Head of U.S. Pharma at ZS Associates Named One of Consulting Magazine's Top
25 Consultants of 2010

-- Chris Wright recognized for helping drive a shift in pharmaceutical sales strategies --

EVANSTON, Ill., June 8 /CNW/ -- Chris Wright, managing principal and leader of the U.S. pharmaceutical practice at global management consulting firm ZS Associates, was named one of the top 25 consultants of 2010 by Consulting Magazine. Wright was recognized for helping the pharmaceutical industry eliminate more than $500 million of annual selling costs by changing the way prescription drugs are "promoted" to physicians in the United States.

"It's an honor to be named one of the top consultants of the year," said Wright, who has more than 20 years of experience dealing with sales and marketing issues that affect the pharmaceutical and health care industries. "This award is a testament to the entire ZS global pharmaceutical practice's efforts to help the industry overcome its many challenges, including patent expirations, price pressures and market access restrictions. It also is a tribute to the support and counsel of my fellow consultants at ZS Associates who lead the practice areas that serve multiple industries and clients across the world."

ZS Study Guides New Sales Deployment Strategy

Faced with a situation where pharmaceutical sales representatives were expressing that they could not gain access to many doctors, while their first line managers - with no data to substantiate the sales reps' claims - were telling them simply to try harder, Wright helped create AccessMonitor. This proprietary study showed companies for the first time which physicians are more likely to meet with sales representatives and which are not. Armed with this data, Wright helped develop a new sales force deployment strategy called "differential resourcing."

Differential resourcing matches sales resources to local conditions and is more flexible than conventional, "one-size-fits-all" selling models. Unlike traditional, national sales team-based models, differential resourcing allows companies to adapt to subtle market changes - even those that involve an individual physician's willingness to meet with sales representatives. The approach represents a new way of equipping salespeople in a manner that reduces sales force expenditures and unproductive time without compromising physician relations or sales.

"Chris Wright is an established thought-leader who has consistently developed innovative solutions to client problems," said Jaideep Bajaj, managing director of ZS Associates. "The pharmaceutical industry faces several challenges today and Chris' compelling 'differential resourcing' strategy has not only helped companies reduce their sales force-related costs by as much as 20 percent, but is quickly becoming standard practice in the industry."

About ZS Associates

ZS Associates is a global management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing consulting, capability building and outsourcing. Founded in 1983, the firm today is comprised of four affiliated legal entities with more than 1,300 professionals. Based out of 19 global offices, ZS consultants have worked with more than 700 clients across 70 countries.

As one of the largest global consulting firms focused on sales and marketing, ZS Associates has experience across a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical products and services, financial services, transportation and high-tech. ZS consultants combine deep expertise in sales and marketing with rigorous, fact-based analysis to help business leaders develop and implement effective sales and marketing strategies.

For more information on ZS Associates, call [phone] or visit www.zsassociates.com.

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Chris Wright

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For further information: Greg Austin of ZS Associates, [phone], [email protected]; or Anahita Wadia, [email protected], or Mack Reynolds, [email protected] , both of The Reynolds Communications Group, [phone], Ext. 104, 105, for ZS Associates Web Site: http://www.zsassociates.com