Selling into Pharma and Biotech, not what it used to be

The days of mining a black book and waiting for the business to come in are behind us, selling into Pharma and Biotech now needs a more structured and proactive approach to deliver controlled, sustainable growth. Livingbridge brought together leaders from across the pharma services ecosystem - from drug discovery through to commercialisation - to unpack how selling into pharma is changing and what it takes to win. Below a few of the key themes from our discussion:

Selling into Pharma now requires more than just relationship-based selling

• Omni-channel engagement, greater competition and more sophisticated vendor management within Pharma with a growing number of stakeholders requires investing in a structured approach to selling.
• Sales operating models now need to evolve, supported by technology, to better map various stakeholder needs and buying triggers, manage relationships and tailor selling messages.
• With purse strings tightening, organisations need to be clearer about what makes them different to stand out from the crowd. The tide isn’t rising as fast as it used to…
• With so many potential touchpoints brand consistency is crucial – this requires a dedicated effort to ensure the customer experience online and offline are aligned.

With the right incentives, everyone in the business can sell

• Customers tend to engage with numerous departments and individuals within an organisation creating lots of touchpoints to sell beyond just the sales and commercial teams. These individuals also bring their own networks which if harnessed can become a powerful source of growth.
• Training and incentivising your entire organisation to sell is critical to unlocking the opportunity for every employee to become revenue generating; referral bonus programmes, cross-selling incentives, and shared targets help embed commercial ownership across the organisation.

Technology is placing a premium on authenticity and offline engagement

• As the barriers to content creation have reduced it has become harder to be distinct. Organisations now need to be more thoughtful about brand – this means looking deep within to articulate what your organisation is really about. Generic language like ‘end-to-end’ or ‘trusted partner’ isn’t good enough anymore.
• Post-covid the role of conferences has evolved. These are now more meaningful events and an opportunity to build genuine connections with customers in way offline interactions cannot. This is particularly important for prospective customers to get a sense of what you will be like to work with.
• GenAI and emerging agentic tools are streamlining sales outreach and pitching, and personalising engagement - freeing teams to focus on higher-value conversations

Invest early and be patient

• Getting to potential customers is easier than ever, but getting their attention and engagement take time and patience.
• Selling is now a long game, particularly in Big Pharma, and this requires patience coupled with the right tools to support relationship management.