Useful Advices - Business

Usually salespeople are the ones with the bad reputation, but sometimes customers get it, too. Ever heard the saying, “buyers are liars”? Ever said it yourself?

Maybe you’ve used this phrase to describe customers who have “cheated” you out of a sa

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

le. The customer says they want one thing, and it turns out that they really wanted another. Before you could figure it out, the sale was gone. You complain and whine about the lost sale. It was the customer’s fault! Right?!

Sob Story

I

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

Examples of combination products may in

goes something like this:

A young couple walks into your furniture store, looking for a new couch. They want a cream colored loveseat with a hideaway bed. You show them all of the couches that come close to their requirements, but they don’t like

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

any of them.

You are expecting a new shipment of furniture to arrive at your store in the next few weeks, so you ask the couple for their contact information.

When the shipment arrives, you see a couch that you think the couple will love. When you

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

call them, you’re surprised to hear that they have already found a new couch. You’re even more surprised to hear the couch’s description: a full-sized blue couch with built in recliners.

You hang up the phone angry. You had plenty of the couches

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

Combination pro

ike the one that the couple eventually bought, but you never thought to show those types of couches to them.

“They lied to me! If I had known what they really wanted, I could have gotten the sale!”

Well, you’re almost right – if you had known what

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

they really wanted, you could have gotten the sale; but you’re wrong to blame this on the customer.

“But, Tom, my customers weren’t telling me the truth!”

But YOU weren’t doing your job!

YOU are the Reason Your Customer “Lies”

You are NEVE

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

R entitled to a sale – no matter how much time and energy you have invested into it. As a professional salesperson, you are only compensated when you successfully deliver value to your customer. It is YOUR job to convince the customer that your com

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

any and product are worth their business. The customer owes you NOTHING.

Sales aren’t lost when buyers don’t fully explain what they really need; sales are lost when the salesperson fails to ask intelligent, engaging questions to discover what the

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

ustomer needs.

Instead of blaming customers and whining over lost sales, take responsibility and make some changes! You could get the sales you want if you learned how to ask smart questions that identify your customer’s needs and help you connect

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

ith your customers on a personal level. If you don’t understand why your customers are really buying, how can you present them with the answers and solutions they are looking for?

What makes a great question?

Get over your belief that custo

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

Following aspects would a

mers need to be educated. Buyers don’t want to be educated; they want answers and solutions. Your questions should allow your customers to educate YOU on why they buy.

Asking limiting questions like, “What color couch are you looking for?” will le

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

d to responses that are just as limited. A great, intelligent question is one that is followed by a pause. It makes the buyer stop and think before answering. These types of questions let the customer answer on their own terms, instead of yours, a

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

d will reveal their motivation for buying.

Smart questions also separate you from your competition. It makes your buyers say, “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before!” Unique, thought-provoking questions give your customers a great reason to re

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

spect you. When customers respect you and your sales practices, they’ll be more truthful, giving you insight into the determining factors that will lead to the sale.

Ultimately, a great question helps you understand and connect with your customers.

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

It helps you discover your customers’ true motives so that you can find the perfect solution for them. Finally, it saves you from the frustration and misunderstanding that comes from a lost sale.

How do your questions rate?

Write down the

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

uestions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?

Ask yourself if they:

1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?

2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?

3.

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

Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?

4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?

5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?

6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for

.

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

their prospective purchase?

7. Elicit truths and motives?

8. Separate you from your competition?

It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers and help them find the solutions to their problems. This task

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

is impossible without the use of great questions. With the right question, you can understand your customers’ motives, create an atmosphere that is unmatched by your competition, and, thankfully, never have to whine about your customers’ lying again

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 no-hassle, effecient, and friendly return policy will increase customer loyalty at a time when lines can be long and nerves can get frayed. This is an opportunity to show how good your company is!

I was driving down to one of my clients recently, on a lovely summer’s day, listening to Michael Gerber who is one of the worlds leading experts on small business. To be honest, I was only half listening, when suddenly he said something that made me ‘prick my ears up’.

8 steps for an effective direct mail marketing campaign. Effecting direct marketing can significantly increase growth and revenues for your business. Follow 8 steps that can drastically improve the effect of your direct mail marketing campaign.

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