The Dominance of Oncology in Pharma: What Account Managers Need to Know

Despite significant disruptions in healthcare as a whole, oncology remains the dominant field in pharma, accounting for approximately $200 billion in healthcare spending at present. New reports suggest that this amount may rise to $273 billion by 2025. 

As oncology’s dominance continues in the pharmacological market, it will have several important implications for healthcare account management in the coming years. Account managers may be able to capitalize on this concentration of spending by acquiring in-depth knowledge of the oncology market and the factors which drive it. 

Oncology in Pharma: Projections for 2025 

According to a recent report from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, here are some projections for the near future related to oncologic drugs and spending:  

• By 2025, oncology’s share of pharma spending is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate between 9 and 12%.  

• Over 100 new oncology drugs are projected to make it to market in this time frame. 

• Many of these new drugs are expected to be biomarker-driven therapies. These types of drugs produce excellent results, but are only useful for select groups of patients. 

Implications for Account Management 

With such rapid development occurring in the world of oncology treatments, pharma account managers who do not make a concerted effort to catch up with the trends, risk being left behind. AMs must be able to apply their knowledge of market trends & market dynamics in order to proactively bring solutions to their customers and facilitate internal decision-making. This level of service cannot be delivered without intimate knowledge of both the product market and its drivers.  

In-depth knowledge of current oncology research and drug development can help account managers identify the types of therapies that their clients are most likely to be interested in and benefit from. Customer-focused sales models like this not only provide ample opportunities for upselling and revenue growth, but also foster better relationships between account managers and the organizations they serve. 

Serving Oncology Customers Better with The Brooks Group 

Healthcare consulting companies like The Brooks Group can help account managers bridge the gaps in their knowledge of oncology pharmaceuticals. Our incisive healthcare market research reveals the pain points of key decision-makers in hospital systems, physician groups, and healthcare provider networks. Armed with this information, pharmaceutical AMs can upgrade the services they offer to customers with oncology-related needs. In doing so, they bring innovative solutions to patients in need while also capturing revenue for the drug manufacturers they represent.  

The Brooks Group recognizes the unique importance of incorporating oncology pharma knowledge in account management training workshops, for effective account management in 2021 and beyond. Our upcoming workshop covers topics such as oncology market trends and drivers, how customers are responding to these market drivers, and how to engage those customers with a value proposition that meets their needs. Enroll today and take the first steps toward becoming a better account manager for customers in this critical high-value sector. 

Review our calendar of events for other healthcare executive training programs here.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2021/09/the-dominance-of-oncology-in-pharma-what-account-managers-need-to-know/

3 Signs that Your Account Managers Need Training

According to data from Gartner, 80% of future profits come from just 20% of your existing customers. When your pharmaceutical or biotech account managers don’t understand how to work with customers effectively, you'll lose customers and, along with them, potential profits. As a healthcare market research firm, The Brooks Group has collected a lot of data on metrics and KPIs that track the performance of account managers in these organizations. 

To maintain business profitability, here are the telltale signs that your managers are due for account management training courses.

1. Low Customer Retention

Effective account management is all about customer retention. If your account managers do their jobs well, customers will continue doing business. Track the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine customer retention success:

• Customer Churn Rate – the percentage of customers who cancel or fail to renew their contracts. High churn rates could indicate your account managers are handling customer accounts poorly, causing them to do business elsewhere.

• Support Requests – a high number of support requests indicate your account managers aren’t providing customers with the answers they need. Track website, phone, and email support requests.

With 80% of your future profits at stake, ensure your account managers understand best customer retention practices.

2. Failing Revenue Streams

Account Managers are a key liaison with your existing customers. If they are competent and manage these relationships well, they will be able to uncover opportunities for upsells, cross-sells, and execute a high rate of contract extensions. So if your organization as a whole or a particular manager is failing to develop these opportunities as a steady source and a high percentage of total revenue, then it is time to train your account managers and improve their skills.

3. Poor Client Relationships

Negative customer relationships will cause clients to abandon your products/services. To ensure your managers are maintaining positive client relationships and demonstrating their value, track these key indicators:

• Strategic Communications – the number of strategic emails and calls between managers and customers. If your customers aren’t contacting their account managers for strategic advice, your managers aren’t proving their value.

• Referrals – when customers enjoy the product/service they get from a business, they’re more likely to refer their colleagues. A lack of referrals could indicate your account managers aren’t offering the quality service customers need.

• Outreach Engagement – how often do customers respond to calls and emails? If you have trouble reaching customers, it could mean they don’t have a positive relationship with your business.

Account managers are entirely responsible for building positive customer relationships. When customers avoid communicating, it’s likely they don’t trust you or see the value of your business.

Get Your Account Managers the Training They Need

Worsening KPIs are a strong indication that your account managers are in dire need of training. As customer retention, revenue, and client relationships decrease, reach out to a skilled healthcare consulting firm for advice and training to strengthen your team.

The Brooks Group offers an Excellence in Account Management training course that’s designed to teach account managers proper customer relationship and retention practices. If you’re interested in learning more about this, or our other training programs for healthcare executives and our employee onboarding solutions, contact us for additional information.

Registration for courses is available on The Brooks Group website (view schedule). Custom courses with your team or organization are also available upon request.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/12/3-signs-that-your-account-managers-need-training/

5 KEY PRESENTATION SKILLS THAT HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES NEED TO DEVELOP TODAY

At the executive level, success depends a lot on effective communication. This is particularly true for healthcare, where entities frequently rely on one another for insights into healthcare market research, strategic goals and leadership development.

Innovations move fast in healthcare, and executives who want to keep pace will need to relay these insights to key participants within their organization, as well as other entities through presentations, boardroom meetings, or other speaking engagements. To this end, they need a communication strategy that gets the information across in a clear and concise manner, and demonstrates leadership, competence, and confidence.

These are the fundamental traits to have when presenting to strategic-level personnel, and they’re achievable by first nailing down a few essential presentation skills, noted below.

1. Develop the Right Content Structure for Effective Presentations

Presentations given to healthcare personnel must be well-designed, and logical. They need to speak to the benefits of new healthcare methodologies and get clinicians on board. For these audiences, content should be created with the following elements in mind:

• Clear objective setting
• Strategic focus of the content
• Logical structuring of material
• Establishing relevance to the audience’s area of work

In other words, it all starts with the content and how well it is structured.

2. Manage Distractions During Presentations

Technical problems. Memory lapses. Co-presenters going off-script. Distractions are inevitable. It’s how the presenter deals with them that matters.

Managing distraction is a function of experience and deliberate application of personal skills around voice and body language. Healthcare executives don’t need to be clever or quick on their feet to manage distractions; they just need to apply the same skills-based approach to distractions as they do to their other presentation goals. With the right healthcare executive training, presenters will have all the tools they need to stay one step ahead of such disruptions.

3. Leverage Media Tools to Support Verbal Messages

Slideshows and handouts are old favorites, but to be effective in today’s world of short attention spans, executives need to take things one step further. These days, interactive multimedia presentations are the easiest way to keep audiences engaged.

Modern digital media like 3D modeling and simulations, infographics, gamification, can all be leveraged to create interactive learning experiences for audiences. After all, the best healthcare presentations don’t simply speak to audiences. They’re customized with specific audiences in mind and built to facilitate participation and thoughtful dialogue.

The idea here is to determine the best combination of technologies to engage each audience and leave them with a “wow” factor that makes them eager to hear more!

4. Identify & Manage Varying Types of Audience Participants

It’s common to feel alone up there on the platform. But presenters aren’t alone – not when they’re familiar with their audience and how they can help reinforce the presenter’s goals. Some audience members may be supporters an executive can turn to for validation; others may be detractors, or “fence-sitters” that jam up a group consensus.

Learning to identify and manage these participants helps healthcare executives retain control during presentations and create better engagement among attendees.

5. Create Purposeful Audience Interaction

Healthcare is a dynamic industry, and healthcare presentations need to follow suit by engaging audience members and driving purposeful results from their participation.

But it isn’t easy to shake attendees out of apathy and get them involved in the discussion, which is why it helps to have dedicated training from healthcare consulting firms on the best way to create purpose-driven interactions in each presentation.

Healthcare Executive Training Begins With Communication

The above are just a few essential presentation skills that effective healthcare executives should know, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s possible. The Brooks Group provides detailed presentation training through our Carpei Audientiam program, specifically designed to enhance executive presentation skills and the way they connect with their audience. Registration is available through open enrollment sessions here, or by custom course with your organization.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/11/5-key-presentation-skills-that-healthcare-executives-need-to-develop-today/