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Case Study: Pfizer Dectomax®
Summary
Pfizer Animal Health USA came to AgCall with a not so unusual problem. They had a new parasiticide, Dectomax, which they wanted to promote in a market that was 66% owned by a major competitor.
Dectomax was very early in its product lifecycle, so cattle producers were not highly aware of it, or knew what it could do for them. This meant Pfizer needed to rapidly raise cattle producers’ awareness of the new product, explain the features and benefits, and successfully make the value proposition in a market that was dominated by the competitor. That would take manpower that Pfizer didn’t have.
The Challenge
While Pfizer had sufficient internal resources to manage channel and trade contacts, as well as reach their largest customers, they did not have enough “feet on the street” to make the necessary big push at the farm level.
Pfizer knew they had a good product, they just didn’t know how they were going to let producers see that.
Adding to the challenge was the split-season nature of the product – Dectomax could be applied in the spring or the fall. This meant that Pfizer needed extra staff for a short period at only two key times in the year. The cost of hiring more full-time staff to make the introductory farm calls vastly outweighed the benefit.
“Based on the success, ROI and ripple effect that we saw in Canada, I had no concerns recommending this approach to my counterparts in the USA.”
Dave Ireland,
Director of Sales
Pfizer Animal Health
Dave Ireland was director of sales for Pfizer Animal Health, Pfizer Canada Inc. He had been using AgCall’s peer influencing solutions over the course of three years to help launch and build a ground swell of sales and market share for Dectomax in Canada.
The Solution
AgCall helped develop a turnkey FarmCall® program that allowed Pfizer to contract local producers to make on-site visits, talk to potential customers about their needs and introduce them to the features and benefits of Dectomax. Their work dove-tailed into the activities of Pfizer’s full-time sales team.
Here’s how it worked:
- AgCall and Pfizer worked together to determine program parameters:
- Number of contractors needed
- Sales territories/targets
- Training needs
- AgCall recruited 80 producers who were all given product and sales training.
- Now working as AgCall associates, they called local cattle producers during key selling times in the spring and fall, where they:
- Made on-farm calls to detail Dectomax features and benefits
- Helped to influence decision making
- Uncovered customers’ needs
- Made recommendations
- Secured purchase commitments
- AgCall set up, managed captured all data into a database program for Pfizer which gave them clean and accurate data and a measurable way of tracking results.
This program responded to Pfizer’s initial challenge in four ways:
- They gained 80 additional sales influencers without having to formally hire new sales staff.
- They achieved the timely market impact they were looking for in the spring and fall sales seasons.
- Using AgCall associates to make the initial farm calls freed their own territory managers to focus on the channel and larger producers and allowed each one to handle more business.
- Staffing costs were kept in line because the associates worked for only two short-term periods during high sales times.
The Results
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Spring Calls |
Fall Calls |
| No. of farms |
5,368 |
9,169 |
| No. of cattle |
3 million |
4.8 million |
| Market share before |
14.8% |
14.2% |
| Market share after |
58.7% |
66.5% |
| ROI |
4.1:1 |
5.8:1 |
| AgCall data |
The results for Pfizer were measurable, and extremely positive. AgCall associates involved in this program made over 14,000 farm calls during two key selling periods and representing nearly 8 million cattle. Producer awareness of Dectomax went up, and so did product use.
For more information or to get The Power of Your Customers working for you, call 1-877-273-4333
Dectomax® is a registered trademark of Pfizer Inc.
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