HIRC's Account Manager Performance report benchmarks 40+ leading pharmaceutical account management teams based on managed care customer evaluations of account manager skills and overall quality. The report provides insights into critical account manager success factors, as well as customer perspectives and expectations. The full report addresses the following questions:

• Which very large, large, and mid-size firms rank highest in account manager presence and quality?
• How do manufacturers benchmark across ten core and consultative competencies?
• Which core and consultative skills are most important for account managers to demonstrate? What opportunities exist for improvement?
• How do pharmaceutical firms benchmark in engagement and quality ratings across health plan pharmacy director, health plan medical director, and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) managed markets segments?

Key Finding: the best account managers excel in both core and consultative skills. Leading account managers are described as ethical, candid, and truthful, and they understand and advocate for managed care customers' needs.

Novo Nordisk Ranks Highest in Account Manager Quality and Presence Across Managed Markets Segments. Novo Nordisk and Novartis earn the highest overall account manager presence and quality scores across managed markets panels. Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis Oncology lead the large manufacturer segment, and Genzyme and UCB Pharma lead among mid-sized firms.

HIRC calculated manufacturers' overall account manager managed markets score based upon customer evaluations of account managers in two key categories: 

• Presence: Ability to rate the account manager.
• Quality: Overall quality of the account manager.

The full report provides scores in overall presence and quality for the complete listing of 40+ firms.

Top Account Teams Excel in Both Core and Consultative Competencies.  In addition to overall presence and quality, HIRC examined account manager performance ratings across ten critical core and consultative account manager skills. On average, account managers perform well in core competencies such as being ethical, candid and truthful and by providing exceptional follow-up and responsiveness. However, the highest ranked account managers set themselves apart by excelling in key consultative skills, such as demonstrating an understanding of health plans' priorities and advocating for their needs.

Account teams from Merck and Novo Nordisk consistently lead in performance across the top three most important core and consultative skills. The full report details account manager performance for 40+ pharmaceutical manufacturers. Additionally, benchmark data is segmented by the following: 

• Commercial Health Plan Pharmacy Directors
• Commercial Health Plan Medical Directors
• Pharmacy Benefit Managers/Key Decision-Makers