Novartis, Pfizer and Merck Take the Lead on Strong Relationships with Physicians, as Doctors Demand an Expanding Set o...( NEW YORK June 17 /- Among US prim...),Health

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Among US primary care physicians, Novartis earns the highest sales rep relationship scores, followed by Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis, according to new research from TNS Healthcare. Novartis also takes the top spot in Europe, demonstrating a consistent ability to build strong physician relationships. Though Pfizer also shows strong overall rep relationship scores, it has greater variability in Europe, while Merck's European performance lags behind its US results.

Though quality interactions with reps remain vitally important to doctors, TNS Healthcare's research reveals they are no longer enough to provide a market advantage. In fact, all 15 companies evaluated in the TNS survey score relatively highly on rep-related attributes, including personal and professional conduct, knowledge and expertise and sales visit quality and value. It is their performance across the full range of other service experiences that set the winners apart.

For example, Novartis earns the highest marks from doctors on virtually every sales and service activity, including patient and physician education, practice and staff support, brand experience and corporate reputation. Pfizer also does well across the full range of sales and service activities, tying with or scoring second to Novartis in most areas. For both Novartis and Pfizer, Internet services were relative "weak spots." Rounding out the top three, Merck earned the highest scores of all the companies for Internet services and also rates highly across the full spectrum of other sales and service activities.

"A key takeaway for pharmaceutical companies is that, to build the strongest physician relationships, they must be able to connect with doctors through a host of activities beyond just traditional message delivery. To stand out favorably from competitors, they must bring a range of value-add brand services into the detail," says Andrew Brana, TNS Healt
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