Leveraging the integration of sales career cycle with brand life cycle in Indian pharmaceutical firms

Indian pharmaceutical sector is currently witnessing faster introduction of new drugs, with shorter life cycles, given the intense competition. Often, pharma companies fail to strategically align their sales force with brands to gain the competitive edge. Personal selling literature too is silent on this front. This study for the first time, suggests a new conceptual framework to align sales career cycle (SCC) stages with brand life cycle (BLC) stages of the drugs for more effective selling to physicians. Through a series of propositions, the study highlights the relevance of sales career cycle stage in influencing physicians for increasing prescriptions and the alignment of sales efforts at various SCC stages with the brand life cycle. Pharmaceutical companies would stand to gain from this study by profiling the medical representatives based on SCC stages and allotting them the drug in the appropriate BLC stage.