Advice You - Business

I was recently asked to present on the impact of technology on sales, has it helped, in what way, or has it had a negative impact?

After examining the issue with some colleagues and experts in the field, it became clear that technology is an enabler, and as such amplifies what is already there, and what is not.

I don't think that that there is an

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

yone in sales today that has not heard of, used or been impacted by a CRM package of one sort or another, be it a simple contact management application with some added functionality, to a top of the line CRM that fully integrate with other enterprise applications. Many companies will tell you of the disasters they have encountered rolling out a CRM

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

Examples of combination products may in

in fact an article in the February 1, 2002 Harvard Business Review: Avoid the Four Perils of CRM, stated that "55% of all CRM projects don't produce results", and went on to say that "According to Bain's 2001 survey of management tools, which tracks corporate

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

se of and satisfaction with management techniques, CRM ranked in the bottom three for satisfaction out of 25 popular tools. In fact, according to last year's survey of 451 senior executives, one in every five users reported that their CRM initiatives not only had failed to deliver profitable growth but also had damaged long-standing customer relati

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

nships."

Yet by November 2004, one of the same writers in an article entitled CRM Done Right stated: "Senior executives have become considerably more enthusiastic about CRM. In 2003, Bain & Company's annual Management Tools Survey of 708 global executives found that firms actually began to report increased satisfaction w

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

Combination pro

th their CRM investments. In 2001, CRM had ranked near the bottom of a list of 25 possible tools global executives would choose. Two years later, it had moved into the top half. In fact, 82% of surveyed executives said they planned to employ CRM in their companies in 2003-a large jump from the 35% who employed it in 2000."

While the piece wen

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

t on to suggest a number of factors, we've experienced a number of key things in our work with clients that are worth noting.

First, we very much believe and have seen numerous examples to support the view that Customer Relationship Management is a way of doing business. Most of our successful clients have a consistent view on Customer Relationshi

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

Management.

To them CRM is part of their culture, part of their corporate DNA. They see CRM as the proper alignment between software and process to effectively manage their relationships with their customers. The alignment is based on objectives:

Corporate objectives drive the sales organization's objective; which in turn are the foundation for

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

egional/territorial objectives, and client objectives; when properly executed, these objective form the basis for each client/prospect interaction.

It is as much about process as it is about software. If you don't create a balance and alignment between the two, you will fail to manage the relationship with you key customers, and not derive much be

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

efit from your investment. In fact we are working with a company that has spent in excess of $13 million dollars over the last 5 years implementing a CRM software with little tangible results to show in improved sales, increased productivity or understanding of their clients and how to mutually improve their relationship.

A study I read recently s

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

owed that over 80% of the CEO's surveyed said their sales organization had a process that was poorly defined or a process that wasn't being followed. A sales process is like a good map or a GPS if you will. Used properly it helps you determine where you are, if you are in heading in the right or wrong direction, also helps you plan what your "next

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

Following aspects would a

step" should be to get to your destination. A well defined sales process gives a sales organization the same advantage. It should have logical and defined steps that allow both parties to develop a better understanding of each other and a set of questions that help you qualify or "disqualify" an opportunity.

When we meet with a new client we alway

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

enquire about their sales process. A VP we recently met responded: "why yes of course, we use XYZ" (name change to protect the innocent, us). Yet he openly admitted that he struggles with forecasting, prospecting, and his people were spending too much time with unproductive activity, in the little activity he was able to glean from the system. (Un

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

ortunately no software will pick up the phone and do a cold call, I'm working on it.)

The clients who do use the software to support their process tell a different story. Activity is focused on the client experience. It is still true that getting new business from an existing client, is much more cost efficient than from new prospects. No I am not

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

saying you should stop prospecting, but don't ignore those that have rewarded you with their business, show them some love, make it easy for them to deal with you, and hard to leave you.

A good CRM (software and process) provides you with a complete view of the client, allowing you to align your resources to best serve them. Reducing service calls

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

reducing time to respond, reducing the effort to take orders, reducing the cost of sale, increasing their satisfaction level and creating a mutual economical value add relationship.

The data available to you will also help segment your clients better, allowing you to decide where you want to put your focus, and which clients you may want to off l

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

oad. Remember that some 30% or your lowest margin clients suck over 50% of your resources. A CRM done right can assure that you are retaining the right clients.

CRM system can also break down hierarchical communication barriers allowing everyone, not just sales to focus on the customer relationship, allowing top executive to get involved in meetin

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

client expectation and driving revenue. Of course this will only work where the CRM culture is present. And in many companies that have rolled out the software without the process, with out the training, without the internal value proposition, it is not. As stated earlier it in fact diminishes the client relationship. Many companies are experienci

.

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

g push back from the front line because they failed to show the ROI to the users. Like the clients sales reps want to know what's in it for them. There is a lot, if there is a supporting process focused on everyone's success, the company, the rep, the client. This can be achieved with a sales process that aligns around key objectives.

One last thi

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

g to consider, CRM systems are usually associated with sales organizations. But client satisfaction is the function of the whole organization. A truly successful CRM extends beyond sales to all groups with in a corporation, and as such, a key success factor is the alignment of the sales process with other processes impacting the client relationship

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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There is more emphasis on lifelong learning and adult education these days. More and more people are returning to college as mature students and some choose to attend night and part time classes. Some people also enroll in vocational courses where they can learn new skills to help them get a new job or just to enjoy learning.

The internet is a culture building phenomenon and we are not alone there. The internet is a web, where every one is making an impression on others, for good or bad. People are selfish and many will think of themselves before anyone else. But we are responsible for the contribution we make to the internet culture. The author gives 5 questions for you to ask yourself when you run into something that seems a little spammy or doesn't sound ethical or right.

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