This article was written in 2007 by Future Pharmaceuticals Magazine and it discusses selling pharmaceuticals in urban and underserved communities

1. J3 in the Hood
John Coleman, President and Managing Partner of J3 Healthcare Sales and
Marketing, talks about J3’s unique concept of providing urban sales and marketing
strategies to the pharmaceutical industry.
Can you tell us a little about how J3 Healthcare got started? How has your organization
developed? What areas of healthcare do you specialize in?
J3 Healthcare began two years ago after my partner and I realized that most companies
didn’t have enough representatives to properly serve urban and distressed territories.
During my time as a representative, large parts of my territories were underserved and
didn’t develop from a revenue generation standpoint that would satisfy large companies.
I began to think about how these territories could develop into revenue producing parts
of larger territories. There is the presumption that areas with large minority populations
are dangerous and not as advantageous to market your products. While that analysis
may have some validity, there is still a large market that is available to the first company
that understands its value and the intricacies with regards to the selling and marketing
process. As I spoke to physicians in these territories, they informed me that they would
prescribe products in relation to what companies called on their offices. When I increased
my presence and it exceeded that of my competitors, my market share grew exponentially
faster than any other parts of my territories.
As I continued my career in the pharmaceutical industry, I began to see the need for an
organization that could work closely with large and small companies to help market and
promote products in specific territories; thus, the creation of urban and underserved sales
teams, training and multicultural marketing services.
Currently there are no companies in the business that offer to co-partner and market
products specifically in urban areas. In doing the research, we realized that companies leave
hundreds of millions of dollars per year on the table because they don’t have a presence in
these territories. The issue is how companies merge their current sales strategies and tap
Product
Knowledge
Marketing
Strategy
Business
Analysis
144 FUTURE PHARMACEUTICALS DRIVING THE INDUSTRY FORWARD

2. FUTURE PHARMACEUTICALS 145www.futurepharmaus.com
Training & Learning
into the urban and multicultural markets. My partner Brent Tilley
and I formed J3 about two years ago. From there we brought
on several individuals with extensive marketing experience in
pharmaceutical and consumer goods and rounded the team out
with a training team that consists of individuals with corporate
and secondary school training experience.
What kind of technologies do you offer in the training and
learning field?
We offer a training and development program that was
developed during my time as a sales trainer, called the
Triumvirate of Sales Success©
. The technology is based on the
belief that pharmaceutical sales representatives must expand
their overall knowledge of general business and economic
trends in addition to understanding the products they sell and
the marketing strategy that is set by their company. By combining
their knowledge of those three facets of the sales process, a
representative will be prepared to effectively represent their
company. (see image opposite)
What was the purpose behind the creation of the Triumvirate
of Sales Success? How has this approach improved J3’s overall
success?
The purpose behind the creation of the Triumvirate of Sales
Success was to spur the business side of the sales process. In
my experience, most pharmaceutical sales representatives
only focus on the product and marketing aspect of their job.
They often leave out the last piece, which is business analysis.
I believe that the representatives who add the final piece to
their sales strategy are those that are successful. For example,
knowing the socioeconomic and cultural area that you are in
when you’re selling a product. This also ties into the overall focus
of J3’s urban sales teams and the marketing arm. This approach
has given J3 the ability to truly inspire representatives with new
information. The business analysis piece is something that I am
unaware of being taught in any of the pharmaceutical training
courses I participated in as a student or teacher until J3 arrived.
One aspect that is riddling the industry is underdeveloped
territories. How can organizations best maximize profits in
lesser deserved regions?
Not to say too much, but companies have several options when
dealing with urban and underserved territories. The first is to
really use the business analysis piece to decide if there is growth
in the territory. Often times, companies don’t delve deep
enough in the inner city to find out if there are opportunities.
During my marketing rotation, I was privileged to work with the
Los Angeles County Hospital System. I had a product that was
not being sold in the entire hospital system but was first-in-class
for the disease state. When I did the analysis, I realized that with
a little effort and sound marketing strategy, the product could
make a significant impact. We implemented a specific call cycle
for the hospitals, and the physicians and patients responded.
Market share skyrocketed in less than two quarters and revenue
grew by more than $100,000 in one territory.
Second is to seek out physicians in specific territories and get
their feedback on the viability of a sustained sales process.
Establishing a partnership with physicians that practice primarily
in urban and underserved areas will go a long way to build
confidence in the product and the company itself. Finally, J3
has other tested strategies that can be implemented to improve
sales in underserved territories almost immediately.
As the world is shrinking with technological and information
sharing improvements, there are often difficulties in exchanging
data. What are some solutions you provide for multicultural
marketing in the pharmaceutical industry?
We provide several solutions for the multicultural side of the
business. Our primary service is the access we can provide
a company to large blocks of the minority population. We
accomplish this through our deep relationships with several
sectors of urban and minority communities. Because of our
past participation in events and causes we are able to leverage
those relationships to implement our marketing strategies.
There is a lot to be said for the financial power of minority
groups, and we as business people must recognize this with
regards to the pharmaceutical business. Although there is
the physician element involved, we must still be cognizant of
a company’s overall presence. Again, J3 believes that there is
a shift coming in the pharmaceutical business with regards to
multicultural marketing. We believe those who have leveraged
their relationships with minority communities will reap large
profits and a group of loyal followers.
How do you see multicultural marketing playing out in the
future? What are some ways that organizations can prepare
themselves down the road?
Multicultural marketing will be the new paradigm in the
pharmaceutical business – just as it has been in the retail and
consumer goods industry. When plotting strategy, I have looked
to the retail business and consumer goods industry to see the
outcomes that they have had from their marketing initiatives.
Although the pharmaceutical business does have regulations
regarding marketing, there are still proven strategies that
companies can implement that will differentiate them from their
competitors and pay immediate dividends. The companies
that embrace the market and create effective new strategies
will increase their market share and develop long-lasting
relationships with communities that they weren’t connected to
before. Organizations can prepare themselves for the changes
that are to come, by embracing the new market and partnering
with firms and individuals that can help craft their message to
the newly developed market.
John “Jack” Coleman, President and Managing Partner of J3 Healthcare Sales and Marketing,
is responsible for business development and day-to-day operations of J3, whose business is focused
on partnering with pharmaceutical companies to improve their sales and marketing efforts in urban
and underserved territories. Prior to forming J3, Jack spent 10 years in a variety of roles in the
pharmaceutical arena including sales representative, specialty sales representative, hospital sales
representative, training manager and international marketing team member.