Advice You - Business

Every last detail has been attended to and you’re standing in the front of your trade show display waiting for the show to open. Are you ready or will it just be another exercise in futility?

Let’s take a look at what c

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

an happen.

The first day starts off like a house fire and some of your best, long-term customers come by to see what’s new (and believe me, they’ll be scouting out what’s new with the competition as well). You have a go

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

Examples of combination products may in

od visit with these customers but now they’re gone and the prospects and suspects begin to come into your space. These folks are asking questions that begin to take up a lot of time.

Assess Needs and Follow-Up

T

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

e best strategy for these prospects and suspects is for you to take charge of the conversation and find out all the census information first. Next, uncover their most important need, “So you’re not satisfied with the del

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

iveries you’ve been receiving from our competition?” OR “So you’re looking for quantity discounts?” OR “So you’re looking for a better value than what you’ve been used to?” You get the drift.

Then, you have two options

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

Combination pro

for follow-up:

• Within the next 10 business days, schedule an appointment with them at their place of business, OR

• Within the next 3 working days, call the individuals you spoke with at the show and address their c

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

ncerns/needs.

Don’t wait any longer than this, because if you do, you’ve lost them. Do this each time with every visitor whether they are a long-term customer, prospect or suspect. REMEMBER: If you end the show with th

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

e most names, addresses, phone #’s and needs quotients, you’ve WON big time!

You may be entertaining some of your most important customers in the evenings. But you need to make the face-to-face meetings with those custo

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

mers at your trade show display space as productive as possible. How? Understanding their most critical need at that very moment and then exploiting it in a follow-up call or appointment as soon as possible after the sho

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

will set the stage for a more efficient meeting.

Let’s move on to other ingredients that account for superior performance at a trade show.

Quickly and Concisely Answer Questions

You’re not in a hard-sell arena

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

in a trade show booth, you’re in a marketing arena (just as I’ve said, get as many leads as you can and you’ve WON).

If you’ve staffed your booth correctly,

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

Following aspects would a

you’ve surrounded yourself with key personnel who are able to answer any questions a visitor to your booth may ask. Be prepared for the unexpected and field the questions you can answer on your own or with the aid of y

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ur colleagues in the booth. For questions you can’t answer on-the-spot, make sure you clearly understand the question and, email an answer within hours of the request. Hours, you may ask? Absolutely! Your prospect will b

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

e impressed that you were willing to go the distance to get him the information he needed and it’s the perfect opportunity to call or email him again later.

Soak Up the Environment

Third, if the show is really s

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

low, don’t blow the time standing around, go dig out some industry intelligence by walking the show and talking to other exhibitors. Who knows – you might discover a tidbit even you didn’t know about. Don’t be afraid to

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

talk to the competition – they might say something you can use. But since you know your mission, don’t give the competition something they can use.

Interact and Participate

Finally participate in educational for

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ums, round table discussions and other related educational events at the show. You’ll be branding yourself as a guru and, by extension, inviting inquiries about your products or capabilities from people you didn’t even k

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

now existed. Don’t be bashful; introduce yourself to other forum participants and speakers. Get to know them on a first-name basis and understand their area of expertise. You’ll have some opportunity to use this to your

.

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

dvantage as the show unfolds.

A lot of this is basic stuff you already know but the application of it is an entirely different story. If you can find one tip in this article that will make the show more productive, than

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

k Julia O’Conner (a long-time friend) who has written an excellent book titled, The Trade Show Reader. You can reach her by calling (804) 355-7800.

YOUR NEXT TRADE SHOW IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY; MAKE IT PAY OFF HANDSOMELY

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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