Useful Advices - Business

This time of year we hear a lot from our customers about their focus on renewing accounts. This focus takes different forms based on where the client is vis-?-vis their annual revenue goals (for simplicity, let’s assume that all, not most, fiscal years line up with the calendar).

For tho

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

se who are fortunate, and are exceeding their goals, this focus is on how to maximize relationships, and use renewals to take things to the next levels. In fact some VP’s we speak with are closely looking at their clients and actively “firing” their least productive accounts. This could b

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

Examples of combination products may in

based on margins, high demand on resources and maintenance and other reasons, all with a view of creating capacity to help their sales reps focus on those prospects and clients that will deliver mutual benefit to the company and the reps’ success.

For others the reality is very differen

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

, renewal of key accounts is a double whammy. Some, like one account we encountered, were looking good towards the end of Q3. Based on the mid-September forecast, they would be at about 106% of goal at the end of September. They got there by getting some, but not many, new accounts, while

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

growing some existing ones. But over the years they fell into a pattern of assuming that a large percentage of renewals happen in the last six weeks of the year. They had come to think of the pattern of as their sales process. Their culture condoned ignoring existing accounts till October

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

Combination pro

when they would gear up for the six week “renewal run” (their words, not ours).

September 27th the bomb hit, a significant account gave their cancellation notice in order to avoid the 90 day evergreen clause in the contract. They closed the quarter at 97%. This wasn’t just because of th

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

one account, but it had an impact on morale beyond the one account. Doubts and insecurities intensified as the pressure to “close” accounts grew.

A familiar battle cry was heard from the managers: “you need to prospect more”. But consider that one study showed that “47% of executives sa

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

the sales teams allow leads to fall through the cracks”. The cancellation had a broader impact than just that one account, significant as it was. Based on history, most of the accounts that did renew during the “renewal run”, usually did not increase their contract, a few did, while othe

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

s simply cancelled; the end result was usually a 93% renewal rate.

Their close ratio for new accounts was generally average, a problem many companies face, “53% of executives say their sales forces perform worse than or only as well as their industry peers”. All tolled, with a weak pipel

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

ne and time running out, looks like another “almost” year.

In many ways this is better than the other whammy, those companies that are at say 85% of goal going into November, and then fail to renew some of their accounts, lost! There are ways to avoid this cycle, but it takes effort and

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

iscipline many sales organizations are not willing to apply.

We have all heard sales people tell prospect “our success is based on relationships, for us the hard work begins after you sign”, and at the time they are saying they are not intentionally lying, they just don’t follow through

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

Following aspects would a

roperly.

While companies regularly send welcoming notes or letters to new clients, few sales people do. And while today sending an e-mail is easy, many don’t even do that. To truly stand out we recommend a hand written note acknowledging their decision and trust in you; that personal tou

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

h communicates so much.

Often sales people forget that the person who bought their offering is often not the end user, yet they continue to focus solely on that one person, casting the end user to customer service, without a proper hand off. While many don’t mean to, they end up taking t

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

e end users for granted, failing to appreciate the influence they will have at the time of renewal. A small amount of effort at this stage could lead to a different experience for those users.

Many companies have implemented a formal account reviews with their clients. Some do a great jo

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

, using the opportunity to have a frank and open discussion with “all” the client, not just the initial buyer. They are open to hearing clients’ issues, getting feedback that would make the user experience more satisfactory, and as a result improve their product for all their customers. T

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

ese meetings are an opportunity to share with clients upcoming product initiatives and upgrades, again getting feedback as valuable as any research they may buy.

But there still too many sales organizations that use these meetings to sell, sell, sell, dumping dumping, dumping; data about

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

usage with no context of value or satisfaction; dumping specs about new feature, and well, in a word, dumping. Looking at the event as an obligatory chore to meet some KPI, rather than an opportunity to really strengthen their relationship with their clients.

Use of the companies CRM can

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

not only facilitate the above, but make it easy for a rep to truly stay on top of an account. Using entries captured by other parts of the company, customer service, parts, tech support, etc., as reason to reach out to their clients. These can be very simple things, but will allow you to

.

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

onfirm their satisfaction and needs, while showing them the same "love" they did during the buying process.

There are other things that come in to play, but at the end, renewal is selling. It involves a process, it has a start, an information gather phase, presenting, and winning the bus

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ness. Just as you can’t show up and get the sale, you can’t just show up an get the renewal. You have to set objectives, focus on the clients objective and put in the work.

To learn more about selling and renewing better, and about Objective Based Selling, contact us at info@sellbetter.c

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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