How to Avoid Losing Time and Money During Your Medical Device Product Launch: Part Two

Click here to read part one of the series

Common and Costly Hurdles

1. Superficial Targeting leads to low conversion rates

Often a company initially charts an ambitious path, for example, deciding to enter the market with full force by targeting all orthopedic surgeons in the Midwest. They swiftly assemble a 10-person sales team to directly approach these surgeons. However, the outcomes are often sobering.

“At first, we were enthusiastic and cast a wide net but our scattergun approach wasted time and missed the mark. We learned the value of focused engagement the painful way.” – [VP Sales]

In this typical pitfall, representatives find themselves investing significant time in research and travel, engaging with providers who either don’t focus on the procedures or are already aligned with other partners. This approach results in inefficiencies, as scaling up and training a large team doesn’t yield a clear audience to address.

2. Time-Consuming Research causes delays

A common frustration at the launch stage is the time involved in identifying and gathering contact information on potential leads. Individual sales representatives will often dedicate 6-9 hours per week to research target HCPs, but the process is hindered. Operating with disparate tools and a lack of smooth handovers can lead to incomplete and inaccurate information. As a result, engagement efforts frequently hit dead ends and lost time in travel. One rep recounted driving 2 hours to a clinic location, then waiting for several hours only to hear that the HCP they were looking to connect with had recently retired.

“We spent too much time on researching, aligning and planning. Everything except actually selling. It wasn’t efficient.” – [Sales Representative]

3. One-Size-Fits-All Marketing

Marketing and effective launch materials are essential to spreading the word about a new medical innovation and even getting on a provider’s radar. However, defining the audience and content here can be challenging: One mid-sized dermatology company reached out to target physicians through an email marketing campaign, discovering a dual challenge. First, inaccuracies in information led to the campaigns reaching irrelevant recipients. Second, the broad, impersonal messaging failed to capture the provider’s attention, resulting in limited leads. Ultimately, the effort-to-result ratio of the marketing endeavors left much to be desired.

“Treating every provider the same way was a bit of a misfire. If we had approached just a fraction of the provider more meaningfully, we would’ve had better results.” – [Marketing Manager]

With Alpha Sophia, MedDevice innovators can slice and dice their target physician market in under a minute, offering efficient insights which fortify go-to-market strategy.

Check out how Alpha Sophia helps combat these three issues as an efficient tool: https://www.alphasophia.com/find-your-providers-in-1-min