Useful Advices - Business

Have you ever asked yourself, what are the specific characteristics of a qualified prospect? What are the minimum pieces of information I need to know to determine if the potential for a sale exists? What pieces of information are required before you consider a prospect qualified?

Am I using a consistent sales system or process to successfully obtain the information needed? Here are 17 areas with questions you may want to ask yourself so you can create a qualified prospect profile also known as an Account Sales Profile(tm).

Basic Dem

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

ographics

Ask yourself "Which type of organization do I make the most money when I make a sale?" Is it a company with 10 employees or 100 employees? Does the company have over $10 million in gross sales or over $100 million in gross sales?

Are most of my customers in the Retail Industry or the Financial Industry? What types of organizations will provide the highest payoff in return for your limited amount of selling time?

In summary, what are the demographics of your most profitable accounts in terms of...

> Industry Verticals (suc

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

Examples of combination products may in

h as Software, Printing, Frozen Foods, etc.)

> Total Gross Sales

> Total Number of Employees

> Products, Services or Solutions

Business Practices

How does the account currently conduct business?

Where is Mr. Prospect now?

How did the Mrs. Prospect conduct business in the past?

What is the Mr. Prospect's future strategic direction?

Where does Mrs. Prospect want to be?

How does the Mr. Prospect plan to get there?

Needs, Problems, Challenges, Critical Business Issues, Pains or Drivers

Is there a perceived or unperceived need f

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

or your solution?

What are the needs, challenges or problems Mrs. Prospect facing?

What is keeping them up at night?

What is required to solve the problem and does your solution fit the bill?

Is Mr. Prospect actively searching for a solution, which you can provide?

Does Mrs. Prospect have any current or future business initiatives?

Has Mr. Prospect expressed an interest in what you have to offer?

Does Mrs. Prospect have a compelling business issue that needs to be solved?

Is Mr. Prospect using outdated products and services, wh

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

ich may need to be replaced?

Is there a need for a specific product or service but Mrs. Prospect can't afford the time or money or man hours to build their own solution?

Is Mr. Prospect using some type of solution and not yet seeing business results?

Is Mrs. Prospect starting to look at competitors?

Has a specific person been assigned to find a solution to a specific need?

Does your Mr. Prospect have a serious intention to buy or are they just being time wasters or tire kickers or a just send me something?

Time-frames

What are t

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

Combination pro

he time-frames for...

The RFI or RFP or RFQ (Request for Information, Proposal or Quote)

Evaluation period

Decision date

Roll-out of a pilot solution

Implementation of an enterprise wide solution

Budget

Does Mr. Prospect have a budget already set aside?

Can Mrs. Prospect get it from someone else's budget or next year's budget?

At what level are further sign-offs required? ($10,000, $50,000? 100,000?)

What amount is budgeted for a solution?

Is there a deadline where Mr. Prospect will lose the budget or funding (usually in sch

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

ools or government organizations)?

Good Fit

Does your solution make good business sense?

Can we establish an ongoing relationship?

Have you calculated the ROI (Return on Investment)?

What is the Net Payback Period or how fast will the solution pay for itself?

Have you created a cost justification (Cost over time versus Savings over Time)?

What would make them smile?

Is Mr. Prospect's business growing or is in or headed for trouble?

Has the account bought into the vision or proposed solution?

Can our solution help Mrs. Prospec

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

t produce tangible or measurable results to calculate a ROI?

Is there a fit with the current products and services in use or will additional products and services be required?

Is the Mr. Prospect willing take specific action(s) towards a solution?

Evaluation Criteria

What is the evaluation criterion, if any? Will they fax it to you?

Do you have a criterion you can provide them with?

The final decision is based on what factors?

Is there an agreement on what is important or what is of value?

Have evaluation criteria been defined?

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

Business Impact

What is the cost of inaction or taking the wrong action?

What are the consequences or penalties if the account does not take action by a certain date?

What is the cost of losing a customer?

What is the cost of acquiring a customer?

How much would an addition to the head count cost?

What is the cost of shopping cart abandonment in their web store?

What is the cost of additional training and the time spent away from the job while learning?

Have you calculated the cost of the business impact?

What does Mrs. Pros

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

pect personally stand to gain or lose if a solution is or is not implemented?

Processes

What are the exact evaluation, budgeting and decision-making processes?

Who does the negotiating?

What is negotiable and what is non-negotiable?

Who signs the final Agreement?

What are the payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, etc.)?

Is a purchase order required?

People

Who will be involved or influence the final decision?

This can be one or different individuals.

Is there an individual (or individuals) that understands the value of your product

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

or service, but has not found a good fit yet?

Have all the key stakeholders been identified and contacted?

Are you speaking with the correct contact, which, assuming you have the right solution, has the authority to buy?

Do you know how much authority Mr. Prospect has before further approvals are required?

Who are the decision-makers, evaluators, influencers, and end users of your potential solution?

Final Decision Maker(s) signs the check.

Motivation: What is the effect on our bottom line?

Evaluator(s) screens out and says no.

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

Following aspects would a

Motivation: What is the best solution that meets our needs?

Guide(s) want to help guide you through the process.

Motivation: I like your solution. How can I help you get your solution as the one chosen?

End User(s) are concerned about the effect on them and their job.

Motivation: Will it make my job easier or harder?

Initiator(s) want to look good.

Motivation: How can I show that I did a good job of gathering information?

Purchasing/Legal/Contracts are responsible for negotiating the terms and conditions.

Motivation: How can w

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

e get the most favorable terms and conditions for our company (i.e. additional discounts, extra technical support or consulting services, lower pricing, more training or extra sets of documentation, better payment terms, guarantees, etc.)?

Organizational Chart

What is the formal and informal organizational structure?

Who reports to whom?

Who influences whom?

Who are the counterparts, back-ups, peers and subordinates?

Who are the assistants?

Do you have all names and titles spelled correctly?

Do you have the correct street addre

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

ss (room, floor, suite, mail code, etc.),

e-mail addresses, fax numbers and extensions?

What are the responsibilities of each of your contacts?

Products and services

What types of products and services are currently in use?

Does the prospect have the necessary people, time, money and equipment in place or available to implement your solution?

Could the correct environment to support your solution be put in place?

Competition

What other companies are also being considered and why?

Who is favoring the other company's solution an

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

d why?

What is it Mrs. Prospect likes or dislikes about their current supplier?

If Mr. Prospect had a wish list and could have or change anything he wanted with their current or a potential supplier, what would be on the list?

Locations

Are decisions centralized (one location makes the decision for all locations) or decentralized (each location decides for themselves)?

How many locations, subsidiaries, partners, alliances and/or joint ventures are there and do we do business with any of them?

Is it possible to sell your solution

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

on an enterprise wide basis rather than a departmental or business unit basis?

Do any other locations have an existing relationship with your company, partners or affiliates?

Confidence

Does Mr. Prospect trust you?

Have you established credibility?

Does Mrs. Prospect know the company you represent?

Does Mr. Prospect believe you sincerely have their best interests at heart?

Does Mrs. Prospect have confidence in your company's ability to provide them with and support your solution that works?

Resources

Does Mr. Prospect have the

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

time and staff necessary to conduct an evaluation?

Does Mrs. Prospect have the time and staff necessary to prepare a cost justification?

Does Mr. Prospect have a budget available or access to discretionary funds?

Does Mrs. Prospect have the right physical environment for your solution?

What are the bare minimum requirements for your product or service to work?

Next Steps

After summarizing your conversation, follow up with a next step question such as:

"What's next?" or "What's the next step?"

"Where do we go from here?"

"If w

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

e had a solution that would help you do a better job than your current solution what is the process you go through to look at new solutions?"

"What do we need to do to move forward on this?"

What actions need to be taken by you and the prospect to get them to evaluate your solution?

Have you set up a Sales M.A.P. (Mutually Agreed upon Process(tm))?

What day and time do these actions need to be completed by?

What is the time-line or what are the milestones for moving the sale to its completion?

Next steps need to be time and date

.

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

specific. "I'll call you back next month" is not the same as "We'll speak next Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the merits of the proposal after you have had the opportunity to review it with your peers, correct?"

Examples of Next Steps

Do you have permission to send literature, an email or a fax while also setting a specific date and time to call to be sure the information is received and to answer questions or discuss the materials?

Is Mrs. Prospect willing to accept your proposal or do they want a demonstration or presen

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

tation?

Is a call required to answer or clarify any complex issues?

Are you in the habit of following a phone call with a fax or an email?

Do you follow a fax with a phone call or an email?

What about following an email with a phone call or a fax?

Conclusion

If you or your sales force has not defined the characteristics of a most profitable prospect, it is time to do so. Consistency of definitions and the use of a well-defined sales system result in qualified prospects that are well qualified and ready to buy what you are selling

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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