Key Criteria for Selecting a Pharmaceutical Speaker Bureau Company

Key Criteria for Selecting a Pharmaceutical Speaker Bureau Company

After nearly 20 years in the industry and a myriad of pharma, med-device, and biotech speaker bureau launches, it has become apparent there are six key criteria that are ideal for one to take into consideration when thinking about bringing on a new pharmaceutical speaker bureau company. Whenever PharMethod engages a potential new partner, we make it clear at the outset that as they evaluate vendor options, they should keep in mind this checklist to ensure the best outcome.

#1: Web Portal Capability & Analytics

The days of manually managing speaker bureau activities are far behind us. The industry standard has now advanced to the point that relying on a digital solution, like speaker bureau software, is not only critical but required as the optimal way to ensure smooth and compliant planning and execution of speaker programs and events. Additionally, speaker program activity can produce volumes of insight that can influence strategy and inform the next best actions for customer-facing teams. A robust digital platform like PharMethod’s PharmaSPEAK™ portal, for example, can deliver real-time data to enhance outcomes.

PharMethod informs all potential new clients to ask the vendors they are considering to share their own portal capabilities in depth, and to provide thorough demonstrations of how these platforms work not only for commercial team members, but for the bureau members as well.

At PharMethod, we recommend investing ample time up front to ask the right questions for understanding every facet of the portal; including how well it works for managing and capturing speaker program logistics. What is the process flow? How thoroughly and frequently are the updated reports and analytics provided? Let’s not forget about data integration either. Can data in the portal flow into the CRM and data lake? Is this handled internally and speedily, or outsourced by the vendor?

Your portal is front-facing and will be the primary point of engagement for your internal teammates and potentially your bureau too. Make sure you know what the typical user experience will be like and ask yourself if it is intuitive and easy to navigate. If not, you can expect pushback from your reps and your speakers about using it.

#2: Speaker Program Management Services

One should not assume that all speaker bureau management vendors share an aligned vision when it comes to speaker program services. In fact, the definition and scope of these services varies significantly from vendor to vendor. A failure to understand what a prospective vendor will and won’t do as part of their day-to-day speaker program services can leave one in a position where internal teammates and speaker bureau members are calling with complaints on a daily basis.

Make certain you understand how your prospective vendors handle programs in different formats. What do they do to ensure live programs go well vs virtual programs? How do they support hybrid programs and events? How are venues managed when one is required? How does the vendor ensure they are compliant ones? What kind of communications will be shared with the reps? How often will the speaker bureau members be given updates, and how willing is the vendor to customize and accommodate speakers based on their communication preferences?

This criterion is where the rubber meets the road in terms of making a vendor selection that alleviates the burden from one’s work life instead of adding to it!

#3: KOL & Speaker Management

One of the most common mistakes companies make when selecting their pharmaceutical speaker bureau management partner is not establishing up front every aspect of the service offering regarding KOL and speaker management services. Your speaker bureau members are busy professionals with many obligations and competing priorities. They likely do not have time or energy held in reserve for dealing with inconsistencies and knowledge gaps when it comes to your speaker programs and events. In this area, weaknesses on the part of a vendor can foster ill will toward your organization, and derail sales rep efforts when they visit an office ready for a clinical selling discussion, only to encounter an HCP who is angry and confused about an upcoming speaker program.

PharMethod’s recommendation is to think of KOL and speaker management services as if on a spectrum with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Ask your prospective vendors to bullet point everything they do from the outset of a speaker program request, all the way to the post-completion phase of a program. What steps do they take to eliminate any gray areas and ensure that speakers are comfortably aware of program details? What about the program initiator? How are they kept aware of progress? What forms of communication are used by the vendor? Can they demonstrate flexibility to conform to the communication preferences of the sponsor, the rep, and the speaker?

A strong vendor candidate will have no problem providing a comprehensive understanding of this critical process flow. The more you know about this, the easier it will be to differentiate one vendor from another during the RFP or evaluation phase, and the easier it will be to set expectations for your internal teammates as well as the bureau members themselves.

#4: Pharma Aggregate Spend Data & Reporting

One of the primary reasons companies seek out PharMethod is dissatisfaction with their current vendor when it comes to dutiful and consistent aggregate spend data capture and reporting. When it comes to this factor, one must be extremely careful to discern how a potential new vendor partner handles the management of all information around transfer of value and indeed all spending for the execution of compliant speaker programs and events.

In our experience at PharMethod, the vendor should shoulder full responsibility from the initial development of the speaker bureau initiative budget in partnership with the company, through to the procurement and reconciliation of programs of events tracking and reporting on all applicable program spends. With a key stroke one should be able to see spends from the global level, down to the region, territory, program, KOL/speaker, and attendee levels as needed.

Ask prospective vendors if they have a system in place to help manage speaker programs spending effectively, and to demonstrate this if possible. For Marketing teams, this means down to the penny financial reports are available 24/7 for tracking of budget burn rate to maximize spending. For Compliance and Finance teams this means complete visibility at all times for speaker bureau spending with strict adherence to all compliance guidelines and standards. Can the vendor provide financial forecasts to aid in budget management? How does the vendor handle monthly accruals?

#5: Speaker Program Compliance Monitoring & Oversight

We all know how heavily scrutinized speaker programs and events have become since the dawning of Senator Grassley’s Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2007. Regulators closely monitor speaker programs to ensure compliance, and companies employ various means to maintain clean and accurate records at all times. Organizations need pharmaceutical speaker bureau companies who can strengthen their capabilities to plan and execute fully compliant programs and events, while at the same time simplifying the administrative and day-to-day management of the modern speaker bureau program.

How does the vendor ensure all applicable compliance guidelines and standards are adhered to at all times? What systems and processes do they have in place to stay up to date on changes in policy?

This is yet another service area where all pharmaceutical speaker bureau companies are definitely not created equal. Our vision at PharMethod is to be the trusted third-party compliance partner and watch dog for all our clients. Any services discussion or RFP should deeply explore the vendor’s vision for compliance support and adherence as a potential partner to avoid costly mistakes post implementation that can take a speaker programs initiative completely offline.

#6: Strategic Account Management

Have you ever hired an agency or vendor whom you thought was going to make your life easier but who ended up making it more difficult? Perhaps you had to monitor them to ensure their work was consistent or pursue them with multiple calls and emails just to get an answer to a simple question?

Another fundamental reason companies approach PharMethod to take on their speaker bureau management is a failure on the part of their current vendor to take ownership of the initiative. There are so many moving parts and daily tasks that must be undertaken to run a speaker bureau successfully, and having an ownership mentality has been a cornerstone of our success for decades. It is imperative to understand the prospective vendor’s mindset toward this, and how it might or might not carry over into the fabric of the partnership itself.

We recommend asking questions about a vendor’s vision for client relations. What are their standard practices around client availability? How do they build and assign a team? How tenured are the team members? What kind of touchpoints will there be for you as the client? Will you have to chase them for information, or will the vendor come to you having anticipated your needs? How proactive and consultative will they be once the bid is won and contracts are signed? Ask the prospective vendor to describe a time they eliminated perceived knowledge gaps before they become problematic for a client. Ask them to describe a situation where they identified a potential problem, and addressed it proactively.

Try to get a feel for how the relationship will work and how responsive your prospective vendor will be. Understanding what the day to day working relationship will be like is a critical requirement in the vendor evaluation process.