Advice You - Business

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. Business is up he said, but he didn't know why. I asked him a few questions, but more we spoke about it the more concerned I became.

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

"What do you mean, you don't know why they're buying?"

"We never know why they buy," he told me.

"Never?"

"Nope. They just do."

My friend thinks he knows what is great about his

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

Examples of combination products may in

product. They believe they understand it's applications, they just don't understand what drives sales.

And there's something else - it has to do with pricing and profits.

Since the

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

y don't really know why customers buy from them, it follows that they don't understand the full value customers get from their products. So they don't know what to charge! They disco

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

unt to make sales - since they don't fully understand the customer's pain points - and that means - they always leave lots of money on the table.

When times are tough - and many peo

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

Combination pro

ple are feeling squeezed these days - there is tendency to panic. Who wouldn't? The economy, the financial markets, and now - terrorism. I read where a group of psychiatrists saying

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

the country was on the brink of a nervous breakdown!

That's certainly not what I want for my customers! Is that what you want for yours?

I think this question can be a profitable o

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

ne. What do you want for your customers? I started thinking about this and came up with a few others for you to ask yourself.

Why do you want to serve your customers? What do you lo

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

ve about your particular customers? Are they perfect customers? If not, who would be? Describe them.

Case Studies and the Value Proposition

So I began thinking about my friend's sa

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

les problem - which brought me to thinking about a favorite topic of mine - the value proposition. Not in the sense of your USP, but in the sense of - what is the value of your produ

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

ct (or service) to your customer?

In other words, what is your product worth? How much - in money terms - does your customer save or earn when they use whatever it is you sell? Can

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

Following aspects would a

you quantify that?

If you can't, well - you need to. It will make much easier to sell.

But it's too complicated - we can't really say what they get from it.

No wonder you have tro

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

uble selling when times get tough. If you knew what it was worth, and it was worth more than you were selling it for, you'd have customers lining up pounding on your door for it.

Yo

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

u have to go out and do case studies. Exactly why did they buy. Exactly what is the application. Exactly how much more did they earn because of it and how did they earn it. Or, exact

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

ly how much did they save because of it and how did they save it. Get five or six of those and you'll be able to build a return-on-investment case for any prospect, and damn the ec

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

onomy. Which brings me to one last thing - the holy trinity of repeat sales.

Up-sell, Re-sell and Cross-sell What is your best possible source of revenue right now, bar none?

You

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

r existing customers, right? Of course - they always are. Which means you should have a regular program to stay in contact.

What are you doing about repeat customer sales? When was

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

the last time you contacted each customer, and made them an offer of some kind? What - you're waiting for them to call you?

Conclusion: You've got to contact your customers. Under

.

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

any pretext, for any reason.

Why?

To solidify and maintain your relationships, and reconfirm why you want to do business with them. To understand your value from their perspective

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

. And lastly, to make sure they are being served properly and to sell them everything they need.

--

Paul Lemberg

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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I see another possible future industry brewing in Mexico, that is the making of mobile homes and coaches. They have year round possibilities and abundant labor. Also they have trade deals with China for inexpensive parts that need to be made for these on the road vehicles.

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