Advice Pool - Business

A carpenter has his saw and hammer. A writer has his pen and ink. A doctor has her medical instruments. An accountant has his calculator. A mechanic has his wrenches. What of the salesperson? What are the available tools for salespeople?

Salespersons exist in almost every industr

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

y, for without the sales channel, there is no reason to manufacture or produce anything. We salespeople produce the results that drive every other function in every company. Although the function of each salesperson is the same, that is to match customer needs to products and ser

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

Examples of combination products may in

vices and close each sale, the manner in which we operate varies depending upon the industry we serve. Realtors, bankers, industrial reps, retailers and others have a variety of practices that they have found to be effective. There are sales tools commonly available to all of them

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

to utilize.

Superior salespeople are always interested in maximizing their time and effectiveness in front of the customer. Superior salespersons will develop tools and systems that will aid them in their time management and sales effectiveness. Average salespersons tend to meand

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

er, wandering to the next call without any real purpose. They appear busy, but their inconsistent results leave a great deal to be desired. They are often disorganized, keeping poor records and avoid using tools to their advantage.

What are some of the tools and systems of effect

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

Combination pro

ive, superior salespeople? We will discuss a few tools of the trade that are used successfully by me and others with great success.

• Your Sales Plan: You cannot hit a target that you cannot see, so why would you step out of your door without a plan? Many average and less-

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

han-average salespeople do every day, and then wonder why their sales are flat. A sales plan is a tool that is indispensable to the superior salesperson. An effective sales plan is, in reality, an extension of goal setting. You can develop your plan using a word processor, but a s

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

preadsheet allows much greater flexibility and practicality. Take time to identify your target markets and target customers. Learn as much as possible about each. Identify your competitors. Honestly assess your company's strengths and weaknesses in light of the marketplace and com

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

petition. Develop your strategy. Take action and regularly gauge your progress and adjust your plan.

• CRM: Customer resource management has been a tool in development for a number of years. There are a number of quality products available depending upon company structure

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

nd individual needs. Among these are ACT, Goldmine, Outlook, etc. Choose one that meets your needs and start using it. Keep accurate and updated records. The best time to make new entries is every day. If you get behind, you may decide that the catch-up task is insurmountable and

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

quit altogether. Don't do it. Superior salespeople keep their contact manager updated with several backups. Once your data is entered, you can merge data with sales letters, print labels, develop email campaigns, and so much more.

• Laptop / PDA: Your carefully manicured d

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

Following aspects would a

ata and customer records are of little value to you in the field if you do not have it with you when you need it. In addition to customer records, I keep all price sheets, quote forms, catalogs, brochures and more on my laptop, available for my use at any time. My equipment featur

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

s built-in wireless networking capability so that I can log onto the internet or send and receive emails from an increasing number of hot-spots in most areas. These devices are no longer simple name and address managers, but rather your mobile office and window to the world!

•

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

Flash Drive: A flash drive is a small electronic device housing a memory chip for the purpose of storing data in a manner similar to that of a hard drive on your computer. The price of high capacity flash drives for your key chain has fallen to levels affordable by almost an

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

yone. My 1 GB flash drive was just $59 at Sam's wholesale club! I also use one on my desk computer in place of a floppy or backup tape drive to save backups and conveniently trade data with my laptop. It is impractical to carry into a customers' office all of the catalogs or liter

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

ture that you may require for the visit, but located on my keychain flash drive is every catalog and brochure that our company uses, just waiting to be placed in my customers' USB port for easy transfer directly to his computer. Easy indeed! As common as these devices are, my cust

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

omers continue to be impressed when I pull out my flash drive.

• Mobile Phone: Almost every man, woman and child carries a phone these days. My only comment is to select a model that has the features you need to meet the demands of your job. Do you need email capability, a

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

camera or other features?

• Web Presence: Promote your company's web site to each customer. Get them involved in what your company is all about. If your company does not yet have a web site, consider establishing your own web page to promote you. It's easy and very inexp

.

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

nsive to do, and will prove quite cost effective.

This is certainly not an all-inclusive list of tools available to salespersons, but these represent important and essential elements contributing to the success of superior salespeople. Do you want to be average? Do you want to co

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ntinue to meander? If your desire is to continuously improve and employ every asset at your disposal to become a superior salesperson, enjoying superior sales and income, then do as the superior salesperson does. Become an expert in the use of tools of the sales trade and get busy

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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