“With the current state of the medical device marketplace, it is important for companies to understand how to present innovative medical technology and revenuegenerating strategies in an appealing way for potential investors,” says Kevin Schimelfenig, managing partner of SalesForce4Hire, based in Cary, NC.

At a presentation at the Emerging Growth Company (EGCC) conference held May 3 in Boston, Schimelfenig spoke at length about strategies to improve the likelihood of a successful product launch, from securing funding to commercialization.

“Many companies, although they may not know it, are simply not adequately prepared when introducing a new product,” Schimelfenig says. It may be true that they perform careful product prototyping, but they often fail to fully understand the market or prepare a comprehensive sales strategy. While many large device companies are “very good at scaling up a sales force, they lack the expertise to prototype a sales force prior to full-scale product launch,” he says.

To deal with this problem, companies can adopt a custom, highly focused, modular sales model prototype prior to full-scale launch that is designed to rapidly validate the market and business opportunity. Similar to product prototyping, this technique enables a company to identify the viability of a product at minimal cost. A sales prototype enables a company to answer three fundamental questions: Will the product quickly fail after it is introduced? Will the profit margins be sufficient to justify placing the product into a core sales channel? And is the product worth taking to full scale?

Another recommendation to improve the chances of success when launching a new product is to employ outsourcing, when it is useful. Schimelfenig advises companies to look for a partner with a business model that shares risk and shared reward. This ensures that interests are aligned. An experienced sales partner can help deploy customized strategies to accelerate revenue by developing a sales channel for the specific needs of company and product. Things to look for when sourcing a business partner include solid sales support, tight operational infrastructure, and a successful track record building custom sales models.

More information on these points is available in a recently published white paper written by Schimelfenig, titled “Launching a Medical Device, Healthcare, or Life Science Product: Fail Fast, Marginal, or Worth Pursuing?”

—Brian Buntz