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Market Access Strategic Execution Consultant

Ichigo-Ichie

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Ichigo-Ichie

Ichigo-ichie is a striking Japanese phrase which means “one life, one-time encounter.”

The moment will not happen again when I was staying up to fight for patients who are eagerly waiting for a life-saving drug.

The moment will not happen again when I was face-to-face with a client who is also an IRONMAN.

The moment will not happen again when I was spending 1:1 time with a master strategist.

The moment will not happen again when I was responding to a project manager’s text.

Similar moments may occur, but never quite the same.

Too often we dismiss these gifts because we’re too busy demanding our rights.

Drip by drip, I get opportunities to create something GRAND.

Questions That Count

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Questions That Count

When building a strategy from the ground-up, what are the questions you should be asking yourself?

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone whispered those questions into your ear?

Hope these questions are just as helpful to you as they are to me.

  • What problem is this project trying to solve for?
    • What is it for? When someone hires our service, what are they hiring it to do?
    • Who (or what) are we trying to change by doing this work? From what to what?
    • How will we know if it’s working?
  • How can we build on existing assets and experience?
    • What does it remind us of? Are there parallels, similar projects, things like this that have come before?
    • What assets do we already own that we’ll be able to leverage?
  • Anticipate obstacles.
    • What’s the difficult part?
    • How much of our time and focus are we spending on the difficult part?
    • What part that isn’t under our control has to happen for this to work?
    • How much (time and money) is it going to take to find out if we’ve got a shot at this working out?
    • What do we need to learn?
    • From which people will we need help? Do they have a track record of helping people like us?
    • What assets do we need to acquire?
  • Belief in this project despite all odds.
    • After the project launches, what new assets will we now own?
    • Why do we believe this project is worth it?

Solving Problems Together

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Solving Problems Together

There are many reasons to stay apart.

Different languages.

Different skin colors.

Different education levels.

Different levels of seniority.

Different opinions.

Different organizations.

The list goes on.

If we’re ever able to unite despite all of these differences, it’s truly a miracle.

But there’s good reason to seek out unity. United we stand, divided we fall.

According to the United States Census Bureau, health care is the largest US employer. Yet, SO many patients expose how embarrassingly messy and inefficient our system is. What gives?

Ending With Peace

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Ending With Peace

In conflicts, people rarely put up a fight to prove that a point of view is correct.

Even if they’re proven wrong, they will walk away in peace if they FEEL that they were heard, and people are leaving with the perception that THEY were correct (not whether their idea was correct–but that they were correct).

It was never about the idea—it was about them all along.

So, find a way to resolve the conflict in peace. Your team will be much better off.

Making Room For More

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Making Room For More

Time is not limitless.

Yet there is always a way to make time for priorities. Always.

Decluttering and organization create time.

Same thing goes with space. Space is not limitless.

Yet there is always a way to make space for priorities. Always.

Decluttering and organization create space.

Visualizing Information

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Visualizing Information

When the SAME information is available in both Word and PowerPoint files, people will likely pick up the deck first.

There is something to be said about visual elements and white space.

It becomes a problem again, however, when the slide decks are so verbose that they should’ve been Word documents instead.

It takes someone who cares in order to compile the information from all different sources and condense it into a visually appealing story.

When SmartArt doesn’t have the right template to effectively present your information, check out Diagrammer.com. It is a phenomenal place for free templates.

Strive for brevity that packs meaning.

Tiny but mighty is a good thing.

Trust

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Trust

Great stories are trusted.

What can you do to build trust with your customers?

Do you have strong evidence? Is the evidence consistent in the real-world setting? Have you shown commitment to improving care in the therapeutic area? Did you care to seek out what they want—or are you simply tooting your own horn? Does your language signal that you care about your own profit or service to them?

Trust is earned.

Inconsistencies break trust. Just like that.

Sometimes payers have no choice but to cover the one and only drug in the therapeutic area. But when competitors enter the market, they have choices.

If they trust you enough, they will go out of their way to MAKE SURE your product is granted favorable access.

Laggards on the Team

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Laggards on the Team

No one works in a vacuum in Market Access. We all rely on everyone else.

Be mindful of the weakest person on the team. Giving attention to them is well worth it.

How can you help them level-up? Do they need to additional skills? Do they crave nourishment?

It’s not that laggards will hold you back; but rather, they can actually bring the entire team down with them.

(After all, because of those of us who CHOSE to remain unvaccinated, EVERYONE has to brace themselves again for an uncertain future).

Before they bring everyone else down with them, what can you do to pull them up?

We are one. We are in this together. I need you.

Organizations have a competitive advantage when they have a culture where team members look out for each other.

Evolution

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Evolution

An evolution in career goal is a healthy signal of evolution of the person himself.

Most people enter the workforce as a small fry that’s eager to catch up to everyone else.

5 years into their career, some may settle on a niche and decide to charge forward in that direction.

10 years into their career, they’re eager to help patients in more meaningful ways. They’re looking for bigger problems to solve. It’s time to play the ‘Ages 10+’ games. It feels more gratifying to think beyond themselves and wonder about their purpose in this world.

By this time, a big part of their professional goal is to serve those around them—which was hardly a concern in the beginning.

This has been my journey, at least. As I reflect on my birthday about how my wisdom and perspective have evolved since I graduated from pharmacy school.

Start With the Story

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Start With the Story

The story fits into frames that we call slides.

If you don’t have a story to tell, what are you trying to convey with your slides anyways?

Most people start with slides, and then try to reverse engineer them into a story.

Try it in the opposite order: clearly write down the story, then make the outline, then create the slides. Always. In this order.

Notice how many fewer revisions and manpower it takes to arrive at the final product.

Krishna Patel, PharmD
Market Access Strategy and Execution Consultant
info@sojusllc.com
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