Voveran introduction by Ciba in India was a success story that we cherish always in our lives as a sales force. I can safely say that CIBA operations in India can be divided as pre and post Voveran periods. As a sales force we were considered as very docile. During the pre Voveran period our product range did not contain any formulation in the highly competitive and money raking segments of Pharma market like anti-inflammatory/analgesics, antibiotics, Vitamins or cough syrups. With Voveran introduction we entered a big segment of anti-inflammatories which always witnessed a fierce competition amongst the formulations. Not many in the pharma industry gave any chance for Ciba to do well in this segment given the image our field force as being mild and non aggresive. Coupled with this notion, Pharma companies operating in the analgesics/anti-inflammatory segment were all well entrenched players like Suhrud Geigy, Boots, Roussel etc.
Strategies employed by a very dynamic marketing team spurred the so called non aggresive field sales persons to become a highly combative force and establish the product as the best selling anti-inflammatory drug in quick time. In fact, we made Voveran as the best selling brand displacing Becosules as the top selling name in Indian Pharma industry. Most important policy was to introduce various formulations (standard oral tablet, sustained release oral tablet, dispersible tablet, intra muscular injectable and topically applicable gel formulation) in a staggered manner. I consider this as the single most important factor that spelt great marketing success for Voveran.
Introduction of Voveran almost coincided with my moving from Guntur to Eluru as a medical representative. I was the Voveran sales topper in AP. I was promoted to the position of a team leader in 1986. Soon, my team climbed to the top position in not only my region (South India) but also as all India top selling team in Voveran sales. I retained my top position in Voveran sales even after my elevation as the head of one of the five zones in the country in 1997.
They were my stories of success with Voveran. However I had a few instances where I did run into tight spots with the product. As mentioned in my earlier article titled "Tight Spots in Work" a lady doctor with predominant gynaec practice in Nidadavolu town in West Godavari district almost pulled me up for not introducing our new product (Voveran) in the market to her. I tactfully managed the situation by telling her that in the short period available to me to present my products to her I restricted myself to products relating to her specialisation. Explaining that I had no other reason for not introducing the new product to her, I detailed Voveran to her. Thus I came out of the tight spot No.1 by employing tactics learnt during my training period.
The next instance occurred a few years hence at Dr.A.Laxma Reddy's People's poly Clinic, Nizamabad. During my visit to Nizamabad, Mr.Chandrasekhar, our medical representative told me about a quality problem with Voveran ampoule at the shop in people's poly clinic. An ampoule of Voveran contained a mustard sized black particle in the liquid injectable material. Mr.Vishnuvardhan Reddy, the shop owner preferred to lodge a complaint with the drugs department. Since I had planned to visit Nizamabad, Mr.Chandrasekhar convinced Mr.Vishnuvardhan Reddy to just wait for a day and meet me before going ahead with the complaint to the department.
Chandrasekhar briefed me about the problem. We went to the shop to find out our business status before meeting Dr.Laxma Reddy. Immediately, Mr.Vishnuvardhan Reddy took out the ampoule. Handing it to me, he showed the black particle floating in the ampoule. I recollected my visit to our company's manufacturing facility during my training. We were taken to the factory to get familiar with the processes there and infuse confidence in us that for our company quality and ethics mattered. Remembering the process of ampoule manufacturing, I explained to Mr.Reddy that it wasn't a problem of any serious contamination. Tip sealing is the most common technique in liquid filled ampoule manufacturing. In tip sealing, heat is uniformly applied around the neck on all sides to cause melting and formation of a bead. Although the sealing happens on an automated machine, very rarely during the process, burnt glass particles drop into the liquid inside the ampoule. However, a manual visual check follows by passing the ampoules behind a magnifying glass to detect and remove such ampoules. This was one small error in this manual check and not any serious contamination of the drug. With this explanation, Mr.Reddy was convinced that the matter was not as serious as he thought and just suggested that the matter be brought to the notice of the factory so that extra care is taken in preventing reccurance. My learnings during training once again helped me to perform successfully. Honesty while facing the problems often helps you to succeed. This was one such occasion.
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