Advice You - Business

What is one of the greatest ways to add value to your business? Nope, it's not giving away free merchandise, offering special discounts, or even creating a preferred customer club. One of the most valuable commodities that you can provide your customers is INFORMATION.

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

Think about it. In this s

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

ociety, we are faced with an overwhelming sense of information OVERLOAD. There is so much "junk" out there cluttering up the landscape that it can be hard to find the one bit of data that is really useful to you. How many times have you gone onto the internet or searched through the database at your local library fo

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

Examples of combination products may in

one very specific piece of information -- only to come up with hundreds or thousands of documents that are completely unrelated to the topic at hand? All of this informational garbage has become known as DATA SMOG, and it clutters up our heads as much as atmospheric smog clogs up our air.

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?

As

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

a business owner, this is where you can really be of service to your clients. It doesn't matter if you sell life insurance or organize people's offices or prepare wills -- you can be a valuable RESOURCE to your clients. Just listen the next time that you are talking with one of your customers -- you will recognize a

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

lot of comments that indicate a NEED. When you hear things like, "I'm having a problem with…" or "I wish I could find a good…" or "I really could use some help with…" you are hearing an opportunity to help someone out.

WHY SHOULD I GET INVOLVED?

So what difference does it make if my client needs legal help or is l

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

Combination pro

ooking for a good place to buy a used filing cabinet? That's not my business! Well, maybe not -- but you will immediately gain CREDIBILITY in your client's eyes. You are no longer seen as a mercenary business owner who is only interested in making the next sale. You are now a generous, caring person who goes out of

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

is or her way to make sure all of your client's needs are taken care of. You have developed a rapport with your customers, and they will reward you with their LOYALTY -- as well as referrals to other potential clients. And it takes very little time or effort to locate a resource for your clients, as you will see a l

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

ittle later on.

GET TO KNOW YOUR CLIENTS

It's much easier to serve as a resource to your clients if you get to know them PERSONALLY. Ask about how their families are doing, what's happening in their businesses, and what new projects they've gotten involved in since the last time you spoke. The more you get your cl

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

ents to open up, the more likely they are to mention a need that you can help them solve. And it's amazing how easy it is to get people to talk about THEMSELVES if you just ask -- it's most people's favorite subject!

MAKE NOTES

You might be thinking to yourself, "There's no way I can remember all of these 'needs'

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

that each of my clients has!" And you are probably right -- unless you use some sort of a TRACKING SYSTEM for keeping notes about your customers. I always take a pad of paper with me to appointments for recording these "resource-related" to-do's. That way, when I get back to my office, I can respond quickly to my cl

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

ent's requests. Try to get into the habit of setting aside just a few minutes each day to take care of your "resource duties" -- just like you would do with making phone calls or returning e-mails or any other MARKETING activity. Because that's what this kind of customer care is -- marketing both you and your busine

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

Following aspects would a

ss.

SEARCH THE WEB

I find that, as a fairly computer-savvy individual, I have a talent that can benefit my less technically-inclined clients a great deal -- I know how and where to look for things on the INTERNET. When one of my clients mentions needing administrative help or a personal coach or even a good place

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

o buy shelving, I can find an online resource for them quickly and easily. Rather than telling my customers, "I'm sure you can find this on the web," I send them an e-mail with LINKS to the appropriate sites. This not only helps my clients find the products and services they need, but I come out of it looking like a

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

real hero.

DO YOU ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT CLIENT SUGGESTIONS?

It doesn’t do any good to ask for a client’s feedback if it’s just going to get pitched into a file or left in your e-mail in-box. You actually have to move that idea into some form of ACTION -- clarify (or even change) your policies, implement a new follow

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

up program, offer specially-priced sale packages, make an addition to your marketing materials -- whatever it takes to keep your customer happy. And when you do follow-through with a bit of client feedback, be sure to send that customer a letter. Tell them how much you appreciated their opinions, and point out how y

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

ou have put their suggestions into action. You will always come across as a hero.

CLIP AND SEND

I love flipping through a catalog, magazine, or newspaper and coming across something that I know a client of mine can use. I don't go out of my way to subscribe to tons of extra PERIODICALS -- I just keep an eye out fo

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

interesting subjects in my everyday reading. But if you have clients who always seem to need help in a specific area -- finances or technology or parenting -- you might consider getting a few additional SUBSCRIPTIONS (and count it as a business expense!) I've sent clients articles on everything from caring for elde

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

rly parents to creating a business plan, and I'm always clipping pages from catalogs that have new and interesting organizing products that meet a particular client's needs. It takes only a few minutes to tear a page out and pop it into an envelope, but the impression you make lasts forever!

MAKE CONNECTIONS

Final

.

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

y, one of the easiest ways to serve as a resource for your clients is through NETWORKING. As you network, you will meet people in other fields who might be of use to your clients down the road. Remember, you never know what kinds of products and services your clients might require -- and the more people you get to k

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

now outside of your own industry, the more likely you are to say, "Hey, I know someone who does that!" when a client mentions a need. Nothing feels better than successfully connecting two people who can be of service to each other -- and in the process, you create two loyal sources of REFERRALS for your own business

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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One of the greatest ways to advertise if your company has company vehicles on the road is to shrink wrap the entire vehicle with an advertisement or a picture. There are of course challenges to shrink wrapping an entire vehicle and there are some pretty big costs compared to conventional vehicle advertising.

Recent events like the Enron disaster have left hitherto unconcerned employees worried, and they have now begun asking questions about their benefit plans and filing lawsuits if they do not receive satisfactory answers. Fiduciaries and companies are being frequently dragged to court over actions resulting from their employee benefit plans. A well-thought-out employee benefit plan thus has become an important recruiting and retention tool.

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