"Not only did the game highlight skills that I need to work on, but it demonstrated that we have a lot to do to reach our potential as a team." ~ AstraZeneca UK
Simation Excellence Case Studies
Basic strategic planning and rep coaching for district managers
Participants: District managers of mixed tenure and abilityBackground: This particular fortune 500 company was looking for a novel way to teach their district managers the basics of planning and representative coaching. The company had experienced rapid growth and as such had promoted people quickly into the position of district manager. They therefore had a wide variance in manager tenure and had decided to standardize the level of manager competency. They had just completed finalizing their coaching model so they wanted to include this into their training curriculum. We designed a demanding team based, data rich, role-playing simulation to teach their managers how to build a strategic business and coaching plan.
The simulation mimicked a real district, which has 5 territories with 1 ‘virtual’ representative selling 2 products per territory. We simulated the working activities of their real representatives, so the virtual representatives conduct CMEs, lunch meetings, promotional campaigns and of course sales calls. Each virtual representative has a unique personality and has attained a certain professional skill level, which mirrors the corporate competency metrics and dove tails with their coaching model. Participants can direct the simulated representatives’ activity and indeed can also interact with them to improve their competencies.
During the simulation, the participants gather and analyse information, coach their representatives, and build and execute business plans. The duration of the simulation was 2 days during which the teams were able to complete 6 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers review the impact of their activity on the district, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on:
1. Strategic analysis
2. Situational coaching
3. Strategic business planning
4. Business process management
Comment: This was a fun and easy to use program. The participants quickly got to grips with the technology and after the first simulated month they realized the depth and complexity of the program. It became quite apparent that the newer managers lacked in field experience as they struggled to answer what should have been simple case based questions. However support was provided by the seasoned managers who enjoyed guiding their newer colleagues. The coaching went well as the model they had designed was well understood, however, they lacked a formal process for planning. Though they had an excel template provided by the regional office it was cumbersome and did not really fit with the local needs. In addition, they did not have an understanding of standardized business process so decisions were made on the basis of ‘gut’ feeling.
Evaluating leadership skills
Participants: Second line, first line and specialty managers.Background: The company has just embarked on a radical new alignment for their districts. They had formed a nucleus team of managers who were responsible for a £64 billion franchise. Their customers included private payers, government trusts and hospitals. The company had designed and implemented an intensive 6 week program to train the managers in process, planning and team leadership. The company realized that they didn’t have a way of evaluating the combined skill set of their managers. They asked us to build a simulation that mimicked their district and could be used for leadership and business process evaluation.
The simulation mimics an NHS region, comprising of 5 territories with 4 ‘virtual’ representatives selling 4 products per territory. Eight virtual competitors were also added to the model. With the companies guidance the simulation incorporated inter-departmental and inter-institutional relationships. We simulated the working activities of their representatives, so the virtual representatives conduct CMEs, lunch meetings, promotional campaigns and sales calls. In addition virtual customers, administrators and medical specialists were added. Each virtual character has a unique personality, influence ability and professional skill level. Participants can directly intervene with their simulated representatives, directing activity and behaviour as well as interacting with the virtual customers.
During the simulation, the participants gather and analyse information, coach their representatives, construct business plans and call on key customers. The duration of the simulation was 2 days during which the teams were able to complete 6 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers reviewed the impact of their activity on the district, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on:
1. Leadership skills
2. Situational analysis
3. Business process management
Comments: This was an intricate and demanding simulation with a lot of moving parts. Very early on in the program we discovered that leaders were quickly overwhelmed by information and were reverting to their old management processes. Communication and direction within most of the teams was not adequate and what was an evaluation exercise turned into reinforcement training.
New selling model, success parameters and terminology
Background: The company had designed and built a new selling model for their entire region, 9 countries in total. The selling model incorporated many facets which were new to the sales force. The model included customer centric and behavioural analysis and needs based selling. In addition they have designed new terminology and measurement parameters. They clients were looking for a tool which could encompass their entire new selling model and drive home the importance of using all the components to drive sales success.We designed a standard simulation that could then be tailored to meet each countries and market requirements. The standard simulation mimicked a typical territory with 5 sales areas and 250 virtual customers. Each customer had a particular profile, behavioural characteristics and product adoption status. The participants could interact with their customers inviting them to CMEs, lunch meetings, national programs etc and of course they could call on them. The program was designed to last 1 day during which the participants could achieve 5 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers reviewed the impact of their activity on the territory, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on their new selling model.
Comment: This was an incredibly successful simulation. The participants found the format extremely appealing and fun; it made the selling model curriculum come to life. They particularly enjoyed the role-playing as the customers dimension and the sales call purpose. The sales representatives were able to see how each element of the selling model complemented the other.
Using a complex selling model
Background: This client had seen a meteoric rise in sales and expansion. Their product and market was complex and unusual, relying on a referral base to drive sales. Consequently they had bought a complex selling model and had spent 3 days training their sales force. The company asked us to simulate their territories so that they could evaluate the success of their new complex model training.We built a simulation that mimicked their typical territory with 5 sales areas and 150 virtual customers. Each customer had a particular profile, behavioural characteristics and product adoption status. In addition we added in a referral system that tracked which customers referred to which specialists. We also ensured that the simulation had a formal influence system within the territory’s hospitals (P&T committees). The participants could interact with their customers inviting them to CMEs, lunch meetings, national programs, etc., and of course they could call on them. The program was designed to last 1 day during which the participants could achieve 5 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers reviewed the impact of their activity on the territory, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on their new selling model.
Comment: This was a relatively complex simulation and there was quite a bit of information to digest. In fact there was concern that 1 day would not suffice. In the end that wasn’t the problem at all. The participants covered 4 months of activity in the 1 day, achieving approximately 3 role-plays per person. The problem was they were completely ignoring their previous complex sales training and they had no strategic direction. The representatives were unsure of which customer group they should ‘own’ and which product indication to concentrate on. Food for thought!
Increase strategic thinking and general business acumen
Background: Our client was contracted to improve the overall strategic selling ability of a US based, sales company over a one year period. The US based company’s management and sales team operate in a highly complex selling environment in the healthcare sector. They work in a competitive market with numerous influences from the private and public sector. Their sales cycle is convoluted and their product complicated.We built our client two simulations, one for their district managers, and the other for representatives. They designed their first course curriculum and melded it into a 1 day simulation based course. The mangers were trained first and were then used to train their direct reports.
The managers’ course is almost exactly the same as the first case study (Basic strategic planning and rep coaching for district managers). The representative simulation however was one of the most challenging simulations we have ever built. It mimicked their typical territory with 5 sales areas, within each sales area there were hospitals, nursing homes, physician clinics and over 700 virtual customers. There were many inter-personal, departmental and institutional influence links including a formal influence process (P&T). Each customer had a particular profile, behavioural characteristics and product adoption status. The participants could interact with their customers inviting them to speaker programs, in-services meetings, and approved national programs, etc., and of course they could call on them. The program was designed to last 1 day during which the participants could achieve 5 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers reviewed the impact of their activity on the territory, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on their new selling model.
Comment: The managers’ simulation was very successful and while time was short the participants received valuable training. The representative simulation, on the other hand, was a different story. This was a complex simulation and there was concern that 1 day would not be enough: it really needed 2 days. The simulation did what it was supposed to do and in testing it was fascinating to work through all the possible permutations for success. A virtual CRM had been added to assist with the management of all the information, which worked like a dream. However, in practise the field force lacked some fundamental planning, process and evaluation skills and soon they were bogged down in data paralysis. They seemed to not really know which customer group to focus on or which product indication to attend to first. We dared not activate the competition button for fear of completely demoralizing the participants. Lessons for everyone this time!
Hiring & firing for managers
Background: Our clients had just recruited over 800 new managers, many of whom had only been in the field for a couple of years. In addition they were suffering from a representative attrition rate of 25%. So they were looking for a program that would quickly familiarize managers with their role and specifically business process skills and the hiring or firing of representatives.We designed a simulation that mimicked one of their real districts, which had 5 territories with 1 or 2 ‘virtual’ representatives selling 1 product per territory. In addition we had 6 potential new representatives for them to choose from, when the time was right. We simulated the working activities of their representatives, so the virtual representatives conduct CMEs, lunch meetings, promotional campaigns and of course sales calls. Each virtual representative has a unique personality and has attained a certain professional skill level. Participants can direct the simulated representatives’ activity and indeed can also interact with them to improve their competencies. The participants could also decide to ‘retire’ a non-performing representative, choosing from the bank of 6 for their replacement.
During the simulation, the participants gather and analyse information, coach their representatives, and build and execute business plans. The duration of the simulation is 2 days during which the teams are able to complete 6 months worth of activity.
Together, peers and trainers reviewed the impact of their activity on the district, comparing actions that did, or did not, work. The trainers guided the participants through a curriculum that focused on:
1. Strategic analysis
2. Situational coaching
3. Strategic business planning
4. Business process management
5. Correct hiring & firing procedure
Comment: This is a really amazing simulation, simple, yet complex. The participants can exercise all of their managerial skills evaluating what interventions created which opportunities. In fact, the training team came to the conclusion “You need the right people, with the right skill set and tools, in the right place!”
