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Schering Plough Sales Analytical Software Brochure – Success Story Challenge Schering Plough, a large pharmaceutical company in NJ had recently purchased a sales analytical software package. The sales department felt it was a tool that would help its sales force save time and be more efficient in their efforts to sign up physicians to prescribe one of their leading drugs. The sales force, already overwhelmed with the volume of physician visits they were required to make, had a great resistance to add learning a piece of software to their busy schedule.  The Voltaic group was retained to produce a strategy and create materials that would easily convince the sales force this software system was to their benefit. It would also have to deal with the fact that the software was going to be implemented at a specific time and everyone was going to be required to use it. However, there was going to be only minimal IT training. Our solution had to deal with these constraints. Solution I was chosen as part of the team because my background contained creating materials for another division of Schering Plough that had to deal with user hesitation to adopting software systems. We strategized as to how we could convince the sales force that learning and using this system would not only be to their benefit but also could be fun instead of extra work. Our graphics designer had worked on projects where businesses had used contest participation as part of the strategy to draw in customers to learn about a product. We settled on producing a “software brochure” that would educate the sales force about the system in a witty, light hearted style, and set up a web page for the contest as part of the software rollout (also spelled out in the brochure). The Shering Plough sales department found the approach novel but was willing to give it a try (I showed them samples and related the positive results of my other “software brochures”) Working under a tight deadline, we got the buy in by all stakeholders, designed the brochure and the contest paramaters. Under my suggestion, we involved one of the sales force to give feedback on my copy, and to “proof” the entire package before it went to the printers. That way we had, by word of mouth, a guaranteed buy in through one of their own sales people. The “release” of both our project and the software package was rolled out in stages. Our brochure, tied in with the contest became the teaser for the actual release of the software itself. The sales force was thus eased into first considering, then training on, then actually adopting the software package.  Results Our multi pronged approach including many different individuals, along with the use of clever copy, and an enticing contest announcement page within the booklet made adopting this software package painless for the sales force. It was reported to us that once it was fully implemented it had indeed lived up to its expectations and helped increase physician enrollment. “We were amazed how that by adding a little bit of ‘fun’ to a software rollout, could make it go so well. Thanks, Team Voltaic”, Phil Boxner, Manager sales division “New software has always been a pain to use. Learning it eats up our time. This one was different. We thank you for giving us this novel approach, for once the task was enjoyable, not to mention my winning one of the $100 prizes!” Salvatore Forcera, physician enrollment sales associate