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I've been in sales and sales management training for the last 15 years, and I am continually struck by one unchanging situation: sales forces don't reflect the ethnicity of the working world.

Here's what I mean.

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

I live in Toronto, the most multiculturally diverse city on the planet, and I recently became a Canadian citizen. On that day, 113 other people from 22 countries also took the citizenship oath. As I looked around

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

five of us were white. Only three of us spoke English as our first language (two Bulgarians were the other part of the white contingent). I was surrounded by a sea of interesting looking faces of various colours

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

nd hues, and I was so proud to be part of this crowd.

I ride the subway whenever I get the chance, and the other passengers who are going to work (executives, middle management, administrators, blue collar workers

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

men, women, recent grads, the nearly retired) mirror the crowd at the citizenship ceremony.

I have worked with over 6,000 sales professionals in the past 15 years in a wide variety of industries including technol

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ogy, packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, health care, travel, banking, insurance and manufacturing. Yet only a handful of people in all my training classes have been black, Asian, East Indian, Hisp

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

nic, Middle Eastern, etc.

Why?

This lack of diversity makes no business sense. Every day, companies struggle to develop their competitive edge and increase their customer base. They are operating in a global mark

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

tplace, made up of a vast range of cultures, customers and customs. Most companies declare in their corporate statements that their people make the difference, yet they haven't found practical ways to ensure that t

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

eir sales forces reflect the marketplace realities of diverse races and cultures.

Some voices have started recognizing the benefits of diversity, such as Bill Minix, director of learning and development for Fisher

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

HealthCare. As he says in a recent article in Selling Power magazine, "The more diverse your environment, the better your sales." "If you get 10 medical technicians together for brainstorming, each with 18 years o

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

experience, what kind of ideas

do you think you'll get? But if you introduce a junior military officer with a background in leadership, someone who sold copiers on a commission-only basis, and someone who emigra

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

ed from another culture who had to learn how to do business in a new language, you might get new ideas on how to drive, motivate, and persuade your customers."

BRIDGING THE GAP:

How can managers encourage, recrui

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

and nourish culturally diverse salespeople? Here are some ideas:

1. DECLARE YOUR INTENTION TO HAVE YOUR SALES TEAM MIRROR THE POPULATION

When hiring for sales positions, start paying close attention to company p

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

olicies that encourage or mandate a diverse environment. Tell others (including your sales team) of your intentions, and ask if they know good people to hire.

Perhaps members of minority groups are not applying fo

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

sales jobs in your industry, or aren't being promoted into sales management. The same was said about women 25 years ago. Depending on the industry, many sales forces now include significant numbers of women. Chang

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

can happen.

2. QUESTION YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVES

Ask yourself some questions. What are your assumptions about races and cultures other than your own, or about the prospect of working with people who may look at the

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

world and human interactions through different lenses? When you hire or promote someone from a minority group, do you feel as if you've done that person a favour? Unconscious attitudes can unwittingly lead to exclu

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

sionary actions.

3. BE A MENTOR MATCHMAKER

Research indicates that employees of minority cultures in an organization may have more difficulty finding mentors than employees of the prevailing culture. Find out i

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

an employee would prefer to be partnered with someone of the same background, and then offer to connect that person with an appropriate resource within your organization.

4. SHARE YOUR SUCCESSES WITH ME

If your

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

rganization has been successful in hiring and retaining a culturally diverse sales and sales management force, please let me know how you've done it. I will share your practices and insights with Sa1esWise readers

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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