The Product Launch Training Journey with Meera Mehta

SHOW NOTES:

Featuring: Meera Mehta, Director of Sales Training, Kaleo

BIO: Meera Mehta is an accomplished Sales Enablement Leader with over a decade of experience in the Life Sciences industry. She has a proven track record of developing and implementing sales enablement strategies that result in significant revenue growth. Her areas of expertise include sales training and enablement, product launch, field coaching, and sales operations. She is currently the Director of Sales Enablement at Kaleo, a pharmaceutical company specializing in developing and commercializing innovative products. 

Description: 

Join us in this engaging episode to explore the critical elements of successful product launch training execution. Discover the key factors to consider when planning and executing product launch training, along with valuable insights on measuring sales performance. Our guest, Meera Mehta, a seasoned Sales Enablement Leader, shares her expertise and discusses strategies for mitigating risks, post-launch pull-through, and the role of field coaching. Get ready for actionable takeaways that will revolutionize your approach to product launches. Tune in now!

What you will learn: 

1.     Drive success by avoiding common reasons for product launch failures, such as insufficient follow-through training and lack of continuity. Implement ongoing touchpoints and repetition for optimal results.

2.     Strategize for success by setting the right trajectory for product launch training. Design pre-launch and post-launch strategies, leverage success stories from the field and ensure consistent communication with field managers.

3.     Measure and optimize success by correlating sales performance with individual efforts. Track metrics, identify the impact of training on execution and customer confidence, and refine strategies accordingly.

Guest LinkedIn: Meera Mehta

Industry Insights: Bending the Spoon Blog 

Keep up to date on Social Media: Twitter & LinkedIn

https://www.acto.com/

Have a learning journey that you want to hear more about? Email us at podcast@actoapp.com  or find me on LinkedIn

Transcript

Kristina: 0:32

Hello and welcome back to The Learning Journey podcast. I am your host, Christina Beier. Welcome to today's podcast episode where we dive into the critical elements of successful training execution. Launching a new product is a high stakes game that greatly impacts a company's revenue, but to set the right revenue trajectory, what key features do you have to consider when planning and executing product launch training? And how do you measure success in terms of sales performance once the product is released? To help answer these questions, we are joined by an expert who will share her experiences and insights on maximizing products launch training results. We'll explore common reasons why Products, miss expectations at launch and how to mitigate those risks. We'll also discuss tips for the pre-launch work, the live launch event, and the post-launch pull through. Additionally, we'll explore the role of field coaching in product launch training success, and how to approach coaching after the launch. Our guest is an accomplished sales enablement leader with over a decade of experience in the life science industry. She has a proven track record of developing and implementing sales enablement strategies that result in significant revenue growth. Her areas of expertise includes sales training and enablement, product launch training, product launch, field coaching, and sales operations. She is currently the director of sales enablement at kleo, a pharmaceutical company specializing in developing and commercializing innovative products. Our guest today is Mira Metta. Mira, welcome to the show.

Meera: 2:11

Thank you so much, Christina, for having me. I'm super excited to be here.

Kristina: 2:16

Oh, me too. I love having these conversations. But before we dive in, we'd like to start all of our episodes with asking the why. So tell us why you're so passionate about assisting, the learners, in their journeys.

Meera: 2:32

Oh. I started as a field sales rep. a lot of our folks that are listening probably do. And, I was fortunate enough to have the experience, or the opportunity, I should say, to, explore sales training. it really wasn't my area where I considered as a career path ever. but one thing I did know, and as I learned in the field as a sales rep, was my leverage and my confidence was always better when I tapped into my, science background. And when I tapped into more of a clinical discussion with customers. And because of that, I was always sort of a district trainer For the folks I was working with, for the region. And that's really where the experience of being in training started. So I get really passionate about thinking about my career, where it started and how I can help new individuals joining the industry or being part of the company to grow and get better at their skills and ultimately helping the patients. cuz the better they are in front of customers, the more patients they will reach. And that's what really excites me and why I've stuck with training for the last 12 years.

Kristina: 3:48

That's amazing. And like you said, I think the rep enablement, that is something that I'm so passionate about as well and that's really, the nail on the head because you know, there's a lot of doctors that depend on the reps coming to, give them all of the information of you know, what's new, what's going on, new indication, like, you know, so that it saves them that time of having to do all that research. Cuz let's face it, they probably don't have that time.

Meera: 4:12

and yeah, and I think that was the key for me, to understand how to master the skills of being in front of a customer and maximizing not just their time, but also my time in front of them. and it's recognizing that exact thing you just mentioned is that most physicians are not gonna have the bandwidth, between patient care, personal life, I'm sure that they have some of it. then keeping up to date with so many advancements, so many technologies, so many new products coming to the market, it's not as cookie cutter as it was before, especially as you get into more complex diseases like oncology

Kristina: 4:50

mm-hmm.

Meera: 4:51

is customized and everything is like One thing doesn't fit for all. it's a very customized approach from that standpoint. and I think that's the same approach that we're starting to take in training as well, right? Like

Kristina: 5:03

Mm-hmm.

Meera: 5:04

I've learned over the last 12 years, one size doesn't fit all. Yes, there's standardizations that absolutely need to be in place, cuz that helps us build and establish a baseline. But at the end of the day, if you really want to help people master their skills of whatever they're working towards, it has to come down to what is their individual needs to the best of our ability.

Kristina: 5:29

Absolutely. And I think we talk about that a lot too at Actos, the personalized training journeys. And it's like you said, it's like some people might not have that scientific background that you had, but you were able to say, okay, well here's what you might need to dig into when having these conversations.

Meera: 5:44

Absolutely.

Kristina: 5:46

Yeah. So now we're going to jump into some questions and set the stage, so based on your experience, let's really talk about what some of the common reasons why products miss expectations at launch, and how you mitigate those risks to ensure something that's a little bit more successful.

Meera: 6:04

Yeah. So this is a good question and it's really there's multiple layers to this. so my experience has really stretched me from doing brand new product launches to relaunching products that have been in the market for a bit, and then also taking old products and then kind of refreshing them out. So they're three different strategies, three different approaches, but the key thing around all of that, The commonality, as I should say, is aligning to a strategy. working very closely with the brand team, working very closely with the medical team in some cases, working closely with your approval committee, how, whatever you call them, krc, prc, whatever the name is, and then, your field, right? So those four areas are most important. And once you have that alignment with your marketing team, with your sales team, with your approved product approval team, whatever that looks like, That really will help you in training to get focused and help put together a training plan that incorporates the pre-launch. Like, what does that look like? What does the live event of launch look like? Whether you're doing it in person and virtually, it doesn't matter, but those two elements are key. And then even more important is the post-launch pull through. and how do you build a continuous learning pattern through all those three channels. So I would say that's like probably the most important thing is getting aligned to that strategy. the second thing I would say is, you know, really understanding Your market, like you have to know the product you're entering into. What are all of the different, competitor landscape, what does that look like? So, you know, even working closely with your market access team to get a little bit of a in-depth understanding the landscape of the product. what does the formulary status look like, because, whether we want it or not, or we want to believe it or agree to it, that does play a very huge role in the success of a launch as well. then like obviously like your part of that pull through, as I was mentioning before, is coaching and working very, very closely with your managers. You feel managers are the ones that are in front of the customers with their reps on a daily basis. So having a strategy for them in place as well is gonna be critical. in terms of you know, measuring success and making sure that, that pull through happens. So if those elements like, as I mentioned, are missed or some of them that goes towards the, lack of success towards a launch, in my experience, at least I can say

Kristina: 8:50

you know, I hear that a lot and I like that you had said, get focused with the training plan. Because I think that a lot of people do, the pre, and then like you said, if it's either in person or whatever that training is, but then they're missing that maybe post-launch or you said continuous learning, and I think that's where, you know, it seems that the biggest struggle is so expand a little bit more on that.

Meera: 9:14

Yeah. think of a sales rep, right? that are in front, the sales specialist, account managers, whatever their titles really are. But, um, The success of them being in front of a customer is repetition. So if we're looking at that same approach and philosophy of how people remember is through repetition, then that same philosophy should be implemented in training as well. Cuz one and done training doesn't stick. We all know that we have thousand things that are going on in our minds on a daily basis. It's not just, okay, my only thing I think about is the product training that I get, right? it's not realistic. So we all have lives, we all have families, we all have other external factors that influence our memory, really, if you think of it in the long term. So repetition is the key. And not just doing repetition for the sake of it, but being more consistent, being more timely, being more thoughtful in when, how, and in which way do you do repetition is what's gonna help. Content stick with any individual, especially when we're talking about new products, right? there's so many things, like we can teach, we can plan, but the unknown is still there. And that unknown ultimately is being in front of the customer. Even after market research is done and you've done all the touchpoints with, key opinion leaders and everything, till you don't get in front of the customer and actually start having those daily conversations with every, with different types, different markets, you are really not going to know what the true hurdles are. but in order to even address some of those hurdles you first have to make sure that you feel confident in your delivery. And that really comes, again, back to that continuous learning, that repetition, learning and sticking with the same concepts, not introducing new. At every time you're doing a touchpoint, cuz that defeats the purpose of repetition and continuous learning.

Kristina: 11:16

Yeah. And, would you say your approach has changed over the last five years with maybe the introduction of new, technology like, you know, learning in the flow of work. That's the big thing that's come up. So has any of your training plans morphed and changed to incorporate more of that? Hundred

Meera: 11:32

percent. And I think you have to, I think especially post pandemic, our world is truly become hybrid. I don't think that was even a concept that we even understood what that meant before. Now we truly understand that and we know multiple examples and we've heard enough across the industry, across different market segments that there are some customers that are absolutely comfortable keeping their doors close to representatives. So like, yeah, we'll see you, but we'll see you virtually. And we don't really need that in-person interaction anymore. Whereas, obviously some offices were more than happy to bring everything back and get back to it. The normal cadence of what our world has always been used to, especially in the sales field, or I should say in the field sales, arena. So, With that in mind and with the fact that there's more inconsistencies among the workforce in general, whether it's us here, whether it's on the customer side, we need to make that adjustment, right? So you know, it goes back to what I was saying before, the customization of learning has to be there and the more we can leverage different technologies, different ways of interacting with our learners, you know, every learner is different. Some are kinetic learners, some are audio visual learners, some are just gimme pen and paper. And I will learn the best that way. Some are book learners, like you have to be able to, adjust your style and build that customization based on their style. And the more technology like ATA, for example, that we can integrate, it gives us that much more leverage to do that customization.

Kristina: 13:19

and then does the customization then lead to different, what good looks like? Is it, do you separate what good looks like per learner? Or is it just like we're just able to sort of do it as like the broad spectrum?

Meera: 13:31

Yeah, I mean, you have to maintain some level of consistency, otherwise you are gonna be all over the map and different directions are gonna go out to different people. So I think that's always the challenge in being in training is striking that balance between where do you keep things that are standardized that everyone needs to know here and listen. And then where do you start building customizations based on learning gaps? So you, hundred percent need to have that standard. What good looks like, training, whether it's through videos, whether it's through, course learning, whether it's through new hire training or sales calls, however you put them together, there has to be that in place. And then based on the needs, the gaps identified, whether it's from the manager, from the learner themselves, or observations that the training team has, had over the years, we can then try to build a little bit more customization there then.

Kristina: 14:28

Oh wow. it's, it sounds very exciting though, so maybe that's why you're all sustaining it cuz this is a lot of great changes to, c, l, and D. So

Meera: 14:37

it's a very different approach. I'll be the first to admit, like when I first started in training, as a field trainer, I struggled because my market was the New York market and things were so much easy in a lot of ways because every product was on Medicaid, every product was on formulary. the patient population is so huge there that those are the big markets that every company focuses on and makes sure like that they get product approved and in on formulary. Cuz the impact of not being would be much higher to, bottom line to the patients, to the financials, to everything, right? So coming from a market like that, access wasn't that much of an issue really. it's pretty good. And again, we're, I'm talking dating myself now like 12, 13 years ago when I last left the territory. so coming from a marketplace like that and then going as a field trainer in the Midwest area, which was. Couldn't be more night and day from every aspect. From like, I'm walking all day long to like, okay, now I'm sitting in the car all day long and driving from one location to the other. And the pace is different. The conversations are different. the, market dynamics are completely different. And so as a trainer, that was really my first aha moment of like, okay, well, what works in my market absolutely does not work in others? And it was such a great eye-opener for me. So I always keep that in mind as I've continued my journey in training because you have to be able to mold yourself and adjust your learning styles to meet the learner. if you can accept and understand that concept and training, then you'll be very successful in it. Otherwise, it'll be a challenge if you feel like just that your way is the only way to do it.

Kristina: 16:35

Yeah. It's like you said that one size fits all isn't gonna work

Meera: 16:38

A hundred percent won't work, and you're not gonna impact the learner at the end of the day because you are not meeting their style, you're not meeting their needs. Then why would, why should they listen to you? Right?

Kristina: 16:51

that makes a lot of sense. And sort of based on all this information, how do you measure the success of product launch training in terms of performance? you know, like you said now it's quite changed. You've got some data. So what kind of, metrics are you tracking? like we said, like what good looks like, how does all that get put together?

Meera: 17:08

so I mean, measurement is always the hardest thing in training cuz there's so much subjectivity that comes into play. The most concrete thing that we have is sales data, right? we know that when a rep is performing well in the territory, I mean, again, there's a lot of factors that influence that, but there is some aspect of like how well they were able to grasp the knowledge and how well were they able to implement that, what their dialogue sounds like in front of the customer. Were they able to connect with the physician The, where the physician feels like, okay, I wanna try this, I wanna try this new product. And when you're launching a new product, particularly, the best part is everybody starts at zero. So sometimes it's easier to measure because then you can look at, different sales reps in different areas of the market and look at how they're performing is the number one thing. But then also how are they utilizing their training resources? So with platforms like ato, which we've obviously integrated here, or how often are they going in and utilizing the different resources that are available, whether it's training resources, it's marketing resources, it's, emails, for example. It's, like training guides, there's so many different things we can incorporate in there in Acto now. coach scenarios, like how much is a particular representative going in and elevating their own learning and taking responsibility and accountability to make sure that they're continuously learning as well versus the ones that are not. And that's one way we've been able to gauge success. and I know it sounds very much like Big Brother, but it really isn't. It's really more about seeing are the successful reps or the reps that are doing well in their territories, are they doing all these other elements and elevating their game versus the ones that are not, are they doing that or not? And that's one way for us to differentiate, or track really you know, the ones that are doing well in the field versus the ones that are not quite there yet

Kristina: 19:15

and that makes sense to me. And, and I like that you said Big Brother, because I was chatting with people and it's like that level of trust, right? But at the end of the day, I was a sales rep. I wanted to hit my numbers, I wanted to make those bonuses. So you know, we talk a lot and I'm gonna ask you about how, bringing the c the C level reps to the, you know, b And so at the end of the day, maybe are you able to say, this is not just to track what you're doing, but we wanna help you succeed, we wanna help you hit those numbers.

Meera: 19:42

so I will say, for me personally, like where I found success in being in training is. when I've been most open and honest with the field. I think over the years, part of my personal growth and development has been to have the field understand and know that your only objective is to be the voice of the field. So the training team is there for the field and they're there to help them, support them, but nothing we do, it tracks towards their, evaluations, in terms of it, like their annual reviews and things like that, right? Our only objective is to. you to be better in front of your customers so we can help patients. That's the ultimate objective. And the more we hear from them, the more we can identify where the gaps are or where the successes are, even for that matter, what do we need to continue doing and celebrating? Because we a hundred percent want to focus on that. And then where are the areas where we can do better? and it also has to be a reasonable request as well. Sometimes we get requests from the field and we're like, okay, I think that's more on you. that's something that's specific to your market. That's something specific you need to figure out. Cuz all the elements of what we can give you are all there. So sometimes it's even like having them recognize and look at the resources available and how can they utilize it then in the field now, if there's a gap in knowing the resource and understanding it, then a hundred percent is where we would step in and help out.

Kristina: 21:21

I like that you said, your transparency and like you said, bringing it back to the patients. like we said, rep enablement is so important because those are the people in front of the, HCPs. So I think that, that's refreshing to hear that, that you really communicate that you're there to enable them and help them and support them.

Meera: 21:41

Yeah, and it, it takes a bit, I think, especially when you're new to an organization depending on the size of your Salesforce too, it's hard to know every individual person, from our standpoint, right? Especially when we're in corporate, they're in the field. There's always a little bit of that disconnect. But anything we can do to build that level of trust and partnership with the field is what really helps us then get better at what we do and help support them at the end of the day. Then,

Kristina: 22:11

Absolutely. And now I wanted to check, cuz we, we talk a lot about this, especially at acto, you know, looking at the data to help, the knowledge gap. So bringing, if you're maybe a C level performer up talk to us about that at, kleo. Is it, looking at knowledge gaps, walk us through that process of trying to get reps from, C up to B.

Meera: 22:32

again, there's always multiple things on everything. There's no one straight answer for anything. I think there's multiple factors. Again, if you're going back to just looking at product launches in general, I think the, it's safe to say that,

Kristina: 22:45

that

Meera: 22:46

the individuals that felt confident and know the knowledge, they've put the time into it to learn it, to practice on their own. They're going to present themselves a little bit differently in front of customers and be able to have a little bit more success The, other portion is the reps that are putting all the effort in, but they're still struggling to learn the content. Right. And that's a different level of rep because the commitment is there, the work is there, but we just have to figure out a style, whatever learning style works for them to connect the dots better for them. And that's where the training being more one-on-one, more customized is a hundred percent comes to play. And those individuals who a hundred percent want to invest your time and energy to bring them up to the next level. And then there are, individuals that just be like, all right, well I've done all the basics and that's good enough. And that aspect is a little bit different because it comes down to really like the skill and the will. So sometimes the skill is there, but the will is not there. And then no matter what you do doesn't really motivate them to do anything more. And that will. That could help lag their progress, right? Or, inhibit their progress. And if the will is there, we can always teach the skills. Sometimes and even that I say sometimes, but that, that's a much easier way to approach it than someone that just is not willing to listen, not willing to be coached, not willing to implement any of the suggestions. those are much harder to convert than to, a couple different ways you can help with this because, you know, a lot of times training teams make mistakes, and I've done it too in the past. It's like you always train to your bottom denominator, but then that doesn't help. Elevate the ones that are already above average and beyond that. So you want to elevate your training game and challenge them so that you can keep motivating and keep improving the ones that are at average and above average, and then help. Identify where the bottom reps are and why they're there. And then build a customized plan rather than training to the bottom. And then you are not really making positive progress with the rest of the field. So if you look at the bell curve, you wanna stay at that average and above rather than sticking to the bottom line. So that's one thing that over the years I've identified and recognized as a trainer to not do train to the bottom denominator. The other thing is how do you maximize and leverage your resources? So your ASMs, your managers, are always your best resource. So working with them, identifying where they find the gaps are, How can training support the manager to, to help coach better? Or how can training support the individual to, to learn the content if there's truly in gap identified? the other way is your field trainers in most companies now, whether it's a formal full-time position or part-time positions or added on responsibilities to a representative, most companies have some level of field trainers, now at least. So how do you maximize and leverage them so that, peer to peer, sometimes coaching works best even more than an asm coaching or training coaching. So how do you build that in and bring the two. Best individuals together to help them get to that next level. And then the last I would say really is how do you leverage your technologies and your learning platforms? So we've been fortunate enough. Now, obviously it wasn't something that was available to me when I was launching products, but now we have ACTO as a platform where we do leverage coach. And it's a great way to help build someone's confidence if the gap is in

Kristina: 26:54

Mm-hmm.

Meera: 26:55

the product knowledge or a particular study that they're not comfortable presenting in front of a customer because they don't know the data active coach gives us that. great virtual touchpoint. Either it's for the training team, for the manager, however you wanna look at it, or for the rep themselves, because when they are asked to submit a video in Actor coach, what we've seen is majority of reps will practice at least anywhere between five to 10 times before they submit the video. So that means what are we accomplishing, repetition, learning, building confidence. And the more they do that, the more they know the data. And when that video comes back and says, that was good, that was positive, it builds that confidence again. So there's a lot of different ways you can approach. Again, it cannot be a one size fits all. Again, I sound like a broken record when I say that, but it truly cannot be that anymore. so those are some of the ways that I've had success working with my teams in. In elevating representatives a little bit.

Kristina: 28:03

and it's, we're talking so much about coaching and I wanna dig into that a little bit too, And then, every time I sort of have a conversation, some people say, their reps are really excited to do it. Some sort of have that hesitation, like you said, is this gonna be on my performance, review So talk to me about, the role that field coaching plays in, product launch success, coaching after launch, and what are the techniques that are really going well for you guys? you mentioned peer to peer and using it through acto, so let's talk a little bit more about that.

Meera: 28:38

I don't think the word coaching is new at all. I think everyone's hearted from the time they were probably born, I think in some way, shape or form. it's about how you approach coaching, right? It's about how it's set up

Kristina: 28:52

up

Meera: 28:53

for the individual that's either is willing to get coach is receiving the coaching. and it all comes down to that approach, right? and the mindset. So you know, if you look at like product launches specifically as that's one of the topics we're discussing. again, my experience when I did product launches was when technologies weren't as sophisticated as they are now. Right? So that does change the dynamic a little bit, I think.

Kristina: 29:21

I think.

Meera: 29:22

You can tie, the success of pull through training and coaching within the same element almost because pull through after launch is critical. We've talked about that one and done. Training doesn't work. It has to be continuous. You have to build repetition. And the way we can leverage coaching through different facets is to make sure like your field managers

Kristina: 29:49

managers

Meera: 29:50

the right support. so that they can effectively do the coaching. If a product is new, it's new to the market, it's new to everybody, including the managers that are coaching to the representatives. And it's obviously new to the representatives talking to the customers. and there's a lot to be learned because there's those unknowns that are all gonna start popping up, once you start talking about the new product. So some ways that we've seen success in. In the coaching aspect is, again, being very close with your managers, staying consistently in touch with them, and not just Hey, I'm gonna pick up the phone. But making it much more strategic and having thoughtful, you know, one-on-one setup with managers or a team call, set up with managers on a weekly basis, biweekly basis, whatever that cadence is that you agree on. so that's critical because they're gonna be the first line of information they're gonna give you. the second thing I would say is what are some good resources you can provide for the managers? Because again, they are also learning as the representatives are learning. Because there's so much they know that, and there's so much that they don't know. So one way we've seen success is really giving them a coaching guide, where for different scenarios, for example, or different potential objections we've thought through, We can show them like, okay, well this is what where we want your representatives to be. This is the what good looks like column. And these are the areas in the interim that you may see your reps go through. Your ability is to coach them to how to get to that, what good looks like area. So giving them a coaching guide of such has been very helpful in the past. or like a decision tray, if rep A says, This question, what is the impact to that question, what are the potential responses you could hear from a physician or if they asked question B, what is that impact? And what are some potential responses you could hear from a physician? So for the manager or the coach to have. Those type of resources has been very helpful. And again, just like with the rep, it comes down to the individual manager too. Like how much are they willing to implement that as part of their learning, their coaching style and coaching others. So it's not easy. It's, this is not an easy solution. there's no easy solution around coaching, but it really comes down to partnership, to alignment, to knowing that we're all on the same team. We're all here to help, and like, at the end of the day, reach as many patients as we can.

Kristina: 32:34

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I think the way that you just phrase that is, is perfect. it's all about rep enablement, right? Like you're here just to make sure that You can connect with whoever you know you need to connect with at the end of the day. But you mentioned something and I thought about it like pull through. So is coaching considered something that's a post-launch pull through, or is coaching throughout the entire sort of I would say launch cycle.

Meera: 33:03

both. I think it's a big part of pull through. it's not the only part of pull through, but it's a big portion of it. and yes, especially when we're talking about a new product of launch, right? Like as you learn more of the market, the challenges, the concerns, the successes, all of it. Like as you learn more about the patient type and the disease and how physicians are receiving the product, like you have to go back and redo your content, or at least refresh it is probably the better word. Refresh it, right?

Kristina: 33:36

yeah.

Meera: 33:37

so that it stays current with the evolution of the product. So that is, is critical and with that is also. Important to put a plan in place of after you've done the pre-work, after you've launched the product, everyone's now in the field, and I touched on this a little bit, what is your game plan for the next six months? What is your game plan for the six months after that? So really a year, but I say six months is because usually six months is a good timeframe to know like how well the product is suing in the field. And it's good enough amount of data to know where are the successes, where are the gaps, and how do we need to refresh training to adjust to that. The important element though, to keep in mind, and it's very important to keep this in mind, is that you cannot keep introducing new concepts during those first six months of pull through. You have to stick with the story. You cannot introduce new messaging or new resources or new anything because people need time to absorb the information, learn it, implement it, make the adjustments and re-implement it, right? And you gotta give time for that. And if you keep adding new resources or new concepts or new messaging, every time you have a touchpoint with the field, you're gonna keep resetting every single time. And you're not going to have the longevity to really see how the product is doing or how your strategy's working or not working. so I think that's something that's so important. Like a lot of people missed that. I've missed it in my past experience cuz Okay, let's work on the next thing, now let's work on the next thing. And you forget for a moment that yeah, while you're working on all the fun next things, your learner is still in the phase where they're implementing, they're absorbing, they're learning, They're getting comfortable with this new information. So that's one thing I've had to work really hard to not just check myself, but also make sure that the management team, my stakeholders, are aligned with that as well. So when you put that pull through plan together, you have to make sure your marketing team, your field leadership team, your executive committees are all aligned with the concept of we're sticking with the same story for the next six months, and then based on the changes we need to make or adjustments we need to make, then we can start adding newer concepts. so that's been a key learning for me in keeping and pulling through the post-launch of a product.

Kristina: 36:27

And then would you say you sort of do like that first six months plan but does the second six months change things or this is really what our six to 12 and you sort of have some pieces in place already.

Meera: 36:38

you can have some things in place. I think you have to be ready to pivot sometimes, cuz depending on how the first six months are going, you also have to be ready to, okay, well this is working, let's stick to it. Why change things if they don't need to? But when there's consistency of some level that's been established, then if you add one extra resource or you update a messaging or you add something else, it's a lot easy for people to integrate that. Then if you're constantly changing things along the way, now they're like flustered. They're like, okay, well we had six new things we had to learn after the launch and we're still learning the launch stuff. So it's really being very mindful and thoughtful in how you introduce newer things to the field during that first six months. And then what does that look like in the six months after that?

Kristina: 37:33

Oh, that's fantastic. and it sounds like your reps are off to an amazing start. everything that you've said is so inspiring. I remember, and I kind of wanted to get this in for the listeners the first time you and I ever chatted, we were talking about, you know, you basically built an entire new hiring onboarding training program. So I wanted to just put that in there, because that's such a pivotal, I think, part of the journey. And I think you did it in what, like six weeks or 12?

Meera: 38:00

something like that.

Kristina: 38:02

oh, you have this? No, just like a new program in six weeks. share with the listeners that story of how, you know, you came in. I think you leveraged Acto a bit, but really talk to us about how you redesigned that new hire training, to achieve some of those successes that I know that you've had.

Meera: 38:19

Yeah. So, it was quite a journey to say the least. I started my current position about two and a half years ago, and when I came in it was one person really running the whole department, which is a lot to ask for anybody. and, with different products, different diseases, it was a lot and a co-pro promotion on top of everything. So, you know, my goal really was to come in and help create more standardization within training. That made sense. Right. and it also aligned to our hiring profile, which also was changed after I came on board. So we went from hiring more of the experienced representatives, cuz your approach is a little bit different with them. cuz some of the foundation is already there. So then it's just about teaching them the product and the company and those elements. Whereas newer to pharma or newer to sales in general, your approach is very different. You almost have to take a whole step back and teach those basic foundations first before you introduce product and the company and all those elements. so because of our hiring profile changing, we needed to take a look at our training curriculum altogether. The foundation was there, a lot of good was already in place. It was just a matter of getting it reorganized and adding the right level of resources and support team to then be able to execute it. So I think the very first thing I did with the team I had was to get feedback from our existing representatives that went through training our managers that were pulling through all this training. After the first two weeks, it was those two weeks and done type of a philosophy that was in place. And the trainer ran eight to nine classes a year, which is a lot for anybody to manage. And it's just all you do is constantly are in that training phase every couple weeks and doesn't give you the liberties to do any continuous learning because you're always inundated doing new hire training all the time. And, so we looked at that. We looked at, you know, feedback from the managers where they felt the gaps were like, what was all the extra load that was on them to continue pulling that new learner through? and more importantly, the impact to business at the end of the day was a lot slower, right? We're looking at nine months, almost to a year before we were starting to see any positive impact come through because there were so much in that learning phase still. so what we did was we redesigned the whole curriculum and first we started by asking for more support. So I was first able to secure six field trainers, so they were existing individuals that took on the added responsibility of supporting training 20% of the time. So we did that. I, put in place a national field trainer. So this was an individual that was part of the training department now full-time. So that on its own helped things significantly. And then when we looked at the curriculum, we knew the biggest element that was missing was continuous learning. So that post phase one and phase two, which most companies have is your home study, your classroom training. But then what, so it's that. Then what part is what we added and we extended the training from two weeks to 24 weeks. it was a lot of undertaking in the sense of not just creating new content, but before any of that getting full alignment from the entire leadership team, that. Extended 22 weeks of training included virtual touchpoints, field touchpoints with the field trainers. Now first the new hire went and worked with them to see what good looks like, and then at three months and six months, the field trainer went to the new hire territory to observe how they're doing it. It also obviously went in collaboration with the manager. So when they were working in the field, they will communicate with the field trainer and vice versa. They have. Field trainers added weekly, biweekly, and then monthly touchpoints with the new hire to give them that space to learn one-on-one or realize where the gaps were. And that customization that we've been talking about. We were able to start integrating some of that. And with all of this, we transitioned the whole company into acto. So by doing that, we designed our whole curriculum through acto, and we built it within acto. So we were able to then send in training on a timely basis. At our pace, rather than giving everything to them at one time and be like, okay, complete this. It added so much of anxiety to any new learner like you would expect. But pacing things out and spreading things out in a much more thoughtful way, which helped build the learning experience and the learner's knowledge.

Kristina: 43:23

Mm-hmm.

Meera: 43:24

are the elements that we integrated and how we leverage technology like ACTO to help us redesign our curriculum. And now as a year plus into it, we are constantly surveillancing our curriculum. We're all constantly looking at where we can improve and provide more of that customization and how do we leverage even more, Within the capabilities of actors. So coach has now been added to the field trainers. Now they can start coach scenarios with the new hires. so that again gives them that opportunity to be virtually present and coach them. And then when they do the feel right with them, they can see if there's improvement in their learning journey. So

Kristina: 44:10

and I And have you revamped the evaluation? Like is that something that you did with actor, where you're always asking people like, what's going well or how did you, how do you sort of like push that in?

Meera: 44:22

last year really was, okay, we've put this crazy plan together in six weeks and now let's see if it works right. It really was a lot of that. And there were obviously a lot of things even within the company that shifted. So I shifted our priorities a little bit too with that. But we still stuck with the program, which was great. but the couple things where we did see there were, a lot of things that we were doing outside of act two, like. Certifications, for example, new hire certifications, we were doing it manually first. field coaching reports we were doing manually. So then there was all of this like, okay, now I have to complete this report, PDF it, transfer it, send it to the manager. Like it was just a lot of added work. And I forget sometimes because I've been in the corporate world for so long, like using PDFs and all the different resources is like second nature, but it's not second nature for everybody else. It's not part of their world every day. So, you know, recognizing some of those hardships that the trainers were going through and communication, there was just a lot of elements. So we put all of that into acto. So we started using ACTO coach certification or field forms we added in there. So now there's much more consistency, there's much more ease. So they're putting the. Efforts in the right place, not having to redo a document because they forgot to save you know what I mean? Like,

Kristina: 45:47

yes, I do.

Meera: 45:48

those unnecessary hurdles that we were able to eliminate. We leverage actor for that. and then with that also we have now the ability for the managers to like view things in actor, right? Because they can go in and look at a field observation form or if we need to, we can quickly PDF it and send it over to the manager versus trying to do the other hurdles that we were trying to ma figure out before. So that's one way. and the most important reason why we did this is because now for a new hire, at least we have their baseline with the certification form, and then we can measure that continuously throughout their next six months cuz the coaching form that we added for the field trainers, They also align to the certification form. So there's now continuity in how we measure success. So I'll give an example. if a new hire passed certification with say, all meets and in one area they were really strong, or in one area they they needed more work, now the field trainer can pick it up from there and see in the next six months have they been able to show any improvement. and our objective with them is to improve it by one standard. So if they were coming in in an area where they were at meets, can you move that needle to above meets for that individual in the six months or if they were struggling in an area where they able to achieve the meets at least, or go above. So that's how we can now measure success or for each individual new hire, something we weren't able to do last year.

Kristina: 47:28

Ah, That just sounds amazing. and I still, I'm in shock, like putting it together in six weeks. I can't imagine.

Meera: 47:35

This sort of a training program for new hires. I had the pleasure of doing something like this and I was the trainer at that time, not the director who was able to put it together. So, you know, I was the one that was able to execute a program of such magnitude at one of my past companies. So, looking at that and learning from that and then sort of customizing it to my company now is, it's been a great experience and great journey. And that's part of why, as crazy as it was, I think my trainer and I counted like ridiculous number of hours. I'm not gonna even say that on this podcast right now, but ridiculous number of hours that we spend that month and a half to put everything together in a very short amount of time. However, it was so well worth it. because, part of being able to have that past experience as a trainer and pull that in and know where the absolutes that we need to have, and then things we can wait and design it a little bit later as the program gets started, is the approach we took. Otherwise, there's no way a program that took almost a year to put together at my past company, we would be able to put it together in six weeks here. So, having that experience definitely helped. so it was fun, fun times.

Kristina: 49:02

Yeah.

Meera: 49:02

never a du moment in training. I always say that to everybody. Nobody believes me till they actually go through training. So if my fellow trainers hearing, you know what I'm talking about, there's never a du moment in treating.

Kristina: 49:15

No, absolutely. And I was actually just gonna say, you know, what do the next five years look like? Because, cause like you said, I feel like things are changing as, we're learning, we're evolving, we've got virtual stuff coming. So it is sort of, you're just dealing with, it all. So what does the next five years look like? What do you think?

Meera: 49:34

I, I am pretty sure I'm still gonna be in training in five years unless I've been the lottery and decide not to work anymore. But my passion is in training. It's gonna stay in training. I love what I do every day, and there are some really rough days. Trust me, I will question myself as like, why am I mad enough to do this for 12 years? But then it's, those moments that when things come together and when people give you feedback that, okay, this worked and I came in hesitant to learn this, but I understand why you put it together in this fashion and it's gonna help me even though it was hard, but it's going to help me. and that's what is satisfying at the end of the day, cuz.

Kristina: 50:20

yeah.

Meera: 50:21

As, as crazy as it may sound, I still want the best products out there for the right patients. So that's been my driving force in being in pharma of all these years. And it probably will be for forever and for me at least. so I think what I would love to see in the next five years is we come out of this pandemic and things get hopefully more stabilized where, just everywhere within the company, within the workforce, the world of hybrid, we embrace it even more than what we are. I think we're doing a pretty okay job. We can do better. And when I say that, I mean even for the field reps, embracing that. More and being much more thoughtful and strategic in the way they approach their territories and their customers. Cuz that all ultimately feeds into how well we helped train them and how well we leverage technology for the right reasons. Not just to shove it down their throats, but really to help them meet their goals and keep it as much focused always, to their different learning styles. So I really would love to see more growth and more development in those areas. Um, I think the one other thing I would, for me at least, I really wanna focus on is building, More, skillsets and learning opportunities for my trainers. I think it's very easy to forget. Like there are also individuals that wanna continue growing even though they're in training and a lot of companies, they don't prioritize that. And this is something that's been a personal journey of mine to a personal mission, I should say, to really build that up and, build more, buy-in and more understanding and understanding the need of why trainers need training as well, and the continuous development for themselves. emotional intelligence coaching elements, the investment to invest in our trainers is critical and I wanna make that a, become a priority for companies out there.

Kristina: 52:34

Oh, that's perfect. and I really hope that I almost don't wanna say anything cuz like, that's like the perfect way to, to sort of wrap things up and, and I really do. I hope that people sort of really take that to heart, cuz you're right, it's like everyone wants to be able to grow and evolve in whatever role they're in. And especially, again, the trainers are so critical, so why would you not wanna invest in them as well? that's just perfect. I love it. Thank you so much Mira, for coming on the podcast today. There has been so many amazing insights and I know I learned a lot, so I'm excited, to hear some feedback from our listeners.

Meera: 53:08

thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. It's been wonderful to relive some of the fun memories of, how things have wore down before, and, and also then recognize the progress, of where our industry is and how much we've made progress from that standpoint. And it's been exciting for me to be part of my training career for that long, and I can't wait to see what the future brings. So thank you for everything you do, and thank you for having me here today

Kristina: 53:39

Absolutely. and I think that's what's great with the podcast is we're almost sort of documenting the learning journey. But everyone, you've been listening to the Learning Journey podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of these exciting episodes. Check out actor.com/insights page for all of our up-to-date content, including news blogs, articles, and of course our podcasts.