The 4 commercial capabilities life sciences firms will need in the future…. And they are not what yo

As healthcare organisations evolve their business models to a more complex, multi-stakeholder buying and adoption model, life sciences firms and other suppliers will need to adapt their commercial capabilities to succeed in this new business environment.

So what capabilities will life sciences firms need in the future? We list the 4 main commercial capabilities firms will need to master to succeed in this future business model.

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1. Buyer Marketing

Buyer marketing (or the commonly associated payer marketing) is an evolving capability that focuses on the ability to market and sell the added value of new technologies to the complex, multi-stakeholder buyers of healthcare.

Fewer, higher-value customers and contracts will challenge the commercial capabilities commonly split across marketing, market access and policy/government affairs today and will drive integration of technical and commercial capabilities.

Account-based marketing, buyer personas, content journeys, profitability optimisation, strategic account management and negotiation capability will become common-place tools and strategies as part of this trend towards buyer marketing.

2. User adoption

As the commercial focus shifts to healthcare buyers, engagement with healthcare professionals will focus on driving user adoption by enabling and supporting the implementation of the new technology and the associated treatment pathways across networks of healthcare professionals and providers.

The commercial model of enterprise software offers a glimpse into such user adoption programmes. While tech firms, such as SAP and Microsoft, market and sell their solutions to executive and IT managers, the firms deploy expansive change management and training programmes to support the update and adoption across their client organisations.

Communication and training, change management, clinical service design, organisational incentive programmes and project management will evolve as the dominant capabilities for driving adoption.

3. Patient activation

Patient activation is defined by the King’s Fund as ‘an individual’s knowledge, skill, and confidence for managing their health and health care’ – for life sciences firms, it can be defined as the capability to design and execute programmes, either directly or in partnership with healthcare buyers and providers, that motivate patients to take a more active role in their healthcare.

Activation strategies commonly used across many sectors, including retail and tech. For example, FMCG firms routinely provide their distributors and retailers with branded and unbranded marketing collateral to drive consumer engagement and demand.

In life sciences, white label content and programmes, disease awareness programmes, “quantified-self” applications and service redesign services will become critical solutions in patients adopting new technologies.

4. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a new concept in the life sciences sector, though the industry has subtly used many of its tactics for many years. Influencer marketing is focused on engaging and enabling people and organisations who are perceived as having an influence with a business’ purchasing client base. In life sciences, influencers can include HTA authorities, clinical key opinion leaders and health policy makers – even patient organisations or the general public.

Early access and engagement with highly influential organisations and individuals is a commercial strategy used across multiple sectors – automotive and tech firms routinely provide influential media and blog outlets with early access to new products. Aerospace firms, such as Boeing and Airbus, partner with influential clients to develop new products. Life sciences already engages with HTA authorities and KOL’s much earlier than 5 years ago – though there still may be other influencers that they do not.

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As you may have noticed, these new capabilities are not defined in the context of - or even refer to - the traditional functions within the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, such as market access, marketing, HEOR and medical.

This is not an oversight- it is intentional.

Our primary reference for this future vision is the evolving needs of stakeholders and trends in healthcare systems. The existing and traditional definition of functions and responsibilities may be challenged by these trends and will require leaders to take a fresh look at their commercial operating model.