

A double visit is not an inspection.

It is the only place a manager can watch a call the way the doctor experiences it. Everything else we see is a report.

Most managers waste it. They take over the call, correct the rep in front of the doctor, and leave with a list of everything that went wrong. The rep learns to dread field days, and nothing changes.

The version that works is smaller. Agree one skill to watch before you get in the car. Let the rep run the call, even when it wobbles. Save every correction for the drive to the next clinic. Then three questions: what went well, what would you change, what will you do differently on the next call.

Write one line per call. Ask about the same skill next week.

“Reps do not improve from feedback. They improve from the follow up.”
Coaching in the field: What a manager actually does on a double visit

Lesson 3 of 16 in Step 3: The field day, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.

More lessons in step 3: The field day

Lesson 1How many days in the fieldThe number that defines the jobLesson 2Planning a field dayChoosing the rep, the day and the goalLesson 4The silent observerStaying out of the rep's callLesson 5What to look for, not just listen toReading the doctor during the callLesson 6Meeting a key doctor togetherThe manager's role in a joint callLesson 7When the rep freezesRescuing the call without taking it overLesson 8Field days and trustInspection or developmentLesson 9Market intelligence from the fieldWhat to report upward and what to ignoreLesson 10Handling a customer complaintEscalation with the rep, not around themLesson 11Pharmacy and stock realitySeeing the shelf for yourselfLesson 12Hospital access problemsWhere the manager can actually helpLesson 13The territory ride that changes nothingWhy some field days are theatreLesson 14Field notes that survive the weekCapturing, not rememberingLesson 15Visiting the difficult territoryGoing where it is uncomfortableLesson 16The manager who never leaves the officeWhat that costs a district

The field day, in RepPharma

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Team reviews that assemble themselves

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Forecasts graded against real sales

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