Try free

The Pharma Career Ladder · The medical rep · Step 1: Planning your territory · Lesson 11

Territory intelligence

What to notice that never makes it into the CRM

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

The CRM records the call. It does not record what you saw on the way in.

Some of the most useful information in a territory never gets written down. It sits in the rep's head for a week and then disappears. The best reps I have worked with notice the territory, not only the doctor.

What I ask reps to watch:

  • New faces. A new doctor joined, or a specialist moved clinics.
  • Clinic changes. New hours, a new branch, a new department opening.
  • The waiting room. Full or empty tells you more than a call note.
  • The pharmacy shelf. What is in stock, what is missing, what the pharmacist reaches for first.
  • Competitor presence. Who is visiting, and how often.
  • Insurance changes. Which plans the clinic now accepts, and which it dropped.

One habit makes this work: write one observation after every call, in the car, before the next door. Share the useful ones with your team.

“Your territory talks every day. Most reps only listen inside the doctor's room.”
Territory intelligence: What to notice that never makes it into the CRM

Lesson 11 of 12 in Step 1: Planning your territory, with the full guide and a checklist for this week. Discuss this lesson on LinkedIn.

More lessons in step 1: Planning your territory

Lesson 1Targeting is not a listHow to choose the twenty doctors that matterLesson 2Segmenting by potential, not politenessThe doctor who is nice is not always the doctor who writesLesson 3Coverage, frequency, qualityThree numbers that explain a flat monthLesson 4The cost of a missed cycleWhat happens when your frequency slipsLesson 5A-list disciplineProtecting frequency on the accounts that carry your territoryLesson 6Building a real route planGeography, clinic hours and trafficLesson 7The weekly plan that survives MondayWeekly planning that copes with realityLesson 8Hospital vs retail mindsetTwo different games carried in one bagLesson 9Pharmacy is part of your territoryStock, substitution and the last mile of every prescriptionLesson 10Key account basicsMapping people, not just placesLesson 12Working a new territoryWhat to do in your first thirty days

Planning your territory, in RepPharma

Grade doctors by potential

Doctor potential is graded from three inputs: patients per day, packs the doctor could prescribe and packs the doctor prescribes now.

A month of visits in seconds

Smart monthly plans are drafted from each doctor’s priority, required visit frequency and best time to visit. The manager approves in one click.

Sell-out next to stock

Distributor stock and pharmacy sell-out are shown side by side, with short-expiry lots flagged up to 90 days ahead.

Start a new territory with real customers

A pre-loaded UAE directory of doctors, clinics and pharmacies, so a new rep starts with real customers instead of an empty list.

Start 14-day free trialSee the medical rep app →

A new step every week in the Pharma Career Ladder newsletter on LinkedIn.