Main Subject - Business

Some companies that use direct mail to sell their products and services are like the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there. They repeat the same mistakes, and enjoy the same poor

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

results. Here are their eight most common misdemeanors, and a cure for each.

1. Wrong list
The most important part of any direct mail campaign is not the copy. It’s not the art direction. And it’s not the

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ffer. It’s the mailing list.

That’s why you can mail identical packages to two lists, one good and one poor, and find that the good list pulls 10 times more responses than the poor list does. Your mailing list,

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

after all, is not just a way to reach your market. It is your market.

2. No testing
There are no answers in direct mail except test answers. I didn’t write that. Eugene Schwartz, the author of Breakthroug

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

Advertising, did.

If you don’t test one package against another, one list against another, you won’t know what works and what fails. So test lists. Test offers. Test formats. Test envelope teaser copy. Don’t a

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ssume you know what works. Test and be sure.

3. No offer
The second most important part of a direct mail package is the offer. The offer aims to persuade readers to choose your product or service over what

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

your competitors are selling. Your offer must differentiate you from the competition by way of price, terms, guarantees or extras.

To generate leads, offer free technical information, a free analysis, free cons

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ultation, free demonstration, free trial use or free product sample. To build retail traffic, offer premiums, special discounts or exclusives. To sell a product directly through the mail, offer a free trial, sam

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

le, premium or discount.

4. Starting with you, not me
You’re at a party. You meet two people. One greets you this way: “Hi, I’m a swell person and I make lots of money. But enough about me, what do you thi

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

nk about me?” The other greets you this way, “Hi, I’m Tony. You look like an interesting person. Tell me about yourself.”

Now, then, which of these two people would you rather talk to? Your readers prefer to he

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

r you talk about them, not about yourself or your product. Yet many businesses mail sales letters that begin: “ABC Incorporated was founded in 1982 and is in the business of delivering quality, service and value

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

into the new millennium.” Big yawn. Big mistake. Aim your messages at the prospect and say everything from the prospect’s point of view. Don’t begin your copy with “we” when you can begin with “you.”

5. Slow in

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

getting to the point
You have five seconds. After that, your reader is either still reading or is preparing your mailing for a flight test into the wastepaper basket.

Don’t make the mistake of a slow buil

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

-up. Avoid the roundabout approach. Start your letter with your most compelling sales point. Fire your biggest cannon in the first line of copy. Promise your reader a benefit. Give them a reason to continue read

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ing.

6. Poor follow-up
Don’t spend all your time and effort in generating a response and none in following up inquiries. Slow fulfillment is deadly.

So are inadequate marketing literature and unprofession

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

l telemarketing. They can destroy the interest that you work so hard to build. Fill requests for information within 48 hours. Send follow-up mailings to those who do not respond first time. Follow-up, follow-up,

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

follow-up.

7. No time limit
Time may heal all wounds, but it kills response. Your enemy is procrastination. Your enemy is tomorrow.

Don’t make the mistake of letting your readers put you off until they f

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

rget your mailing altogether. Put a time limit on your offer: “Call now. This offer expires June 1, 1999.” Time-limited offers almost always outpull offers with no time limit.

8. No call for action
Ask for

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

the order. BUY NOW! PHONE TODAY! ORDER YOUR FREE SAMPLE! If you don’t ask for a response, you won’t get one. Tell readers what to do. Show them the next step. Make your order form easy to read and easy to follo

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

.

Fortunately, others have gone before us. My favourite sources for tested, practical wisdom on direct mail techniques are Successful Direct Marketing Methods by Bob Stone and anything by Herschell Gordon Lewis

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Often the best business ideas just don't make it to first base, and unfortunately, the reason isn't very hard to find. But here's how to ensure that creativity will thrive in the workplace.

By combining your business with someone elses's you can get their customers also. This should not cost any money but benefit both of your businesses. The steps to joint ventures and some common examples are given. The author also offers to assist the reader to create a joint venture.

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