Useful Advices - Business

I was a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages for 25 years. I went through a six-week course designed to give me all the tools necessary to achieve success. It began with an overview of the six step sales procedure that is common in one form or another in most sales organizations.

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

In case your particular selling group is not in the loop or somehow missed this basic technique, I’ll try to recreate what goes on and into it. Here they are, in order: FYI: I have also written a separate article describing each, in more detail.

(1) PREPARATION: This is the what g

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

oes on before the sales call. It’s where you research the account prior to a sale. If you don’t you might end up way over your head. What is needed is an outline and some general knowledge of the company regarding whom they were calling. With the advent of the Internet, this is ine

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

cusable. The ability to research a specific company or industry has become as easy as clicking a mouse. In my day, I had to read journals, look in the phone book, or ask around to get even a glimmer of information. But I would arm myself with whatever was available before entering

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

the business.

(2) THE “ICR”: Assuming you have made an appointment to see the client or customer, or you are about to try to make a sale over the phone, you must begin with an ICR or “interest creating remark.” It’s the very first thing you say after you’ve introduced yourself and

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

your company. Often times, its sets the mood for the entire structure of the sales call. Depending on what you’re selling, the ICR can be very powerful. Here are a few examples:

Can you spare five minutes to make $10,000?

I noticed that you firm is allowing it’s biggest competito

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

r an unfair advantage.

Do you know where you are wasting money the fastest?

(3) FACT-FINDING: You can help control the early part of the sales call by doing your fact-finding right up front. If your get the Q & A out of the way, the call will go smoother. It accomplishes a few th

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ings. First, the business person will feel you have a genuine interest in their company. It shows you are concerned and it shows you can absorb what is said. I always had a memo pad open and made copious notes. Even if it was just gibberish, it made the customer think what they we

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

e telling me was important. Many times I would uncover a gem or point I could relate to later in the call.

(4) THE PRESENTATION: In order to get the sale, you have to make the presentation. Whether it’s selling a line of shoes, tires, or insurance, you will be putting your proverb

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ial cards on the table. It’s the show and tell portion of the sale. Over a period of 25 years, I saw an average of 300 customers a year when I was a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages. That’s 7500 sales calls and therefore 7500 sales presentations. I learned a lot about what to

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

do and what not to do. One suggestion is, don’t end the sales call with, “What do you think?” Instead, make a strong sales statement. You should end with assertions that assume the sale is made. You might try: “You must agree this is just perfect for your company” or “You can see w

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

e’ve thought of everything you could need. How many do you want to order?”

(5) OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS: When I first started with the Yellow Pages, we were given a list of the 100 most popular objections and some typical possible answers. We were supposed to memorize this list which

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

was somewhat impractical. We were told to keep it with us. I couldn’t imagine that the customer that had just told me it was too expensive would wait for me to scan the list to find the appropriate response. Here are the main objections: It’s too expensive. It doesn’t suit ou

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

needs. We are going out of that business. We already have a good source. We are gong a different direction. I’m retiring next year. I can I trust you to do what you say? You competitor prices are lower. We only buy from minority-owned businesses. We don’t like long-term contrac

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ts. My account says to cut back. We’re in a recession. We’ve already spend our budget for the year. Overcoming objections is as simple as changing the perspective. If they told me that direct mail was cheaper, I would tell them that our product covered a larger base and reach

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

d more potential customers for far less per 1000. Focus on the positive aspects of the products.

(6) THE CLOSE: This is when one asks for the sale. It follows a terrific presentation and assumes that you had overcome all the main objections. It’s the point where there is nothing l

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

eft to say except, “Can I get your signature on this contract?” Okay, not exactly like that, but it means that you feel the customer is ready to buy what you have offered. But there are exceptions to every rule. If, after you have covered the other five steps and there are too many

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

objections you can’t control or answer, you have another option. You can back out of the call before the close. There were many times that I felt uncomfortable and decided to abandon the meeting and asked if I could come back at a later date. You could say, “I can see you still h

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ve a few questions but we’ve run out of time. Can we meet again?” or “I would love to show you another idea for your business at a second meeting.” Use your own judgment and decide what’s best for you and your customer.

If you are curious about how I sold and how I was a top perfo

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

rmer for 25 years as a Yellow Page consultant, you can visit my website at www.poweradbook.com and learn more. You can then order one of Amazon’s best-selling books about the Yellow Page industry, my life in the publishing business, and the art of selling, and designing better ads

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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A rule of thumb is that idea generation and motivation are inversely proportional to the number of layers between creator and decision maker. So if an individual has to push the idea past one gatekeeper, then:

CONTENT IS KING! In the world of Online Marketing, you know that without content, you have nothing. So, are you constantly developing new content? In this article I discuss Method 4 of the 4 main strategies for developing fresh new content that will keep your customers coming back to you again and again!

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