13, September 2021

Reshaping Your Pharma Strategy in the New Normal

Written by Peak Pharma

These days, the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry have been compounded by COVID-19. Not only are pharma manufacturers faced with developing and distributing new vaccines and testing procedures, but they’re also tasked with continuing to provide innovative products to clinicians, patients, and the healthcare system. Supply chain solutions also present a problem as contract pharmaceutical sales companies continue struggling to maintain their bottom line.

At Peak Pharma Solutions, we’ve provided many solutions for pharmaceutical companies and have helped them weather the uncertain climate posed by COVID-19. However, with the threat of the pandemic receding these days, many contract pharmaceutical companies are rethinking their strategies and approaches to meet new challenges. If you’re wondering how to move forward under the ‘new normal’ conditions caused by the pandemic, we have some tips for you to consider.

Challenges Old & New

Even pre-pandemic, launching a new drug was rarely easy and straightforward. This is because there were always a variety of challenges manufacturers were forced to overcome, such as pressure when it came to pricing, increased competition, access to resources, as well as meeting the expectations of patients and caregivers.

The pandemic compounded these complications by adding increased delays to launches due to supply chain issues, the length of time for drug approvals, and other factors that resulted in huge financial losses in the pharmaceutical industry.

Reassessing the Traditional Launch Model

Due to many of the issues mentioned above, contract pharmaceutical sales companies are reassessing the traditional drug launch model, due in large part to a major shift in the way healthcare professionals interact with drug companies. Prior to the pandemic, there was a focus on face-to-face meetings, and it was easier to take a more general approach to engage with potential customers. Now, that’s no longer the case.

One of the primary results of the pandemic has been an emphasis on remote engagement. Healthcare providers have adopted more digital technology and rely on telemedicine now more than ever. However, this also means that they’re more willing to engage with pharma companies remotely. Pharma sales reps will benefit from practicing a digital approach that’s both localized and personalized.

5 Factors to Consider for a Launch Strategy

These days, having a successful drug launch means adapting to current market needs and customer and patient expectations. Successful contract pharmaceutical companies can do this by:

1. Probing for Relevant Personal Insights

By tailoring content specifically to the interests of the individuals you’re trying to reach, you’ll be able to generate more sales and attract more interest in your product. Offering custom-centric content nowadays will help you keep up with the competition. The best way you can do this is to cover the full spectrum of healthcare provider needs but ask your reps to provide insights from specific individual physicians to help determine the most effective launch modules.

2. Understanding Physician Preferences

Another way to give physicians what they want is to focus on analytics-enabled engagement, utilizing tools to help support the decision-making process on the part of sales reps. Such tools enable pharma companies to optimize their channels and content, foster learning about different products, as well as integrate user feedback. By developing predictive models and drawing on data sources like customer relationship management systems, sales records, and surveys, contract pharmaceutical sales companies can yield great results.

3. Developing Channels & Services Geared Toward Patients

You can develop services and tools geared directly toward patients that can help facilitate diagnosis, treatment, and administration in more remote settings. This helps you expand your reach. It’s no secret in the medical and pharmaceutical industry that patients yet to be treated for a new medical condition are also the ones most interested in learning about new medicines and treatments. You can take advantage of this by offering things like telemedicine diagnostic platforms via apps, voice, text and web.

4. Reimagining your Front Line

Rethinking your front-line operations strategy is beneficial for future operations. This is because, as mentioned previously, more healthcare providers are moving toward a reliance on digital technology. So, rethink your front-line operations and tweak them accordingly, offering analytic insights and learning tools, in addition to equipping your sales reps with all of the remote selling capabilities they need. Have sales reps practice deep listening skills to gather insight on physicians’ pain points and unmet needs, then add this information into a customer relationship management system. This can help you track trends and take advantage of niches in the industry.

5. Adopting Agile Local Strategies

Linking your local execution with launch plans can help generate insights and enable you to respond to changes in circumstances much more quickly. These days, many launches don’t follow a simple national or regional strategy but are specifically tailored for local contexts. This means the quicker you collected feedback, the better the results. Many sales reps need to respond to campaigns in real-time, to hone their targeting strategy and product positioning on a micro-level.

Contact us today for more contract sales organization solutions!

For those in the pharmaceutical industry looking to keep up with competition and shape new strategies for the future, Peak Pharma Solutions can help make it happen. We specialize in offering physician and pharmacy detailing services, vacancy management solutions, and project training and management services to those in the pharmaceutical industry.

With more than 50 years of combined experience in the healthcare arena, the team from Peak Pharma Solutions has been building and implementing sales solutions and managing successful pharma operational teams for more than 20 years. We achieve these goals by building strategic partnerships with all of our clients that foster honesty, transparency, and accountability.

To learn more about our solutions for contract pharmaceutical sales companies, contact us online today or call 1 (888) 226-0052.