Useful Advices - Business

There’s perhaps nothing in the selling profession that is more rewarding and personally fulfilling than to take a customer away from the competition. And in addition to the way picking up a new customer makes you feel, it doesn’t

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

hurt your pocketbook, either.

So if prospecting can be so much fun, why don’t salespeople these days do more of it? Why are so many of even veteran salespeople so firmly stuck in an existing customer rut?

I believe the answer is

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

Examples of combination products may in

partly because the effort to professionally prospect for new business is darn difficult and time consuming and partly because too many salespeople are content with their current income levels.

But I believe that there is another r

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

eason: Sales managers don’t require their sales forces to prospect. I believe a certain amount of prospecting should be a condition of employment for every sales force.

BENEFITS OF PROSPECTING

1. Market intelligence: There’s

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

o better way to find out the intimate details of competitors’ service levels than to call on your competitors’ customers.

So on every prospect call ask one or two key questions to find out how your company stacks up against the co

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

Combination pro

petition. Over the years, I have learned a lot about the art of asking good questions from Art Sobczak, author of the popular monthly newsletter, Telephone Selling Report (800-326-7721). Sobczak describes The Fundamentals of Ques

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

tion Types:

Open-Ended

These get feelings, ideas and emotions -- not one or two-word answers. Often begin questions with "how," "what," "why."

For example: "How do you like to schedule deliveries?"

Or, "What do you do when…?"

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

Closed

These elicit one or two-word answers. Their best use is to get specific information. Not recommended for frequent use since they’re conversation-killers.

"What is the size of one of your typical orders?"

Add-On/Layerin

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

g Questions

Responding to what the prospect said with other questions designed to prompt them to continue speaking. For example:

"Oh?"

"Then what happened?"

Parrot Questions

Repeating, as a question, what he or she just said.

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

"You’re having a problem getting on time deliveries? How do you mean exactly?"

Instructional Statements

You’re not asking for information, you’re telling them to give it to you.

"Tell me more,"

"Give me some idea of…"

"Pleas

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

tell me…"

"Please explain…"

When you use these questions, make sure that you know where you’ll go when you get answers.

Building professional relationships. I know of no better way to establish a professional relationship with

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

Following aspects would a

prospects you are not currently selling than to make prospecting calls on them. One of the main keys is to a successful prospect call is bringing your prospects some information that will help them be more successful.

An example

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

"I attended a conference last weekend and heard an expert present an economic forecast for this market. One of the most insightful statements he made was…"

If the prospect shows interest, end the visit by asking: "Would you lik

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

e for me to make you a copy of his handout?"

Avoid saying something like, "Tell you what I’ll do, I’ll make you a copy of his handout and bring it by."

If you put your offer in the form of a question, and the prospect answers, ye

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

, you’re then in a position to in essence to do him a favor.

Discover opportunities. While on prospect calls, keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when you’ll discover an opportunity to supply a special need the prospect

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

s current supplier is not able to fulfill.

At one of my seminars recently, a salesperson told me that while on a prospect call the prospect asked him, "Do you guys have a special order department? I’m having a heck of a hard time

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

finding a reliable supplier."

New business: Perhaps the best reason to insist that your salespeople make prospect calls is to make sure that your company is in control of its destiny. When one or more exiting customers slow dow

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

, have their credit suspended or go out of business, it’s awfully nice to have already built a strong relationship with a prospect to keep your sales moving forward.

Try this: Sit down with your sales force and identify several c

.

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

reditworthy prospects and assign them to your salespeople and agree on a game plan. Then follow up with them each month and check on the progress each salesperson is making. This process will make you a better sales manager and y

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ur salespeople will become better.

For more information on Bill Lee's Gross Margin book and his newest book, 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot, go to www.BillLeeOnLine.com. Or call 800-808-0534 to order via voice mail

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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Useful Advices - Prospecting for New Business: Selling at Its Finest

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