Flinn Scientific puts its commercial model under a microscope to find growth

It’s a simple proposition: Improve interactions between the field force and healthcare professionals, and improve commercial performance. But without trustworthy data and efficient sales operations, significant improvements to customer management are nearly impossible.

When a leading biopharmaceutical company wanted to implement new customer strategies and ultimately improve customer relationships, executives started with a series of foundational changes.

The challenge

Flinn Scientific was struggling with the very definition of a good problem to have. Business mostly came straight to the company with little need to market or provide outbound sales, and its clients were deeply loyal. “We often call our customers the Flinn Fanatics,” said CEO Mike Lavelle. “If you look at Net Promoter Scores, ours are high. We have customer surveys that always come back in the high 90% range in terms of customer satisfaction.”

So what was the problem? A combination of missed opportunity and an increasingly competitive landscape. Lavelle knew that if the company made no change to its commercial model, Flinn Scientific wouldn’t just miss extra revenue. At some point, it would also lose market share to a more assertive competitor.

The solution

Together, Lavelle’s team and ZS worked to identify Flinn Scientific’s main growth opportunities, key pain points and costly competitive disadvantages. To do this, they used ZS’s Commercial Effectiveness Navigator, a comprehensive framework of best practice statements covering sales, marketing, operations and other key business drivers. ZS Commercial Effectiveness Navigator empowers problem-solving and drives commercial excellence by helping clients diagnose commercial challenges, prioritize improvement opportunities and build transformational roadmaps.

“This was a different playbook than what the company was used to over the past 40 years,” Lavelle said. “We had some internal expertise to do this but it was limited, so we knew we needed to bring in help in a way that’s practical, in a way that’s scalable, in a way that actually sticks and creates results.”

Flinn Scientific embarked on a series of brainstorming sessions and workshops, using ZS’s Commercial Effectiveness Navigator framework to keep them focused and returning to fundamental questions about what’s best for their customers. Lavelle also engaged ZS to coach team members in new, proactive sales positions to help encourage new behaviors and success during the adoption of a customer engagement playbook.

Lavelle found ZS Commercial Effectiveness Navigator to be critical in keeping his team on task and focused. “But more important, it was invaluable in reminding us: ‘What’s the bigger purpose in what we’re trying to accomplish? Does it support that end business objective?’ It was very good for us as a company because we tend to be very process-oriented, but we’re charting a path that’s very new to some folks, and it was a great part of the journey for us.“

Flinn Scientific was able to uncover a wealth of opportunities by using the Commercial Effectiveness Navigator framework, evolving its business to accommodate a transformational commercial model for the next generation of growth. The company was able to identify multiple new roles that needed to be filled, as well as roles that needed to change or move to new departments

“We learned some tough things about our company,” Lavelle said. “But I’m so glad we learned them because now we’re in the process of rebuilding them, growing them and fixing them. And we’re seeing unbelievably strong results from a commercial standpoint because of it.”

The impact

Early indications suggest that this new commercial model is working.

The sales personnel that ZS coached using new methods demonstrated a 10% increase in revenue generation in just six weeks. Flinn Scientific was able to reduce unnecessary and duplicative work that has saved significant time and costs, and then use those cost savings to hire additional salespeople.

“Early indications say that only six weeks after launching our new model, we feel very comfortable that this project is paying for itself, and you could even argue that maybe it has already paid for itself,” Lavelle said.

When asked to reflect on his work with ZS, Lavelle was clear on his perspective, emphasizing how the process helped create a better outcome. “Effectiveness improved, our connection rates improved, our close rates improved. And it all came out of a five- or six-week process with the individuals who went through the journey coming out the other end being motivated, excited and energized about the future and their ability to sell more.”

This remarkable transformation is just an important first step for Lavelle and Flinn Scientific in a longer journey with much promise. As Flinn Scientific continues to grow its business, its commercial operations will continue to evolve from this new growth-oriented foundation.