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Which statement sums up how you define your customers?

1) I have a very specific customer in mind -- very specific and very narrow. I only want to sell to this specific customer, I'm not interested in attracting anyo

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

ne else.

Or

2) If they have a pulse, they're a potential customer.

Okay, in care you were wondering, number 1 is good and number 2 isn't.

Yet I can't tell you how many business owners I run into who are closer to

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

Examples of combination products may in

number 2 than number 1.

I know, it's difficult to think you might be turning away potential business. But trust me, your life will be much easier once you've carefully defined your potential customer (also known as y

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

our target market). And to further convince you, here are 3 reasons.

1. You'll be able to find your target market more easily. If you know exactly who you're looking for, you'll have a much easier time tracking down

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

where they're hanging out (i.e. publications they read, Web sites they visit, radio stations they listen to). Then you'll know exactly where you should be spending your advertising dollars and/or which editors you sho

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

Combination pro

uld be courting for potential PR stories. Best yet, you'll probably be spending less money/time and yielding far better results.

2. You'll be able to persuade your target market more easily. If you know exactly who y

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

ou're talking to, and what their challenges and problems are, you'll be able to craft far more targeted marketing materials. You can use language and images they respond to (which will make them feel like you understa

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

nd them) plus you'll be able provide a specific solution to their challenges.

You can't do this if you're trying to please "everyone." "Everyone" is a tricky fellow. He's tough to pin down. After all, "everyone" buys

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

a product for different reasons. Take cell phones, for instance.

Senior citizens, teenagers and parents buy cell phones, but they buy the, for different reasons. Teenagers buy them so they can chat with their friend

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

s all the time. Parents buy them for their teens in order to keep track of them (the teens, not the cell phones). My 90-year-old grandfather bought one for emergency use only. Each one of those reasons is a different

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

benefit. The ad that appeals to parents knowing where their teenagers are is certainly NOT going to work for teenagers, and neither of those ads will be terribly persuasive to my grandfather.

So if you're trying 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 to "everyone" just imagine how complicated it's going to be to try and cover all those different reasons in a single marketing piece. Not really possible, is it?

3. You'll have an easier time with your business.

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

If you're busy running around providing different products or services to different customers, chances are you're not as efficient as you could be. This is especially true for business owners who are service providers

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

. If you're constantly learning new skills for each client who walks in the door, how efficient will you be? Wouldn't it be better to stick with what you're good at and just sell that?

Creativity Exercise -- Discover

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

your target market

Here's an exercise you can try if you're still unsure of your target market or if you want to make sure you aren't missing any potential customers.

Get a sheet of paper. Write down all the featur

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

es of your product. Features are descriptions of your product. Take cell phones, for example. Features of cell phones are they're small and wireless.

Now change those features to benefits. For a cell phone, you can c

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

arry it anywhere and use it anywhere (anywhere there's a signal, that is.)

Now make a list of who needs those benefits. Think broadly here. Maybe parents or people in certain industries or people with certain jobs. T

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

ry to come up with at least 50 markets. Be silly. That's when you're most likely to hear your muse (or genius) speaking to you.

Another technique is to ask your subconscious for help. Do a meditation where you ask yo

.

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

ur subconscious to show you someone from your target market. Ask questions and see what the answers are.

Once you come up with your list, then it’s time to critique and judge. Try and narrow it to no more than five t

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

arget markets. One or two are better yet. The more target markets, the harder it gets. You can always start with one, and once you've made yourself known in that market, you can move to a second and a third and so on.

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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