First, emulate others.

Ken Kawaguchi currently serves as a manager in charge of a large team of MRs. Today, he has a reputation of being able to win the trust of even the most difficult doctors, but even he had his time as a rookie. ‘In my first year, I would just try hard to do everything I was taught by the company. Kawaguchi is self-deprecating. ‘I’m sure the doctors were looking at me thinking, “Oh well, he’s new, so it can’t be helped.”‘ What he was particularly mindful of at that time was to “first, emulate others.” ‘I would observe my senior MRs in the company, as well as influential MRs at other manufacturers, and copy what they did. If I couldn’t ask those people personally, I would ask the doctors and the MSs what they thought were those people’s good points.’ This was how Kawaguchi took his first steps as an MR.

When he was assigned a hospital that Chugai Pharmaceutical had not been able to make any inroads into until then, Kawaguchi had a realization. ‘No matter what it takes, I have to build a relationship with the director of this hospital. After giving it some thought, I asked the MR of another company if I could sit in on a meeting and began with getting the director to remember my face.’ He also did not neglect the small considerations needed to build a relationship. ‘When talking to the doctors, I would try not to be too intrusive and I would watch the situation and step in at the right time. By repeating this approach, I was able to develop relationships that allowed me to have one-on-one meetings with the doctors.’ At the same time, Kawaguchi also approached another key person, the General Manager of the hospital’s pharmacy department. To build a relationship with that person, he sought the cooperation of someone from a completely different department in the company, who happened to have gone to school with the General Manager. After three years, he finally achieved his goal of having Chugai Pharmaceutical’s products adopted by that hospital.

Frontal attack.

Kawaguchi has continued with his efforts toward his goal of building relationships with the doctors and having the company’s products adopted. He says that, in those efforts, his favorite style of sales and marketing is the “frontal attack.” ‘I change my approach to suit individual doctors and medical institutions, but my favorite method is the frontal attack, in which I appeal to my target firmly with academic data about the drugs I am promoting. For example, when presenting information about a certain intravenous drug, I would use the evidence to persistently appeal to the doctors to pique their interest, and promote the product’s appeal by encouraging them to attend pharmaceutical events hosted by Chugai Pharmaceutical. Also, after they adopted our products, I would be sure to find out the doctors’ impressions of the product. When they would tell me a year later that their treatment success rates had increased by using this drug, I was filled with emotion.’

Kawaguchi has met many doctors over the years, but one doctor whom he will never forget belonged to a university hospital that jointly developed a new drug for rheumatoid arthritis with Chugai Pharmaceutical. ‘As an MR, I was not directly involved in the development of the new drug, but I often heard from the doctor how much hope the doctor was investing in this drug.’ This product was Japan’s first antibody drug, and the path to having it approved was a series of struggles. On the day that approval was granted, Kawaguchi exchanged an excited handshake with that doctor. ‘Because that doctor had such passionate feelings toward the patients, I was often scolded. If I offered up information based on understanding that was even a little shallow, I would be found out straightaway and some harsh words would come back to me. The times when I became aware of the drive of the doctors in their earnest dealings with their patients were the times when I grew the most as an MR.’

Praising my subordinates.

Kawaguchi has many anecdotes from his time as a working MR. Now, as a manager, he is working hard on the cultivation of large numbers of MRs. In that position, he is thorough in his follow-up role, saying, ‘Instead of me standing out front, my role is to push my members forward and improve their abilities.’ There are some moments that make him particularly happy. ‘When I accompany my subordinates to meetings and the doctors praise them and thank them, saying things like ‘He always tries very hard’ or ‘She is always thinking of the patients when she talks,’ it makes me just as happy as if I was the one being praised. At times like that, I feel proud of my team. It is the ultimate happiness of a boss.’ As he casts his warm glance toward the members of his team, Kawaguchi is steadily developing his abilities in his position of boss.

We asked the members of his team for their impressions of Kawaguchi. ‘Mr. Kawaguchi is warm and easy to approach.’ ‘He is meticulous in his work. He is someone who wins trust immediately just by standing in front of the doctors.’ Kawaguchi’s team appear to look on him with respect. Kawaguchi loves to go out eating and drinking with his team. However, he is apparently not such a big drinker... ‘My team members are all young and can hold their drink well. I love partying with them and if they invite me, I will be sure to drop in, but as they are all getting fired up, I will be off at the side starting to doze off. They tell me I need to learn to hold my drink better.’ Kawaguchi, who looks like he has not a single chink in his armor, has a surprising weakness.

*The contents of this article, and the divisions that the people featured in this article belonged to and the names of those divisions are current as of the time of the interview.