Useful Advices - Business

For many of us the thought of picking up the telephone means that we suddenly become distracted by a million and one mundane things that you desperately need to do! Tidy the desk. Sort through the Inbox. Do that filing. In fact anything, rather than pick up the telephone, but by following a few simple guidelines you can take the cold out of cold

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

calling.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter The following is an approach that will enable you to put the right proposition, to the right person, at the right time, and achieve the right results. Planning

Initially you need to establish the list of companies you would like to call, but don’t worry if you don’t have contact names at this point.

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

Examples of combination products may in

Next, plan when you will carry out the session. This is important as it will help you to get mentally prepared for it, but you must also make sure you won’t get interrupted. I used to stick a note to the back of my chair that read: ‘Warm calling in progress please do not disturb until 12 noon’! I do have other tips to help you deal with the physiolo

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

gy and psychology of cold calling that I will cover in another article.

Qualification

Asking the right qualification questions can save you an awful lot of time and money if done properly. You or your marketing department may believe that the companies on your database are the right size, in the right geographic region and in the right sect

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

rs, but bought in data is often out of date. No database I have ever seen or worked has been up-to-date. In fact, I strongly believe that all data, information, and knowledge – has a shelf life!

So, what you need to do initially, is check the facts and make sure none of your potential customers have gone into sheep farming (unless, of course you su

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

Combination pro

pply sheep farmers with wellies). Other things change, companies downsize, right size, specialise, and unfortunately, sometimes go out of business! Direct these questions to the receptionist, general admin or maybe PA to the person you may ultimately want to speak with. Why? At this stage you could only pitch a generic proposition – just like the 15

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

callers that failed before you and you may not know who in the company has a problem you can solve.

You also need to be asking some other key questions at this early stage to establish if this could be a good account for you. For example, a computer support company may ask: ‘Do you have an IT Manager?’ As the companies who do have one in place, ar

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

more likely to recognise the benefit of what you are selling. Is their somebody providing the products and services that you’re company provides? If they do, great! This will tell you that the company understands the value of what you provide. More often than not, sales people will ask about the competition when it is too late, or you find out that

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

you have been used so that the customer could get a better price from the incumbent. How often have you asked about competition at proposal stage and the buyer/decision maker won’t tell you?

Being armed with some key questions that you can ask, as well as, knowing that you probably won’t have to pitch to a buyer at this stage, should give you 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

confidence to pick up the telephone.

I struggle with the ‘elevator pitch’ idea, as you can’t get thrown out of a moving elevator going up 20 floors, but somebody can put the telephone down in just 3 seconds! What I do believe, more so in today’s fast paced society, that a series of adapted sound bites work best. So, at this early stage of calling,

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

ou will need to have a sound bite outlining what you offer, you need to give something to get something in return. An example of what I might say is, ‘We help companies to improve their business performance, through the implementation of practical programmes, which achieve more predictable sales results’. Could you help me by telling me how many sal

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

Following aspects would a

es people you have, and whether or not you sell direct?

Once you have confirmed, by asking a series of key questions, that the company could become a customer at some stage you then move on to the next stage in the process.

Gathering Information

Knowledge is power!

Wow, what a statement. But, knowledge is only power if you use it quickly

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

and wisely, before it goes out of date or somebody uses it before you! So, you now know that ABC Company could potentially buy from you, but how do they engage with suppliers? Do they have a need right now? What is the process they go through to buy? What is the organisation structure? Who is feeling a pain that you can solve? All good questions, bu

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

t don’t go straight to the potential decision maker to ask these type of questions. You need to identify who else in the companies that you sell to could answer these questions and then get asking. As you move around the organisation you will start to get a better of picture of what is going on. By mentioning that you have spoken to Fred in accounts

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

you may get a warmer reception and more information from Brenda the sales administrator. What is on top of the MD’s priority list. How do you find this out? Ask the MD’s PA, they are there to support and help the MD and if they can help solve one of their boss’s problems through something you provide, then they will help you. So-called Gatekeepers

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

rule okay!

Other places to find information, company web site, press releases, magazines & journals, trade associations, online tools like OneSource and Hoovers, Google searches and many, many more.

Next stage.

Clarification

Check, check and double check information that you have been told and uncovered. Not that I am saying the people wo

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

uld go out of their way to lead you astray, but sometimes people will guess, assume and outright blag! Blagging is a word, Thomas Power used it page 13, Chapter 5, of his networking book!

So, check the facts and you will often be pleasantly surprised at what else you discover.

Final stage.

Execution

No, this doesn’t mean shooting people,

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

t’s against the law – I checked!

At this stage, you should have qualified that this company could buy off you. You will have a better understanding of who and how the company goes about buying your products or services and also if you have competition. You will know if somebody is dealing with an issue or has a need you can fulfil. You are now in a

.

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

position to make what I call a ‘Warm Call’. You will be able to deliver sound bites that will press the hot buttons of the buyer, you should be able to relate to their issues and provide a very brief verbal case study of how you have helped somebody else solve the same or similar problem. They will appreciate the fact that you have bothered to take

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

a look at their company and have some understanding of their challenges. You may not be their hero, yet, but they shouldn’t slam the telephone down on you.

The end result should mean that you spend more time in front of people you can help. At the same time you will maximise your selling time and your sales results.

Written By John Bancroft

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 - Cold Calling Tips - How to Generate Sales Leads

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