MEDICAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION COMPANY ISSUES Survival Tactics for MedicalEducation Companies Breaking Into the Industry advisory board, and learn what really drives market and brand share. As a partner, the challenge is to anticipate new trends before the competition does, and create solutions for clients before they demand them. Propose new ways to accomplish the client’s goals. With the regulatory environment in its cur rent rigid state, strategic and creative thinking are at a pre mium. Learn to say “thank you” before saying “hello”: Providers need to endear themselves to their clients, their staff, and their col leagues. Passion must exude from every pore, and courtesy must be genuine. If the passion isn’t there, reexamine why the company wants the business (other than the obvious). Respect, appreciate, and understand clients, their workloads, and the other factors that contribute to their rigorous workdays. As a partner, your company’s role includes encouraging, empathizing with, and helping clients achieve and surpass their personal and professional goals. When they exceed the potential for their brand, your organization becomes indispensable. The Best Defense Treat the client’s wallet as if it was your own: This translates (at times) into pure dollars and cents. Consider where to get the most “bang for the client’s buck” in the spirit of the alliance. For a client with a finite budget, limited internal resources, or minimal buying power, be creative in budget preparation. Get at least three bids for every major job and evaluate them qualitatively, as well as quantitatively. Build out sourcing relationships to benefit a client’s bottom line, and try to elim inate some of the scramble before the throes of project planning. Allocate and micromanage internal resources from day one: Surprise! Startup companies don’t always have the same resources as the competition. Managers will need to weigh and take pride in decisions to hire employees before implementing certain luxuries. Be prepared to work lean for a while. Accept the situation and work within that framework. Don’t allow what the company doesn’t have and won’t be getting anytime soon to take precedence over get ting the job done. Leaps of Faith Select employees wisely: Discover the talent, but remember to create a team. A team agrees on a goal and that the only way to achieve that goal is to work together. This means hiring likeminded people. If lucky, the company is entering the industry with one or two trusted teammates who agree that despite everything, they are on board. From this foundation, the company can add personnel who share in the vision of what the organization can become. Be incred ibly selective, even among the many qualified candidates available. The company can become more or less effective with every person added. Seek careeroriented individuals who share an excitement for C ertainly almost everyone has seen the The WorstCase Scenario Survival Handbook (Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht, Chronicle Books LLC), the guide that navi gates readers through dozens of horrible situations. While medicaleducation companies breaking into the industry may not encounter such unusual situations, the infinitely fluctuating and volatile environment that exists mandates the creation of an industry survival guide for surviving, and even thriv ing in medical education. Great Escapes and Entrances Put a premium on leadership and work ethic Evaluate the company’s vision on an ongoing basis: To ensure a new medicaleducation company’s growth and success, leadership and ownership at all levels must be the No. 1 priority. All team play ers must comprehend and be dedicated to living and evolving the original vision with every new challenge that arises. Every moment within the organization must count; managers must constantly revisit and revise the vision to meet everchanging needs. Whether this involves editing a manuscript or preparing a contact report, team members must operate in the image of the vision for their organization. Execute flawlessly, every time: In reviewing a client’s company credo or mission statement, note that quality and service are high priorities. As their partner, medicaleducation companies need to capitalize on every interaction with clients. Providers need to sup port their clients’ vision as their own. There is no time for the luxu ry of indecision or error. As a partner, a medicaleducation compa ny is only as good as the last project completed. Preexisting relationships are in the past. As a partner, mimic the coverage of a live news event. Every project should be executed flawlessly — every time. Go the extra mile every day. Develop timely new products: Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but as a new cuttingedge company, there is no room to be conventional — conduct market research, develop an FISSION COMMUNICATIONS, New York, is the global medicaleducation affiliate of Regan Campbell Ward, a division of McCannErickson Healthcare World wide, which focuses on comprehensive educational and strategic development. For more information, call Michael L. Platt at 6467422125, or visit fis sioned.com. Michael L. Platt VP, Managing Director Mario R. Nacinovich Jr. VP, Business Development, Editorial and Strategic Planning Laura A. Carlson VP, Client Services, Meetings Services and Operations

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