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Your customer database is one of the most valuable business assets you have. If you are able to keep your customers for many years and do business with them repeatedly you have a foundation that will keep your

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

business growing and prospering long into the future.

What information should your database contain:

* The names and addresses of all your active customers, that is anyone who has made a purchase from you in

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

Examples of combination products may in

the past year. Your file should also include the phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of all your active customers. To keep this data up to date and accurate, make sure you review it a least once a year.

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

* The names, addresses, phone, and fax numbers of all your inactive customers, that is, those people who haven’t purchased anything from you in over a year.

In addition your database should have a section for

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

good customers and one for customers who are not good. For example, customers who are not so good would be those who don’t pay their bills on time, who complain a lot, and people who order but cancel. When you

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

Combination pro

who know who these difficult people are, it’s easier to avoid wasting time or money on them.

You should have all this basic information in a secure database on your computer. If you don’t have this information

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

in your database, then you need to reconstruct it from invoices or any other records you’ve kept regarding people who have purchased from you.

If you haven’t kept good records and can’t reconstruct the data a

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

out your customers or clients, then start from scratch and ask every customer you deal with to give you their name, address, phone and fax number, and e-mail address. You must do that with each customer.

When

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

you are capturing there information it is always good to ask them for their birth day (not year) as well, because when you know their birth day, you can send them a gift of some kind each year, or at the very l

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

ast, send them a birthday card. It’s a nice personal touch that will set you apart from your competitors.

It is very important that your database also includes a record or each purchase a customer has made, wh

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

at they purchased, and the date when they purchased it. This information is very valuable because it will show you a person’s buying habits, and once you know their buying habits, you can position yourself to s

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

Following aspects would a

ell into and around the pattern.

For example, if you notice that Customer X bought many of the vegetable-seed packets that you sold in your nursery last year, you should call, send a letter, or e-mail to Custo

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

er X a week or two before you take delivery on next year’s seed packets. If customer X is really into gardening, he or she will love you for giving him or her an early alert, and this customer will probably mak

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

e an even bigger purchase of seeds the second time around. In addition, Customer X might buy some gardening tools or perhaps one of the new gardening manuals that you hope to have on display next season.

You n

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

ed to know who buys more than anyone else. But it’s important to separate out the names of those heavy buyers because they deserve more of your personal attention. High volume customers are the people most like

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

ly to respond to an add-on offer or an up sell or cross sell on a special promotion. Those are the customers or clients you should put in the hands of your strongest salespeople.

It’s important to realize that

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

your database is universal. Once you know who your biggest and best customers are, you can contact them by phone, letter, fax, or e-mail, or by a personal visit and sell them things even before you have to lay

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

out money for inventory.

Database marketing means classifying the customers you have by studying what they buy. It means marketing in a targeted way to your big customers, your little customers, your multiple-

.

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

urchase customers, your single purchase customers, and to the people who haven’t bought yet. Target each of those segments separately, and tailor your selling messages specifically to that segment.

Start focus

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ing on your biggest and best customers today, because that is where you will make the easiest and most profitable new sales.

Copyright© 2005 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide

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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Many budding entrepreneurs are not aware of the importance of location when setting up a business. Rather in an online business many are confused or not aware that information is the key factor of success.

Everyone knows that in order to operate a construction company, the construction worker must have a hammer, nails, drill, screw drivers, etc. Without a tool belt or toolbox these workers will put you out of business before your business get started.

We have also learned from first-hand experience that management coaching is not a one-shot effort. It takes regular ongoing discussions and experiences to achieve the level of support and cooperation needed.

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