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If you have outside sales or support personnel, you run a very high risk of losing your customers when your outside staff leaves the company to work for another company or to go into business for themselves.

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

Here's the typical scenario. You've got a great outside salesperson, often located hundreds or thousands of miles from the home office. Maybe, even in a different country. This salesperson loves his job, and works hard 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

service the customer. So hard, that he tells them: "Don't call the number on my business card. That's the home office and I am never there. Instead, call my cell number. I've written it on my card."

All is w

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

ll until your salesperson leaves the company to go to work for a competitor or even into business for him or herself. Can you guess what customers hear when they call the cell phone number to place an order? It's probably something li

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

e: "I am so glad you called. I am no longer with that company. I am with a new company that has better products and lower prices. Let me tell you all out my new company."

This disaster happened because the c

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

Combination pro

mpany lost its connection to its customers, by allowing customers to call its staff directly on a phone number that is owned and controlled by the employee. If this has already happened to you, you're well aware of what it feels like

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

o be blindsided by such an unexpected loss of business. If this has not already happened to you, it almost surely will, sooner than later.

Companies of all sizes have learned that protecting their customer b

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

ase from such attacks starts by controlling the communications system between the customer and the company's staff. That means providing voice and fax numbers to every employee, whether they work inside or outside of the office

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

and regardless of the country in which they work.

An easy and inexpensive solution is to outsource to a hosted service provider that can provide a voice and fax number, called a Virtual Office, for ea

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

h outside employee. The Virtual Office number can be a toll free number. Some service providers have local phone numbers in the cities in which the employees work, even cities outside the US. That number is printed on the Rep's busine

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

s card. When customers call that phone number, the service provider automatically routes the call to the Rep's cell phone or home office number. If the call is not answered, the call can be routed elsewhere, perhaps to an assistant or

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

Following aspects would a

the corporate office, or it can take a voicemail message. The Virtual Office can then call the Rep and deliver the message immediately, as well as deliver the message to Rep's email, where it can be played over any Internet devise.

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

lockquote>

When the Rep leaves the company, goes on vacation or merely becomes ill, calls can immediately be re-routed to another company Rep. The result is that the company always controls its connection to the custom

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

Losing a customer to an employee who leaves the company is not the only risk. When employees are on vacation or sick, it's common for messages and orders to pile up until the employee returns to work.

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

This is frustrating to customers and can result in cancelled orders and losing customers.

The cost for these Virtual Office numbers is nominal, usually only a few dollars a month, and not even on the same p

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

anet with the cost of losing even one customer or sending out a team to try to save the account. The Virtual Office can be provisioned and maintained online and in real time and usually includes both voice and fax receiving, with faxe

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

delivered by email. This eliminates downtime when a Rep is away from their fax machine. Reps can receive faxes wherever they have an Internet connection.

Businesses no longer have to risk losing customers w

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

en employees leave the company or are slow in returning calls or placing orders because they are sick or on vacation. Businesses who control the telephone number will keep control of their customers. By outsourcing, a company can buy

.

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

s little as one Virtual Office phone number or thousands, with no capital expense or burden on the in-house IT department. The Virtual Office numbers will automatically transfer calls to the Rep's mobile or home office phone number, t

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ke voicemail messages, receive faxes and deliver voice and fax message to email. The destination numbers and email addresses are managed online and in real time, so customers will always be connected to company personnel.

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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How to manage working from home and your children. Ways to get the job done without alienating your children.

The effectiveness of a true leader is not measured in terms of the leadership he or she exercises. It is measured in the leadership evoked. It is not measured in terms of power over his subordinates but in terms of the power he releases in his subordinates. Leadership is not measured in terms of goals and objectives but it is measured in terms of the accomplishment of others as a result of that leadership. Leadership is not measured in the decisions made, the costs cut, the plans made. It is measured in terms of the growth in confidence, sense of responsibility and acceptance of accountability of the employees that are a result of that leadership.

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