American Distribution service saves sales time

American Distribution Service saves sales time

American Distribution Service, Keego Harbor, Mich., has introduced a new return goods service that gives pharmaceutical representatives an extra half day in selling time per month.

Marketing efforts for American Distribution's services consist of direct sales by the company's five national sales reps and the distribution of a free video, "Meeting the Pharmaceutical Challenge," which describes the company's programs, according to Ronald Griggs, vice president and general manager. He noted that American Distribution will soon begin attending pharmaceutical trade shows, an extension of American Distribution's pharmaceutical distribution program.

The company's latest program of return goods service takes the burden of recovering dated pharmaceutical samples from the rep. Typically, pharmaceutical reps are burdened with the responsibility of taking inventory of out-of-date samples and returning them to their company headquarters to be destroyed, as required by the Prescription Drug Marketing Act.

"By relieving field sales representatives of the sample return responsibility, they can spend their time more productively and profitably making sales calls and developing business," said Griggs.

Griggs said his company is able to help vendors contain costs by having the dated drugs, which can be either under or over the counter, picked up with deliveries. The pick-up and delivery dates are computerized and the pharmaceutical company may receive shipment of the returns at their leisure.

Although Griggs could not reveal the companies using his service, he said 8,000 of the 30,000 drug reps in the United States have their companies using his service. By increasing their sales productivity, the average rep selling $200 an hour is able to sell $800 to $1,000 a month more than before his company became an American Distribution client.

COPYRIGHT 1990 J.B. Lippincott Company
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group