Challenge
The fast-changing dynamics of the healthcare industry make it increasingly vital, yet challenging, for pharmaceutical Account Executives (AEs) to plan and lead productive interactions with their customers and internal partners. When a global pharmaceutical company’s merger resulted in a diverse group of Value Access & Payment (VAP) AEs with different skillsets and experience, the organization recognized disparities and gaps in how these team members are prepared to succeed in a volatile, ever-evolving environment. While each participates in an individualized, product-focused Track 1 training program, the client sought to bring cohorts of learners together for an advanced, collaborative Track 2 experience focused on the knowledge and skills AEs need to succeed once they’re 6-9 months in role.

Solution
Based on our experience in market access and pharmaceutical sales and account management, the client partnered with iQue for a two-phased initiative to drive an effective Track 2 learning experience. Phase 1 began with a needs analysis, guided by discovery interviews and focus groups with 30+ stakeholders from within the VAP organization and across the many functional groups AEs interact with. Leveraging those insights, iQue developed a blueprint for a 7-week learning journey that incorporated knowledge sessions, interactive workshops, and independent action learning exercises, with a mix of virtual instructor-led and face-to-face delivery. Designed around the pillars of Strategic Relationship Building, Business & Customer Acumen, Leadership, and Strategic Thinking, the learning journey aims to help AEs engage in better dialogues based on a deeper understanding of an evolving marketplace and each customer’s business strategies and financials. Recognizing the continued shift away from in-person interactions, the training helps AEs improve their virtual engagement skills. And for the greatest relevance and immediate application, the curriculum requires them to work with a selected account throughout the journey. In Phase 2, iQue leveraged this blueprint to develop workshop content, conducted train-the trainer sessions for the client’s in-house team, created an implementation guide for ongoing rollouts, and crafted weekly communications to keep participants informed and on track.

What our client had to say...
“Our AEs are deriving value from the learning journey because it’s specific, relevant, and applicable to their roles. We’re already seeing them engage in more meaningful interactions with their customers. The iQue team’s vast experience in market access and sales leadership gave them the wisdom and insight to engage in the most relevant conversations with our stakeholders and shape a learning journey that’s helping our AEs succeed in their first year on the job. There are very few vendor partners I can say that I truly trust, and iQue is one of them!”

Challenge
In 2020, a global pharmaceutical company faced a perfect storm of challenges: A significant influx of new hires on its Cardiovascular sales team concurrent with COVID-19 emerging in the US. With much of the existing new hire learning journey occurring through face-to-face classes, it was critical to adapt the experience for virtual delivery. And while speed was of the essence in getting new sales reps productive and prepared to interact with customers in a digital environment, all in a compliant way, it was equally vital to ensure the new virtual instructor-led training (vILT) was highly engaging and effective.

Solution
iQue Group had a strong reputation as a valued partner to other business units within the company, so the firm was a natural choice for this mission-critical project. iQue quickly assembled a highly skilled team to provide instructional design, virtual production, and project management to adapt and support two curricula: a Track 2 journey delivered upon new hire completion of an initial home study course and a Track 3 journey delivered when new reps are further in role. The iQue team revamped a significant volume of existing content to ensure optimum engagement and effectiveness in a virtual environment, leveraging their expertise in vILT and experience working in pharmaceutical sales and training roles. iQue also provided the client’s trainers with virtual facilitation skills development support to improve their proficiency and comfort level. The first Track 2 cohort rolled out in late April—just 3 weeks after project kickoff—and the first Track 3 cohort followed in August. iQue has since supported 10 cohorts through their learning journeys, encompassing 75 days of training and 300+ workshops, while making continual enhancements in response to organizational changes, product shifts, and participant feedback.

What our client had to say...
“I had complete confidence in iQue’s ability to support this effort, and they hit the mark. We were especially pleased with how well they drove the engagement piece; in fact, in every class survey the level of engagement and participation consistently receives the highest praise. I appreciated how well iQue’s sense of urgency mirrored ours and how closely connected they were with our training group. From the mutual trust we developed, to the open communication, flexibility, and continual flow of new ideas, iQue has become a true trusted partner. I expect we’ll evolve to a hybrid approach as the pandemic subsides and I look forward to iQue helping move our training forward once again. ”

Challenge
A global pharmaceutical company was struggling to implement a standardized approach to Account Management across its commercial, medical, and managed market access teams. Whether supporting a large integrated health system, or a smaller physician practice, team members in each operating unit were applying principles in different ways and using different templates, methods, and standards, leading to a lack of cohesiveness in supporting customers. With the impending acquisition of a biologics company, this initiative became even more important to ensure a consistent approach to meet evolving customer needs.

Solution
The client contracted with iQue Group to develop a series of learning assets supporting the Account Management process. Together, the client and iQue decided on an approach that targeted employees supporting both large and small accounts. A series of five videos was created using actual employees from two account teams: one supporting a large IDN, the other supporting a small, multi-physician practice. Shot on location in territories, the videos presented real-life examples of how each team worked together to apply the principles of Account Management to provide an exceptional customer experience. After viewing the videos, participants accessed an eBook – an ever-evolving resource that provides just-in-time access to Account Management tools and resources in one easily accessible location, whenever and wherever needed. The program was rolled out to more than 2,000 users, with the video component as a required element and the eBook as an ongoing resource. Within 6-weeks, 94% had completed the training and the eBook is averaging over 400 hits daily.

What our client had to say...
“The speed, attention to detail, and focus on ensuring the content was customized for our needs was spot on. We had so many moving parts in both the development and delivery, but the iQue team never missed a step. Our executives very much appreciated the Herculean effort, along with the real-world perspective and innovative approach that iQue brought to the project. Thank you to the iQue team for your determination and passion, for embracing an innovative delivery method, and for working to understand the vision that I had from day 1!”

Challenge
A pharmaceutical company’s sales and managed markets leadership recognized that in order to enhance the capabilities of field-based associates and nurture top talent, they needed to create a Field Sales Trainer (FST) program. Through their training, coaching and feedback skills, FSTs can significantly impact field associates’ performance on the job. With the FSTs typically in the role for only a two-year rotation, it was important to build their coaching skills right from the beginning in order to give them ample opportunity to practice and apply them to their work.

Solution
iQue Group was tapped to develop a full-day, interactive Field Trainer Coaching workshop to prepare FSTs to perform a peer coaching role. Part of a new two-day onboarding program, the workshop uses the optimal mix of knowledge acquisition and role play application to help FSTs employ skill-building training techniques; deliver constructive and motivational feedback that is clear, specific and actionable; and coach in a way that encourages associates to take ownership for their development. After a competitive application and interview process, the first cohort of candidates completed the program, giving it very high marks.

What our client had to say...
"The program is very effective in preparing field trainers for their role. By focusing on the most important competencies – and by using engaging content, practical exercises, and a mix of learning modes – the workshop grounded FSTs in the coaching process and challenged them to move beyond their comfort zones. Working with iQue Group was worry-free: They kept an eye on the project interdependencies, but always challenged us in a healthy, productive way. Participants said the program was better than they even expected”

Challenge
Our client, a leader in software development, saw its learning and development staff tasked with doing more with fewer resources due to a company downsizing and restructuring. They needed to shift from serving narrowly defined, role-based functions to acting as generalists capable of handling both the upfront needs assessment and the development of training solutions. They were also charged with interacting with internal clients at a more senior level than they were accustomed to. In many cases, team members weren’t proficient in the consulting skills necessary to engage effectively in this new role.

Solution
The client contracted with iQue Group for a series of virtual instructor-led (vILT) training sessions on Consulting Skills, enabling participants in the US, India and Columbia to engage and interact remotely. iQue Group developed three highly interactive sessions targeting the specific skills and capabilities the group needed for effective internal client engagement. Facilitators led real-time problem solving, offered specific verbiage to use in challenging situations, and provided practice and coaching to increase participants’ confidence to interact with higher-level clients.  In addition to skill-building activities throughout the series, a case study and action planning activity during the final session served as a capstone to bring together the concepts and skills covered along the way.  

What our client had to say...
“We saw strong engagement throughout the three sessions – people genuinely wanted to participate. That showed us iQue Group had put together the right content with the right structure. We also saw an uptick right away, with people using the questioning skills they learned to ask different questions than they would have in the past and being less resistant to reach out to higher level contacts. As they implement their Action Plans we expect and hope to see more behavioral change.”

Challenge
An international pharmaceutical company faced a number of industry pressures – from changing healthcare legislation and rising costs, to the growing complexity of clinical development and an increasingly mature product portfolio. In the midst of this evolving environment, the company’s R&D leaders are charged with making scientific decisions that impact drug discovery, with billions of dollars at stake. To continue to translate high science and medicine into products that save lives and build value for the company, the organization believed its R&D leaders would benefit from enhancing their business acumen skills – enabling them to make informed scientific decisions that ensure the company applies its resources in a prudent and responsible way.

Solution
iQue Group designed, developed and delivered a customized business acumen skill development learning journey tailored to the R&D audience, using a blended approach that maximized learning and engagement and minimized travel. The journey integrated brief, self-paced learning modules on key business acumen concepts with a live classroom session in which learners used a pharmaceutical industry-specific simulation to put their newfound knowledge and skills into practical application. A series of post-session webinars and activities then helped them turn the learning into on-the-job action. At a reunion webinar two weeks after the classroom, participants shared how they were already applying the learning on the job – developing processes to better evaluate project requests to ensure they support company strategy, evaluating the hidden costs of bringing products to new markets, and challenging operational processes to ensure they support the company’s value proposition.

What our client had to say...
“The scientific decisions made in R&D have billions of dollars attached to them, so they must be made in the context of business. iQue Group is helping our R&D leaders build that skill through a program tailored to drug development and the R&D function. I’ve heard fantastic feedback from our learners. iQue Group is great to work with and is now a ‘go to’ source for our learning and development.”
– Executive Director

“Our learners clearly embraced the importance and value of the program – everyone was engaged and excited to participate. And the simulation was an amazing tool to reinforce and apply their advance learning. I’ve worked with many vendors, and iQue Group made this one of my best experiences. Not only was it was seamless, but there was a great team dynamic.”
– Associate Director

Challenge
The compliance department of a $5 billion global specialty biopharmaceutical organization was tasked with developing effective training to meet the requirements of a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) imposed by the US government. Role-specific training was needed for several different functional groups internally, as well as external parties that act on the company’s behalf. The training needed to equip learners to know and follow numerous policies and procedures that are essential to doing business appropriately and in compliance.

Solution
Based on its strong relationship with this client, iQue Group was asked to develop seven e-learning courses as part of the company’s CIA initiative. Four courses were created for internal audiences, providing role-specific guidance for targeted functional groups, and an additional three courses were developed for external learners considered covered persons under the CIA. This comprehensive effort involved turning subject matter expert input and content from an extensive repository into engaging e-learning courses that would meet CIA requirements, reinforce key principles, and keep learners interested and focused.

What our client had to say...
“We wanted our CIA training to be much more than a check-the-box exercise – something our employees would learn from and gain value from. Our senior leaders have said the training exceeded their expectations all around, from the look-and-feel, to the quality and substance of the content, to the response from employees. In just the first day, 53 people completed all of their training requirements. My colleagues asked how I could manage such a complex project so well; it’s because I had a great partnership with iQue Group. I could not have been happier with the deliverables or the outcome.” – Compliance Operations, Training and Communications Lead 

Challenge
A global information technology company was preparing to launch an innovative new IT infrastructure solution. To approach target accounts successfully, it was imperative that the sales force select the best decision-maker for this offering and focus on the pain points most relevant to that decision-maker. In addition to training on product features and benefits, the sales force needed guidance on who to target and the most effective messaging to use with each prospect based on his/her role. With the product launch imminent, a solution was needed on a very tight timeframe.

Solution
The client contracted with iQue Group to develop a 20-minute e-scenario to help the sales force develop effective call strategies aimed at securing appointments with the right prospects. This simulation required the learner to choose the best prospect from among three different roles and the right messaging for the chosen target. For each decision made, the learner received feedback on why it was or was not the best choice and what a more effective choice might be.

What our client had to say...
“iQue Group proposed a solution that would work within our timeframe and matched our needs with the right technical resource. We were extremely pleased with the final product; it was beyond what we expected, especially given such a tight schedule. And the level of utilization of this solution within the company far exceeded our expectations. We’ve worked with iQue Group on other projects as well, and they always provide a high-quality product that meets our needs.”

Challenge
Through the results of a recent employee survey it became apparent that there is a perception that leaders in the organization would benefit from learning how to further deepen their relationships with others across the company – employees, peers, etc. It was hypothesized that with strong relationship building skills, grounded in trust and credibility, that employee and customer engagement would skyrocket.

Solution
iQue Group designed a workshop that provided guidance, coaching and practical examples of how to build trusting and credible relationships across the enterprise. The core feature of the program is that it is conversation based, since trust is something one experiences personally.

What our client had to say...
“iQue Group was a pleasure to work with throughout this project. With a combination of subject-matter expertise and a clear understanding of our needs, they were quickly able to quickly design and develop an interactive workshop with the right amount of general subject information combined with the use of specific participant examples, bringing to the forefront the personal level trust has on individuals. Well done iQue!”

Challenge
> Challenge
This organization’s learning and development group was lauded by Training Magazine’s Top 125 award annually for its innovation and results. But with training leaders focused on strategic initiatives, they increasingly had less time to focus on the application process. After the company’s ranking slipped to #75 in 2012, iQue Group was contracted to assist with the 2013 submission. The client sought to leverage iQue Group’s depth of experience in learning and development and its third-party objectivity to propel the company back into the top quartile of the rankings and restore its recognition as a strong learning organization.

Solution
A veteran iQue Group consultant counseled award committee members on how to gather the information that would shine the spotlight on the company’s learning best practices and innovations. Then she turned their individual contributions into a cohesive, impactful and compelling story that promoted the innovative features of the learning programs and tied them to the achievement of business objectives. This high-quality submission catapulted the client from #75 in 2012 to the top 20 in 2013. With iQue Group’s help, the client again garnered a top 20 ranking in 2014 and had one of its Best Practices selected for a separate award. The client also turned to iQue Group to strengthen its 2014 CLO Learning Elite submission and was awarded with a #5 ranking.

What our client had to say...
“Our iQue Group project consultant has vast experience in learning and development, and she used that to guide us in creating a much more compelling award submission. She wove our input into a cohesive story that highlighted our training innovations, always bringing an objective eye to the process. We were ecstatic with the results, so we asked iQue Group to help us with the submission again in 2014 and to work with us on our CLO Learning Elite Award submission.”

Challenge
A global pharmaceutical company’s learning and development professionals transitioned from supporting assigned business units to operating in a shared services model. As team members began engaging with new internal clients in unfamiliar business units, it became evident that a consistent, quality experience required improved engagement skills and greater confidence. And as leadership began challenging team members to operate more strategically and to be more client-focused, those requirements grew more vital.

Solution
The client contracted with iQue Group for two full-day, instructor-led Client Engagement Workshops for a global group of 48 participants. iQue Group developed a program that targeted the specific skills and capabilities the group needed for effective internal client engagement – blending strategic concepts with tactical best practices, problem-solving techniques, skills practice, and coaching. The sessions culminated in a case study and action planning exercise, enabling participants to identify specific ways to apply their new knowledge and skills on the job immediately.

What our client had to say...
“This was the best experience I’ve ever had working with a training vendor. The deliverables were tailored to our audience and very useful during the workshop. Our participants rated the program very highly, particularly the instructors and the impact of the training on their job. The iQue team was extremely responsive and flexible throughout the project. It couldn’t have gone better!”

Challenge
The training organization of this company established a strategy that encompassed key disciplines of learning. But with training leaders assigned to brand teams and not working cohesively as a group, they lacked a common vision and vernacular, as well as the structure needed to align to the strategy and implement it effectively. As a result, adoption of the disciplines of learning varied greatly across the group. Training leadership hired iQue Group to recommend and implement a solution to gain alignment on the strategy, boost its adoption, and help move the group to “One Training Team.”

Solution
iQue Group interviewed training team leaders to assess the need and identify key challenges, then developed and led a full-day, full-team interactive workshop that served the dual purposes of building a sense of team and creating alignment around the disciplines of the learning strategy. Participants worked in groups that each tackled a portion of the strategy, enabling them to create their future by defining how to leverage the strategy in their daily work and how to partner to move from the current state to the desired future state. Pull-through efforts were established to reinforce and practice the actions and behaviors begun in the workshop.

What our client had to say...
“The iQue Group workshop allowed our leaders and staff to collaborate and develop a sense of team that was lacking and hindering their effectiveness. Having them work together to define ways to turn our strategy into action was an important step in moving us to One Training Team. The workshop also helped gain buy-in and drive adoption of our strategy and its disciplines of learning, which is vital to our success. iQue Group developed a solution that brought our team together, began to change their mindsets, and is helping them keep the initiative alive in their daily work.”

Challenge
A large pharmaceutical company faced a demanding and continually changing ethical landscape, requiring employees to better understand their responsibilities for doing business with integrity. The Compliance Group asked iQue Group to help equip individual contributors and leaders/managers with the knowledge and insight to fulfill those responsibilities. The learning needed to be delivered globally within a specific timeframe.

Solution
eLearning was chosen as the delivery method to reach this audience. A general course was developed for all employees, reviewing the importance of compliance, the company’s commitment to an ethical culture, specific behaviors they are expected to engage in to ensure compliance and resources to help them. A second course was created to communicate additional responsibilities for leaders/managers. To ensure access for a global workforce, the individual contributors course was translated into 10 languages. The general course achieved a completion rate of 97% among 7,000 employees within the first six weeks, and the leaders course attained an 88% completion rate within the first month.

What our client had to say...
“I was impressed with how well iQue Group aligned the e-learning messaging with our culture and our overall compliance initiatives to create a seamless program. iQue Group first took the time to understand our business and then developed a high-quality product that really maps well with how our senior leadership is positioning our ethical culture.”

Challenge
Leadership within this client’s compliance department changed, and the new leadership recognized a critical need to redefine how employees viewed compliance. The goal was to move from being seen as a policing function to a service-oriented function. The group’s first major initiative was the implementation of a business ethics and integrity survey.

Solution
Building on the rebranding effort we undertook for this client several months before, iQue Group worked with the compliance department leadership to develop a campaign to proactively market and position the survey for maximum participation. The campaign included development of a three-minute trailer rolled out four weeks prior to the survey, positioning the essential role of integrity and compliance and its benefits for the company and employees. A 30-second trailer was rolled out the week before the survey as a reminder, and posters and cafeteria tent cards encouraged survey completion, with versions translated into 10 languages for use across company locations worldwide.

What our client had to say...
“The survey achieved a completion significantly higher than the industry average (this was provided directly from the company who administered the survey). We’ve directly attributed the high completion rate to the marketing efforts of our partner, iQue Group.”

Challenge
Our client, a leader in software development, was bringing on new clients faster than it could scale its training development and deliver strategy. Customer training was provided only for the most popular modules, and internal training was largely being ignored.

Solution
Working with the executive team, iQue Group first created a series of recommendations that served as the blueprint for the development and rollout of a corporate university for employees and external customers. The iQue Group team took a lead role in:
•  Securing the learning infrastructure necessary (LMS, virtual
    platform, development tools) to support internal training and
    customer training through an e-commerce portal
•  Providing mentorship to the newly created role of University Director
•  Identifying and securing off-the-shelf content to support the needs of
    internal employees
•  Developing both eLearning and virtual training for key modules of the client’s software

What our client had to say...
“iQue Group did a fantastic job in helping develop the overall vision, and then accelerated the execution of that vision faster than we ever expected. From the proposal until the executive sign-off, this project was completed with the highest level of quality. iQue Group was able to help us launch a successful university, and show immediate value for our internal and external clients.”

Challenge
As this engagement demonstrated, even an executive’s presentation style can be refined. Our client identified a need to improve the presentation skills of senior leaders in its Compliance & Payment Solutions group, which regularly present to the corporate executive team. Feedback on the effectiveness of these presentations was sometimes poor, leading our client to seek a remedy.

Solution
During a two-day retreat, iQue Group delivered two, one-day sessions that focused on delivering presentations to the executive team. These sessions were tailored to address the specific challenge identified, which was delivering concise and persuasive messaging.

What our client had to say...
“iQue Group led training sessions for our leadership team on how to make more powerful, engaging presentations. The results were immediate: Their presentations were more impactful and connected better with their audience, and they required less time in meetings. iQue Group continually provides the most highly qualified resources and effective solutions we couldn’t easily find on our own. They are client service-oriented professionals committed to helping our business, and I’ve been impressed with their work on every project we’ve engaged them for.”

Challenge
Working with iQue Group, our client (a large pharmaceutical company) identified a need to prepare its Managed Markets team of Account Directors, managers and other staff to better understand accounts through improved business acumen skills. The need was identified largely in response to specific customer feedback that “We want you to know our business better.”

Solution
As part of the overall curriculum, iQue Group identified an immediate need to train team members on the process of critical thinking when analyzing market data, so the Managed Markets team could provide a “value solution” to its customers. Team members attended a half-day workshop in which they ran a fictitious business using a complex, customized business simulation. Participants worked in teams to develop a business strategy, make key decisions, and evaluate those decisions to see the impact (both good and bad). Using complex algorithms, the simulation tool projected the health of the fictitious organizations for a five-year period.

What our client had to say...
“As a direct result of the Business Acumen Simulation, we were able to change the entire approach to strategic account selling within our managed care division. What an incredible achievement by all involved!”

Challenge
For several years this client has been using a performance management process that is highly customized in terms of policy, process and system, creating a complex, expensive process to maintain. Like many organizations in the current economic climate, this client was required to make significant cost reductions which were affecting IT and HR resources. As a result, the company needed to identify a simpler, nimbler, and more cost-effective approach to performance management – without the loss of functionality and overall program effectiveness.

Solution
This initiative focused on introducing consistency as well as streamlining the performance management process through the licensing of one corporate-wide system. It involved the creation of a full business case developed by iQue Group, an exhaustive analysis period including focus groups and one-on-one interviews, a review of five industry vendors, and a 45-page report outlining the findings and recommendations.

What our client had to say...
“We were ready to re-engineer our performance management system, but we didn’t have the available bandwidth in-house. So we were looking for a subject matter expert in performance management who was also experienced in helping organizations with re-engineering. At the same time, we needed a resource to help manage the change associated with moving to new vendors for our e-learning content. iQue Group didn’t just send us resumes; they engaged at the most critical times in the process – understanding our requirements, pre-qualifying candidates, and helping identify the best resource for our goals. The candidates were all high quality, with backgrounds that were right in line with our needs. iQue followed through at every stage, even participating in our kickoff meeting to be sure the project requirements were clear upfront. iQue is a trusted partner that focuses on our needs and provides strong business value.”

Challenge
Business Analysts in the pharmaceutical industry must routinely sift through a significant amount of data, define the trends and provide recommendations based on those trends. However, determining how to design and deliver presentations to senior leaders that quickly outline the essence of the message can be very difficult. This client asked iQue Group for help.

Solution
After clearly understanding the challenges of our client, iQue Group trained more than 200 participants on how to effectively engage their audience, even when presenting mounds and mounds of data-driven information. This one-day workshop focused on turning traditional messaging upside down, beginning with the most important message first, rather than “saving the best for last”.

What our client had to say...
“I have used iQue Group to deliver eight (8) different workshops with my internal stakeholders in which all surveys rated the workshop consistently much higher than the industry benchmark. More importantly, as a result of these workshops our Business Insight teams have been able to reduce the amount of time required to communicate actionable insights to senior-level executives by 50% which has enabled Leadership to focus more time on critical business needs.”