Blog

22Jul 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 4)

Sales

One of the challenges in medical sales is disseminating the right messages to the right doctors at the right time. Previously, I discussed how to identify the right customer and pass the right message; today’s post will focus on when to pass the message, knowing fully well that timing is critical. This is equally because the degree of difficulty of the “targeting at right time” challenge is unique to each specific message, campaign and customer. Moreover, due to the limited access to doctors, which is steadily increasing year after year, the task of reaching the customer at the right time is even more demanding. Also, already before the COVID-19 pandemic, many physicians began to restrict visits from pharma reps in some way, and the majority of offices had variable access…

06Jul 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 3)

Sales

Previously, I discussed that I consider sales force targeting essentially identifying the most promising prospects and suggesting the right product with the right message at the right time. I've also analyzed how to identify the most promising prospect for your product and the related message. Today, I will cover how to properly deliver the right message for effective medical sales targeting. So please read on. Communicating with doctors Most people consider what they are saying very important. For this reason and for compliance with regulations, the marketing and sales departments of pharma and MedTech companies concentrate extremely on the content of their communication. Nonetheless, in every contact, there is a component of information and one of relationship. The information mainly flows through verbal communication, but the relationship prefers the non-verbal…

22Jun 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 2)

Sales

Are you looking to improve your sales force targeting and medical sales results? In my previous post, I covered the importance of sales force targeting, some typical errors, and the financial and non-financial impact of un-targeted sales strategy. Today I will discuss some strategies that can help you increase sales force targeting and improve your medical sales results. What is sales force targeting? In my opinion, targeting is identifying the most promising prospects and proposing the right product, with the right message, at the right time. This enables the customer to buy the product with a relatively small sales effort. How to identify the most promising prospects One of the objectives of your marketing department is to produce the ideal customer profile. Your ideal customer profile must be based on…

07Jun 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 1)

Sales

Reaching the right doctor with the right product, and the right message, at the right time is the essence of targeting and medical marketing in general. If you are a medical sales rep working for a pharma or a medical device company, you might already have experienced the frustration of not convincing a prospect about your product. Even very successful products with high use and market penetration are not for everybody in a given market. As a salesperson, you need to accept that you should not target some potential customers because the chances of selling your product are very low. The sooner you understand that targeting is not an abstract marketing strategy, the faster your sales results will improve. In fact, implementing precise targeting tactics in your territory is the…

28May 2024 by cesare ferrari

How To Get The Right Insights From The VOC

Upstream marketing

Recently I’ve been discussing with a founder of a MedTech start-up on the importance of collecting the VOC (Voice of the customer) and validating the high-risk hypothesis. I’ve come to observe that MedTech start-up founders are generally very well equipped with scientific knowledge and technical expertise; however, they lack some expertise in properly interacting with customers. Start-up teams also come up with smart and creative solutions but they frequently risk missing the right insights to validate their solution and high-risk hypothesis with customers. While there are many factors to be considered for a successful VOC study, here are my top four: 1. Identify your customer(s) Before even starting your VOC, it is fundamental to determine who the customer is. You’ll also need to consider who you need to talk to…

19May 2024 by cesare ferrari

How customer interviews can help you in defining the price of your new medical device

Upstream marketing

A few years ago, I attended a product test where a KOL used a product developed by a start-up to provide feedback. At the end of the test of the highly innovative medical device, a member of the team asked, “How much would you pay for this product?”. Although the intention was laudable because I agree with collecting data from customers for pricing a new medical device, unfortunately, the question was wrong. Therefore, do not ask this question during customer interviews about the price of new medical devices. So, if you’re thinking about contacting your potential customers to ask them about pricing of your new medical device, you should read this post to avoid making some of these mistakes. Why “How much would you pay for this?” is a…

27Apr 2024 by cesare ferrari

The 4 Types of Medtech Innovation

Upstream marketing

In the medical device business, the capacity for innovation is commonly regarded as a key competence and a powerful response mechanism for companies operating in our complex and highly competitive environment. Innovation is generally recognized to be a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon and understanding how it works continues to be a challenge. The purpose of this post is to help MedTech professionals to better understand the different types of innovation. As a professional, you'll find this guide useful, so please follow along. Innovation: The definition Peter Drucker defines innovation as: “Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of…

13Apr 2024 by cesare ferrari

Are you launching, soft-launching or just releasing your new product?

Downstream marketing

Every year, new medical devices are introduced to the market by means of a “product launch”. As the market becomes saturated, it is increasingly difficult for the launch to make an impact on the market and the company's bottom line. Although the term used for market entry is always “product launch” the reality is that there are different sorts of product launches. I’ve already discussed the success factors of a new product launch and itemized the new product classification and its consequences. Today, I would like to cover the types of product launches and help you understand their differences. Different kinds of product launch The different types of product launches have strict ties to the various kinds of products the company developed and their characteristics. The strategic decisions taken at…

03Apr 2024 by cesare ferrari

Factors That Affect The Success Of A New Medical Device Launch

Downstream marketing

We can all agree that a successful product launch does not happen accidentally, as it is the direct result of understanding the measures and factors that influence a product's success. Since new product launches are a vital part of a medical device company, it's appropriate to know how to do it right, and that's what this article seeks to address. So please follow along. Factors that affect medical device product launch Let's start with the most highly regulated products (like high risk medical devices and drugs). Notice that they require a long and complex process to reach the market, and when the regulatory approval is obtained, the launch then begins. Particularly, pharmaceutical products need a very long time to reach the market making the launch critical. Having worked in…

15Mar 2024 by cesare ferrari

The ugly truth of new medical devices

Upstream marketing

All the companies active in the MedTech industry, especially the big ones, launch new products regularly. Every year, millions are invested in R&D in this industry worldwide to support the creation of new products. Often, we see these new products marketed as game changers or disruptive innovations; however, the reality is that most of these new products belong to a different category of innovation, which is the ugly truth. Knowing that the success (or failure) of the new medical devices will significantly impact a company’s financial results, let's examine the characteristics of a new medical device and its classification. Product innovation classification If you follow me, you should know that creating a new medical product involves meeting the customer's needs, bearing in mind that customer needs are always evolving, and…