Today, I am going to introduce you to the first, and most important, “persona” in the Prolifiq Life Sciences ecosystem—the Health Care provider (HCP). Typically, this HCP is a physician, however, they may be an executive administrator that is part of a value analysis committee (VAC); but, for the purposes of this post, I use the terms interchangeably.

My good friend and advisor (see: “Virgin Atlantic and Jonathan” ), Dr. Jonathan Sackier, Professor of Surgery, University of Virginia sums up his being with:

“Let’s face it – we physicians are needy people. We need to do well by our patients – we need to help them; we need to make them better; we need the best possible outcomes. We need information. Yes, we read a lot, we use libraries, we use the internet, and we talk amongst ourselves. But – the single greatest source of knowledge about the latest and greatest comes from our interactions with the sales reps. We need to hear from them.”

The HCP is the person whom the life sciences (pharmaceutical, medical devices, or biotechnology) sales people wish to interact with. The HCP is THE person who is on the front-lines of health care delivery in this country, and is often faced with life or death decisions. This person typically has 8+ years of under-graduate and graduate education, has typically received medical board accreditation, and is required to receive continuing medical education (CME) to stay current with their profession.

Over the last several years their lives have changed dramatically. Escalating business operating costs, managed care and federal reimbursement practices have driven the industry to consolidate. Rare is the sole practitioner; specialty groups have emerged and hospitals have come to own many physician practices and clinics. The HCPs need to see and treat increasing numbers of patients in order for their business model to work.

The thing that motivates all HCPs is: to do what is best for the patient – each and every time. They look to achieve the best possible outcome for each patient; these outcomes are often driven by the use of certain compounds (pharmaceutical or biotechnology) or certain products and procedures (medical devices and biotechnology). These compounds, products and procedures are developed through a complex research and development process that combines industry investment, clinical research and governmental oversight and regulation. The HCPs need to be kept up to date through the consumption of scientific, educational and promotional material from the industry in order to understand how to achieve the best outcomes possible.

The challenge for the HCP, and the LS sales representative, is their time to interact is becoming more and more limited. These exchanges may need to take place at a scrub sink; they may take place between patient exams; they may take place walking in the hallway; and they can increasingly take place electronically (increasingly, HCPs are becoming avid computer and smart phone users). In any case, the HCP has: 1) a need for timely relevant information, 2) limited time, and 3) limited attention span. And, most importantly, the HCP wants to be able to consume the information in a way that suits their learning style.

William Greenebaum, Administrator, OHSU Dotter Interventional Institute tells us:

“We pride ourselves on our reputation for innovation.  We value the professional collaboration that exists between industry and our physicians, without which we are less likely to fully accomplish our mission of excellence in patient care, teaching, and research.”

When we identified this market, we studied the HCPs to understand their needs. So, today’s question is: what is the best way to satisfy this need?

Next up:  Feet on the street.

For some, these two words may conjure up images of beer-influenced frat-boys and their merry-making ways; however, for Prolifiq, this means management is going out to meet customers and prospects. Several of my co-workers love to say: “…good things happen when we’re on the road…”. What they are referring to is how well the Prolifiq story sits with people who have the opportunity to hear it.

Starting September 13, Prolifiq is engaging in a series of events to promote the Prolifiq for Life Sciences offerings. This is the culmination of a lot of HARD WORK by the entire company. We have been serving – quite successfully, I might add – several Life Sciences companies for the last 18 months. Earlier this year we consciously decided to focus our attention on this industry because we have helped transform how these companies work.

These events are designed to dramatically increase our awareness in the sector; and, to increase our market penetration. We have great solutions for real-life, day-to-day challenges this industry experiences; and, our market research tells us we’ve nailed it. Maureen has done a fantastic job leading our thinking; and the whole team has performed in bringing it all together. It hasn’t all been pretty; but nothing worthwhile is ever easy or pretty.

My next series of posts will take you through the four personas we impact in the industry (salesperson, marketer, regulatory affairs professional and the healthcare professional), the specific challenges they face, and the activities we are engaged in to serve this industry. I will share with you some of our challenging deliberations, talk about our website machinations, the word-smithing on our messaging, and through it all I’ll really open the door on Prolifiq. This is in keeping with a commitment I made in my first post on the subject (see: “You’re doing what?” ). Through the process you will hopefully learn more of who we are. Good things happen when we’re “on the road”.

“Un-plugging” is admittedly difficult for me; however, last week was vacation week and I did just that. I found it refreshing and renewing in many ways. So relaxing, in fact, that getting back in the groove of writing again has been difficult. But, this column is not a celebration of vacation – it is a celebration of work.

I spent a week on a very sparsely populated island in the San Juans and met some very interesting people. There was Mike – the refugee from Davenport, Iowa who 25 years ago called his wife from Orcas Island and told her to sell the house, pack it up and move west. He had found his calling. Mike is an inn-keeper (and has only left the island for 8 hours in the last year). He had a wedding to attend on the mainland. Oh, and Mike has only used ½ tank of gas in the last year. His reasoning: “This place is like a dairy farm: there is always something to do. I don’t need much; plus, where would I go.”

Ben is a teacher;  his classroom is his fleet of 5 sailing vessels. He is a former middle school science teacher whose wife, 9 years ago, told him that she had enough of the “union crap” of the education system and said: “…we’re selling the house and buying a boat.” Mike runs a private sailing school and spent the day teaching 4 novices how to sail. I cannot recall seeing a smile as large as his in my entire life. And, my 12 year old now can handle a 19-footer, solo.

Tara is Ben’s only employee. She grew up on a lake and has learned how to turn childhood passions (sailing and sewing) into a profession. Tara teaches sailing as well; however, she has her own sail making loft. According to Ben, her sails are the best in the San Juans.

Mark and Toni own and operate a third-generation shellfish farm in picturesque Olga, WA.  Every clam and oyster they produce is hand-seeded, and after 3 or so years, hand-picked, sorted and scrubbed. Mark took a look at my two boys and said: “…looks like you could use 4 pounds – they’ll eat them.” He was wrong; we needed 6-7 pounds.

On Saturday, I picked up a thought provoking book: “Shop Class as Soulcraft: an inquiry into the value of work ” by Matt Crawford. Crawford’s work hit me while I was trying to process what I had learned from all whom I encountered. It did the trick – Crawford is celebrating craftsmanship in the truest sense of the word. All of these people do what they do, and have become their occupations, because of their love for their craft. What makes it work for them is this love also allows them to pay the bills.

So, the question of the week is: what is your craft? What is it that you do better than anyone else? What gives you intense personal satisfaction that you cannot find doing anything else? If you were your profession and your profession were you, what would that be?

Knowing this is to know peace.

Today on NPR I heard a piece where the commentators were discussing their favorite children’s books that have been turned into movies. This reminded me of conversations I had in college where my friends and I would pick the ten music albums we would want with us if we were stranded on a desert island. (This, of course presumes the desert island would have a power source and a record player.)

During the last school year, my eldest son read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Because the book was so thought provoking, we rented the Francois Truffaut movie version of the book and watched it as a family. So, on drives to school the two boys and I would banter about what society would be like if the setting were real. Would we be “firemen” or would we be “vagabond book-lovers”? If the latter, what book would we memorize  – what book would we “become”?

I surprised both boys with my answer: “Harold and the purple crayon”. They wanted to know why I would pick a children’s book over all the other books I read – business books, history books, spy thrillers, and especially one I talk about all the time – and one every leader should be reading RIGHT NOW  – “Atlas Shrugged”.

The answer is very simple: Harold and the purple crayon celebrates imagination. For those who have not read the book, Harold is a child lying in bed on a sleepless night. With only his imagination and a purple  crayon he creates a cityscape and goes on an odyssey in his mind. The book ends with Harold back in his bed much wiser for the experience, and tired enough to fall asleep. Night time readings of the book helped two very tired boys drift off in our household….

One of the cultural artifacts of Prolifiq is our conference rooms. We don’t have white boards; we have white walls. Floor to ceiling dry-erase walls. Their purpose – to allow for imaginative expression (see: “I think”) and, we keep, and replenish monthly, a huge supply of markers. Every employee uses them, a lot, and everything we do here starts out as a drawing on the wall. If you were to take our markers away, I don’t know if we could communicate with each other.

So, when our company history is written it will likely be titled: “Prolifiq and the dry-erase marker”.