Much has been said about how to maximize the customer-agent relationship, especially in the biopharmaceutical space. In addition to providing helpful tips and advice for managing these relationships (i.e. transparency, flexibility, empathy, etc.), a broader dialogue is required.
The environment we find ourselves in has changed—not only for the healthcare practitioners and patients we aim to serve—but also the dynamics of the client-agent relationship. Understanding the importance of these changes explains why more biopharma companies should take an alliance management approach to supporting these partnerships in order to achieve their goals—not just for tomorrow, but for the long-term.
Historically, agencies have evolved in two ways. First, organically, by providing value and maintaining existing relationships. As clients move from one company to another (which we see a lot these days), they tend to bring agents with them. Second, successful agencies are always pushing the envelope in providing clients with new technologies, best practices, trends, data and solutions.
In today’s dynamic environment, a new approach to growth has emerged. Uncertainty has brought increased demand, at least from the perspective of agency and advisory services — whether due to the pandemic, market volatility or other global events. Agencies are experiencing a period of unprecedented growth and are not expected to decline anytime soon. This, combined with a growing number of biotech companies, is creating a competitive environment that allows agencies to be more selective in choosing clients to work with. It’s not about exclusivity; it’s about what works best for both parties — or even the industry as a whole.
For emerging biopharmaceutical companies, the current environment is full of scientific advances and huge capital infusions, which has led to a rapid increase in the number of biotech companies. Furthermore, these companies have traditionally focused on research first, perhaps early stage development. Lately, there has been a growing focus on late-stage development, but commercialization is rarely a priority, and companies are more willing to collaborate around development. Today, these companies are more likely to work consistently across the value chain, leading to increased competition for agency partners. As with other elements of start-up biotech growth, the main focus is on building the core team and then building it virtually. But unlike larger companies, smaller biotechs use partners rather than FTEs for this expansion. As more biotech companies have ambitions to commercialize themselves, the competition for good agency partners has grown exponentially. In this context, successfully managing these partnerships is not a good thing – a necessary thing if you want to execute successfully from the clinical stage to commercialization.
As a result of this competitive and dynamic environment, both parties need to work together to create and maintain meaningful partnerships (with a lot of responsibility in the customer’s hands). Clients need to cultivate healthy partnerships using the same time and care as internal partners; it’s no longer a one-way street. This relationship not only prioritizes communication, motivation, and engagement, but also provides tangible value to both parties. Clients should recognize that agencies want to feel invested in their success and results and appreciate the effort that goes into developing this partnership; it goes beyond the deal. This is how clients differentiate themselves from the agency they want to work with.
Yes, agencies are in the customer service business, but high-value agencies go far beyond that. In the best sense, they are thought partners – so there should be plenty of healthy debate and conversation. Successful agencies are on the front lines; they’re seeing what companies are trying out, what’s working, and what’s not. Leverage this wealth of experience to your advantage as an engaging and active partner who will serve your clients’ long-term and short-term goals. The opposite of this is letting agencies default to each client’s needs, which serves no one, especially clients. Nurturing and caring for this relationship in an open and trusting manner can bring the support, enthusiasm and impact needed to succeed.
Some institutions are leveraging this capability to deliver ongoing professional value to their clients by offering (and nurturing) preferred partnerships. Given their broad strengths within the company, they collaborate by bringing new ideas about commercialization and helping the industry adapt and move forward. Preferred partnerships leverage successful alliance management and existing synergies (i.e. leveraging data, resources or insights across projects), so typically centralized suppliers can provide support in multiple areas. The result is increased streamlining that ultimately benefits the bottom line. Since emerging biotechs need a little help on all fronts, these preferred partnerships can provide a one-stop shopping that leverages institutional best practices, current trends and data.
As with many things affected by today’s dynamic environment, traditional partnerships are outdated and therefore ineffective. Biotech companies that take the time to think about and cultivate critical relationships with institutions will be winners. They do this by prioritizing and maintaining successful affiliate management, nurturing the synergies needed for successful client agency partnerships to thrive and achieve your goals for successful commercialization.
Photo: Alpha Spirit, Getty Images
