In the life science industry, collaboration with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) is critical to product success, both on the provider and payer side. As competitive pressures increase, this collaboration is becoming increasingly important. The need for successful KOL management is growing.
Trust is the key currency in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. For the majority of consumers, trust is an important factor in the purchase decision. In order to build this trust and at the same time have all the information relevant for product development and planning, contact with key people, so-called Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), within the pharmaceutical sector is crucial. By identifying, monitoring and engaging with the right KOLs for their products, companies can gain a significant competitive advantage, and the best way to do this is through effective KOL management.
What is successful KOL Management?
A Key Opinion Leader (KOL) is a person within a particular group or organisation who has a strong influence within that group. In the pharmaceutical sector, a KOL may be an expert in his or her field who enjoys a high level of trust. As a result, he or she has a decisive influence on the actions and purchasing decisions of the members of his or her group. Opinion leaders in the pharmaceutical industry are, for example, renowned physicians with specific medical experience who advise companies on drug development, clinical trials, research, regulatory issues or marketing. They can also be authors, speakers or people who work in hospital inpatient or outpatient settings and therefore have insights into the hospital ecosystem.
KOL management encompasses the entire opinion leader process. It begins with the identification of the individual and extends to contact management. The goal of KOL management is to identify the right people and then turn those contacts into beneficial and sustainable relationships. If this is in line with the company’s objectives and the process is lean, KOL management will deliver the desired results.
Successful KOL management involves the following steps:
- Identifying the right people
- Detailed profiling with interests, specialities, etc.
- Monitoring of ongoing activities and maintenance of the KOL database
- Relationship management
Levels one to three are supported by many technology solutions, including IBM’s Truven Health Analytics. Organisations that use analytics and technology wisely to identify, validate, track and manage KOLs make their jobs easier and get there faster.
“Engagement, the result of relationship work, is the key metric for stable and sustainable KOLs. This makes engagement the most important part of successful KOL management”.
At the fourth level, relationship management, the personal level is even more important. Commitment, i.e. the connection of all parties involved, is the most important part of successful KOL management. Targeted and documented KOL engagement activities, such as attending conferences or planning clinical trials, are important to increase engagement. These activities can be detailed in a plan. This helps to ensure consistency and repeatability. Tracking, reviewing and reporting on KOL engagement is also essential to improving a KOL management programme. Both the KOLs and the relationship with them should be reassessed on a regular basis. This is the only way to ensure that improvements are possible and that effort and commitment are in the right proportion.
Successful KOL Management through KOL Mapping
Another aspect of successful KOL management is KOL mapping. This involves looking at the target individuals in the context of the company’s overall KOL portfolio and segmenting them, i.e. dividing them according to their influence, expertise, etc. In this way, mapping provides insight into the connections, relationships and people who interact with each other in a variety of ways to create the broader pharma ecosystem in which drugs compete.
Identification and mapping are distinct but synergistic. While identification reveals individual contacts such as physicians, nurses or authors, mapping helps reveal the terrain of the entire KOL landscape. Together, they form the foundation upon which pharmaceutical companies can build their own unique and successful KOL management.
Why is successful KOL Management important in the Pharmaceutical Industry?
When it comes to credibility and trust, people always play an important role. Especially in niche markets such as pharmaceuticals, opinion leaders are a crucial competitive factor. They improve the understanding of research and development trends, conduct clinical trials, increase product awareness, help with product acceptance decisions and, last but not least, inform patients. Successful KOL management is based on intelligent analytical and technological tools and is aligned with strategic business objectives.
Companies that have established successful KOL management can go one step further. After all, it pays to look to the future and identify tomorrow’s opinion leaders, the “rising stars“, early on. These may take some time to build, but they can have a medium-term impact on market strategy. Rising stars also increase the pool of contacts available to a company. As a result, there is a greater chance that some of these contacts will not work with the competition.
Benefits of Successful KOL Management
Ultimately, pharmaceutical companies work with KOLs to develop drugs, promote them and give them credibility. But it’s also about getting knowledge into the right places. A respected opinion leader can help get the knowledge, the right message, to the right audience. When KOLs are successfully managed, almost all phases of the drug lifecycle benefit – from the initial discovery of a drug to the stages of approval and market entry. Ultimately, successful KOL management is a win-win situation for everyone.
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