Data preprocessing for machine analysis of sales representatives’ key performance indicators

Significant transformation of the operational activity of product and service distributors is driven by changes in data-receiving and processing technology. At present, the work of these companies’ representatives is digitized to a large extent: for example, the road time, the number and places of meetings with customers are automatically recorded. At the same time, the productivity of managers who do not make direct sales is usually evaluated with the help of surveys, experts and costly double visits, although the existence of large data samples makes possible the use of statistical analysis to identify both insufficient and inflated values of performance indicators. Source data: a relational database that accumulates information about 28 categorical, quantitative, geolocation and temporal parameters of sale representatives’ activities for the last year. Based on available data, we created synthetic features (the latitude and longitude features produced the index, region, street, and house features; based upon identifiers we calculated the sum of activities of sales representatives; according to temporary features we defined the season of the year, the day of the week and the period of day features). The methodology for statistical analysis consists of three main stages: collection and processing of primary data; summary and grouping processed information; setting statistical hypotheses and interpreting the results. A probabilistic approach was used to model the level of distortion of sale representatives’ activities. As a result, with the built tag cloud we highlighted: the most popular season for advertising campaigns; the most productive departments and sale representatives; days of the week with the largest number of contacts to customers. We established a significant number of records about meetings with clients at the weekends. As a result of the data mining, we made a statistical hypothesis about the possibility of identifying the sale representatives who distort the number and parameters of meetings. A set of synthetic integer, real and categorical features was created to identify hidden relationships. Doubtful data (such as working at weekends or at night) were revealed. The resulting aggregated dataset is grouped by a sale representative’s activity ID and the distribution of this feature is plotted. For each sale representative, integer and real features are summarized and outliers that characterize inefficient performance or distortion of data have been detected. Thus, the presence of a large sample of data on the history of movements and activities allowed us to evaluate the productivity of the distribution company’s sales representatives based upon indirect features.

didactic teaching methodology to assist in the analysis of the economic impact on fuel prices commercialized in the Carajás region.

This research aims to analyze the economic impacts caused by the addition of the third digit after the comma in the prices of fuels commercialized in the Carajás region (Parauapebas, Canaã dos Carajás, Curionópolis e Serra dos Carajás) located in the southeast of Pará State, Brazil, and the professional categories chosen were UBER application drivers, who use gasoline with additives in their vehicles, sales representatives who use motorcycles and regular gasoline for their work and lastly, intercity van cooperative drivers who use regular diesel fuel. The results of the investigation highlighted that there was a total loss of 2,10 BRL, for the three categories of professionals for every 100 liters of fuel consumed, representing an economic impact of approximately 43% for S-10 diesel, 38% for regular gasoline and 19% for gasoline with additives. Furthermore, in the professional categories analyzed, it was observed that the greatest economic impact occurred for the group of inter-municipal van drivers, with an annual cost of 191,52 BRL. Subsequently, App drivers obtained 14,72 BRL of economic implication per year, and finally, with less annual impact, sales representatives with a cost of 2,72 BRL.

The California Perfume Company

David McConnell built the California Perfume Company to sell perfumes, toiletries, extracts, and household products through a system of direct house-to-house sales. To overcome the seedy reputation of itinerant peddlers, common at the turn of the twentieth century, McConnell relied on women. Door-to-door sales representatives sold the products to their family, friends, and neighbors in their hometowns. Traveling Agents were women who travelled the countryside recruiting and training new women to sell. The company managed all of its agents remotely, relying on newsletters, prize offerings, and regular sales reports to motivate representatives to sell. While a relatively small company, the CPC was the only one of its kind to exclusively hire women.

“Now You Are in Business for Yourself”

The California Perfume Company (CPC) was the only direct sales organization to hire women exclusively as its sales representatives. The size of the force increased from about 10,000 in 1910 to more than 30,000 by 1929. A demographic profile built from an analysis of company newsletters and census data shows that the vast majority of CPC representatives worked in small rural towns of fewer than 1,000 people. Most were married and were forty years of age or older. Selling door-to-door allowed women to bridge the gap between home and work. CPC promised women an independent business opportunity, and their testimonials showed that most regarded the work as business, not labor. Their sales records, however, suggest that only a minority of women would rely on CPC as their main source of income.

E media and training of pharmaceutical sales representatives in Covid era

Medical sales representatives are a key link between medical and pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals. The Medical Sales representative is a high-risk sector with job stress. It requires more skills, wider knowledge and emotional stability than the other professions Due to extensive traveling, and waiting time, target issues, work-life balancing problems and lack of job security the medical representative life cycle is full of psychological stress. E-learning is use of technology for learning outside the boundaries of the physical classroom. New E training modules are more useful which facilitate distance learning, which are safer in new covid era. Product Training can be conferred at specific website created by Pharmaceutical companies.

Transparency or restricting gifts? Polish medical students’ opinions about regulating relationships with pharmaceutical sales representatives

Relationships between physicians and pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) often create conflicts of interest, not least because of the various benefits received by physicians. Many countries attempt to control pharmaceutical industry marketing strategies through legal regulation, and this is true in Poland where efforts are underway to eliminate any practices that might be considered corrupt in medicine. The present research considered Polish medical students’ opinions about domestic laws restricting doctors’ acceptance of expensive gifts from the industry, the idea of compulsory transparency, and the possibility of introducing a Polish Sunshine Law. A qualitative, focus group-based, interview method was used. Data were gathered from nine focus groups involving 92 medical students from three universities located in major Polish cities. The article presents a classification of opposing student views with regard to the consequences of introducing different legal solutions; this should be useful for policy makers deliberating on how to optimally regulate pharmaceutical marketing. The study’s results are discussed in the context of the public bioethical debate in Poland.

effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Psyche and Productivity of Pharmaceutical Sales Workforce in an African Country; A descriptive case study

Pharmaceutical sales representatives are a pivotal workforce in the healthcare system. Due to the global impact of COVID-19, the impact on the psyche and morale of the pharmaceutical sales workforce has to be examined. The primary objective of the study was to assess the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psyche and productivity of the pharmaceutical sales workforce in Nigeria. A questionnaire-guided cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from pharmaceutical sales personnel across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria using purposive sampling. The final sample was 225. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 25. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were used for demographic data. Cluster analysis was used to identify key demographic predictors of importance. X2 test was used to test the association between the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and work-attributes. The difference of means was determined with a t-test. Highest and lowest-ranked work-attributes were information provider (3.62±1.36), and involvement in COVID screening activities (1.80±1.20). Average daily work hours before and during COVID-19 lockdown (2.16±0.04 vs. 1.88±0.11, p<0.05)) were affected. Average sales were significantly affected (3.15±0.48 vs. 1.35±0.36, p<0.0001). Psychological states of Anxiety and Increased burden have a medium to high impact on the psyche of respondents. The study revealed an association of both extremes of pessimism and optimism with regards to Frustration state of mind. Study suggests an overall negative impact on pharmaceutical sales representatives’ psyche and productivity. Attention to sales workforce welfare is required to safeguard medicine supply.

Health professional’s exposure, attitude, and acceptance of drug promotion by industry representatives: A cross-sectional study in Ethiopia

Interactions between pharmaceutical companies and health care providers have long been an area of interest from ethical as well as scientific grounds. The information provided by those companies must be scientifically accurate and fair. The current study aimed to investigate the exposure, attitude, and training background of medical doctors and pharmacy professionals regarding drug promotional activities, and assess their acceptance of promotional gifts provided by pharmaceutical sales representatives. A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical doctors and pharmacy professionals working at Bahir Dar and Gondar cities, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26 was used for analysis. A Chi-square test was computed to investigate the presence of an association between the dependent and independent variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to declare significance at a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). A total of 105 health professionals, 81 pharmacy professionals, and 24 medical doctors have participated in the study. Above two-thirds of the respondents (69.5%) agreed that most talks sponsored by drug companies were helpful and educational. On the other hand, 39% of the respondents agreed and 47.6% disagreed that receiving gifts from pharmaceutical representatives will increase the chance that they will eventually sell or recommend the drug company’s products. The majority of the study participants (81%) preferred drug samples and stationery as appropriate gifts by pharmaceutical sales representatives. Significant gaps were found regarding the training of health professionals about the ethics of drug marketing and how to deal with pharmaceutical representatives. Policies aiming at restricting health care provider’s contacts with pharmaceutical companies during residency training along with incorporating gift restriction policies could bring significant improvements.