“Fully staffed” doesn’t always mean fully effective.
Our own Krista Pinto, President of Deployment Solutions, shares why traditional field sales team models are no longer sufficient in today’s commercial landscape and what pharma leaders must do to evolve in a recent interview with Pharmaceutical Executive.
The Hidden Gap in Field Sales Performance
For years, field team success has been measured by headcount. But that metric is increasingly misleading.
Even when every territory appears covered, a significant portion of field sales capacity may be underperforming due to disengagement, misalignment with healthcare provider preferences, time needed to ramp or outdated deployment models. This can result in a gap between perceived coverage and actual impact.
Why Coverage Gaps Matter More Than Ever
Today, consistent engagement with healthcare providers is critical. When territories experience vacancies or underperformance, relationships tend to weaken.
Healthcare providers rely on consistent, trusted engagement. Disruptions in that cadence can stall momentum, erode trust, and shift attention to competitors who maintain a regular presence.
The Operational Reality of Turnover
Turnover and leave periods create a ripple effect across field teams.
Territories don’t pause when a role is vacant. Instead, coverage is stretched across existing teams. At the same time, onboarding new hires takes months and territories may operate below full productivity despite being “staffed” on paper.
A Shift Toward Continuous Coverage
Leading organizations are moving beyond reactive hiring models and toward continuous coverage strategies.
This means designing deployment models that anticipate change with the flexibility to maintain consistent engagement through periods of transition or instability.
The Role of Hybrid Field Sales Models
Hybrid field sales models are playing an increasingly important role in this shift. By combining virtual and in‑person resources, organizations can:
- Maintain consistent engagement across territories
- Reduce downtime during transitions
- Scale coverage more efficiently
What Leaders Should Do Next
The first step is redefining success. Rather than focusing on whether territories are staffed, leaders should evaluate whether they are consistently engaged with healthcare providers.
From there, building flexibility into deployment models becomes critical. If leaders do that, their teams will be to adapt without sacrificing performance.
Learn how to maintain continuous HCP engagement and reduce downtime with EVERSANA’s Vacant Territory Management solutions.
Author Team
EVERSANA employs a team of over 6000 professionals across 20+ locations around the world. From industry-leading patient service and adherence support to global pricing and revenue management, our team informs the strategies that matter…