Your Ride-Along “To Do” List

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to read your manager’s mind so that you’d know exactly what he or she expects from you during a field ride-along? Well, psychic training is available, although the efficacy is far from proven (few, if any, double-blind studies have been conducted). Instead, why not just get the information straight from the horse’s mouth?

The horse, in this case, is Frank Melfa, author of Pharmaceutical Landing (Power Writings, 2008) and former national sales director with Bradley Pharmaceuticals, who recently listed the following nine expectations for the salespeople he rode with:

1. Promptness counts
   Melfa says he instilled in his reps one mantra about promptness: "On time is late!" Whether it’s an interview, meeting, or a field ride with your manager, keep this mantra in mind. As you would for an interview, plan to be ready 15 minutes early. There’s no better way to get the day off to a bad start than by showing up late. If you’re riding with your manager twice a month, that’s two days out of 30 for you to suck it up, get out of bed an hour earlier, and do everything you can to make the day run smoothly.
2. Think like a Boy Scout
   That’s right, "Be Prepared." Melfa expected to see reps’ printed two-week and daily schedules. The daily schedules needed to have the names of 10 doctors, listed in the order that they’d be called on. Other information that needs to be available: recent sales numbers, the previous field coaching report (FCR), and a completed follow-up plan. Be sure you’ve taken notes and completed the action items by the dates indicated on the FCR.
3. 24-hour notice
   You need more of a plan for your ride-along than "I’ll just wing it" and the hopes that everything will work out well. The day before, put together a checklist of everything you’ll have to prepare and what behaviors your manager will be expecting to see. A good manager will provide you with a list of expectations you can review ahead of time.
4. Power up
   On your checklist, be sure to add, "Bring car charger and extra laptop battery." Too many times managers and reps will go to review sales data and then the rep’s laptop will conk out. Make sure this doesn’t happen. It’s also a good idea to charge your battery the night before.
5. Stock up
   When your manager gets into your car, it should be well stocked with samples, literature, and promotional materials. Unless your manager makes the request, the two of you should never have to go to your storage unit.
6. Fill ‘er up
   It sounds like common sense, but does not occur to many reps: do not take your manager to a gas station. Fill your tank the day before or early in the morning.
7. Know your goal
   Contrary to what many reps may believe, the goal of the ride-along is not for the rep to make as many calls as possible. The goal is for your manager to coach and develop you. Rather than racing from call to call, slow down and let your manager provide some feedback, on both what you’re doing well and what could be improved. Take the time in particular to conduct thorough pre-call planning and post-call analysis.

Keep the five in mind
A good manager will be looking for five fundamental behaviors on every call. They are:

• Call on the right doctors
• Call the right number of times
• Plan calls properly
• Sell using visual aids
• Ask for the business

These five behaviors should form the basis for your critique in the field coaching report.

Feed me
Like many other people, managers enjoy eating. Schedule time for lunch. Then take the opportunity to sit and discuss how the day is going so far. If you’ve hit any rough patches, this will give you an opportunity to take a new tack during the afternoon calls.