Cyrus Formulations: The Case for Sales Force Planning*

Abstract:

The case of CYRUS Pharmaceuticals is about a start-up in the Pharmaceuticals sector in India. The company in the case intends to sell formulations in South India and is working out its Sales & Distribution strategy. The promoter has some inputs from another existing pharmaceuticals company and is working to see if he can use some of these pieces of information.

Issues: » The concerns of a Sales & Distribution manager. » How to plan the size and structure of the sales force. » The importance of selecting a suitable distribution system and various issues related to it. » The process of developing an agreement with distribution channel partners Introduction In a hotel in Hyderabad, R M Khanna (Khanna) sat poring over sheets of data. The data sheets included sales and other operational details of a pharmaceuticals company operating out of Ghaziabad, Synthesis Formulations (SF) (Refer to Exhibit I). Khanna also had some papers on the Indian pharmaceuticals retail scenario, the activity notes of his deputy (Refer to Exhibit II), and a brief note on the Pharmaceutical Industry in Andhra Pradesh (AP)...

Questions for Discussion:

1. Design a sales force plan with details of numbers, recruitment method, and product-wise targets. Give clear reasoning
2. Design a distributor sign-up agreement. What should the profile of the distributors be and why?

Key words:
Sales, Distribution, sales force strategy, sales force structure, sales organization, channel strategy, pharmaceuticals

* This caselet is intended for use only in class discussions.
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