A target list with two hundred names is not targeting. It is a phone book.
The old "vital few" principle says a small number of causes often drive most of the results. In a territory, a few doctors often hold most of the potential. The job is to find them and plan around them.
Four things I look at for each doctor:
- Patient potential: how many relevant patients he sees in your therapy area.
- Your current share: how much of his prescribing in the class you already have.
- Access: how often he will really see you.
- Trend: whether his use is growing, flat or falling.
- High potential and low share is your top twenty.
- Low potential and high share needs maintenance, not more calls.
- And the list is reviewed every cycle, not once a year.
The trap is calling most often on the doctors who are easiest to see.
“Target the doctor with the patients, not the doctor with the time.”
Lesson 1 of 12 in Step 1: Planning your territory, with the full guide and a checklist for this week. Discuss this lesson on LinkedIn.