50% Fewer Resources, 100% of Goal

What do you do when you have a new indication to launch for your brand and your field force has just been cut in half? Oh, and did I mention that your launch goal for the first 90 days stayed the same? I recently spoke with a brand director who is faced with this situation. He actually has two new indications with a third pending that will be of enormous benefit to his brand, but he's coming up short on getting the word out with reps.

This is the perfect scenario for leveraging precision non-personal promotions. Through our partnership with IMS Health, RMI can identify the most opportunistic prescribers based upon some key clinical events. With the client mentioned above, there is a test patients are given to determine their propensity for a gene mutation that will cause a rash during treatment. If the patient is identified as at-risk, a proactive treatment regimen is prescribed to avoid the rash, ultimately enabling the therapy to be more efficacious. Through claims data, we can identify when the test is ordered, which is a trigger event for prescribing this company's drug. What could be more ideal? We use a triggered, customized, non-personal contact to reach a doctor who is in decision-making mode with an ill patient.

We have several programs where non-personal promotion is triggered based upon specific clinical events such as titration. Using Anonymized Patient Level Data (APLD), we can identify titration or concomitant use -- indicators a prescriber may consider alternative brands. If you're facing any of these scenarios, please give me a call at 866.446.6688 x 174 and I'd be happy to discuss your market situation and brand to find a strategic way to leverage non-personal promotion in your brand plan.

Building the Plane as You Fly It

One of the most nerve-wracking and stimulating things an executive does is building a business or brand without all the needed staff, data, customer insight, etc. needed to ensure success. I love the phrase "building the plane as you fly it." I feel like this describes my professional life to a T. Critical decisions are often made much more quickly than I'd like -- I assess enough data to determine a trend and a direction for my initiative, but I probably don't have time to study all of it. Not all people are wired for this type of role; TriMetrix is a great tool for helping you assess your natural behavior and better understand how you might react to this type of pressure. (See my February 8 post about TriMetrix for more info.)

Here's how I personally approach these critical decision moments:

• Look for trends in information that is currently available.
• Evaluate whether the decision fits into our annual plan objectives.
• Consider how much time and resources are required to implement. If we need more, can it be managed with temporary or freelance talent?
• Determine the ROI.
• Ask: "Will we be better for it?"

Finally, trust your instincts. You've gotten to this point in your career by doing something right. I'm willing to guess it had something to do with listening to that voice in the back of your head.

Take a Guess...

Can you guess where I took this photo?

(Hint: It's not an airport!)

Share your answer by clicking on the Comments link below.

What Makes You Tick

Ever wonder what makes you tick? Better yet, ever wish you knew what makes your co-workers tick? When it comes to personalities, I'm very curious, so I started exploring a variety of different assessments that reveal motivations and behaviors. During my career, I've spent a lot of energy working to shore up my weaknesses. In my study, I discovered that one's focus should not be on improving weaknesses, but instead on taking full advantage of strengths.

I've done some coursework that helped me observe activities that energize me, as compared to those that drain me. Have you ever stopped to notice those activities that allow you to lose track of time? Those are the things that are fueling you -- they provide you with renewed energy. I bet you've also noticed those tasks that feel like drudgery and seem to take forever to complete. For example, I learned that the tasks I have long disliked (yardwork!) were detailed tasks I was simply not suited for. Strategic projects were the kind of thing that suited me. So now instead of dreading lawn work, I hire a service and am really enjoying working on a landscape planning project for 2009. I am now able to see clearly which tasks zap my energy and which fuel my excitement, both in my career and in my personal life.

I was so impressed by the difference this knowledge made that I extended an invitation to our employees to take the TriMetrix analysis. TriMetrix has proved to be an invaluable tool in the hiring process, too! If you haven't taken this kind of assessment, I encourage you to try it out. Click here for an overview of the tool, and if you're interested in some guidance in this area, I recommend The Performance Group. I'd also be happy to discuss TriMetrix with you -- leave a comment on this blog, or e-mail me at awestmeyer@rmarketing.com. I believe it's important that we all invest in our strengths, which starts with understanding what energizes you.