Success Story Follow-up: CDMO, Metrics Contract Services, Grows Sales Pipeline and Closes Sales
Patience With Pharma’s Long Sales Cycle Results in Nearly $20 M Quoted and $4 M Closed
Client Profile
Metrics Contract Services, a subsidiary of Mayne Pharma Group Limited, located in Greenville, NC, is a full-service global CDMO specializing in oral dosage forms. Metrics Contract Services also offers clients an impressive portfolio of advanced delivery methods for controlled release, bioavailability enhancement, and taste masking.
Business Situation
This Success Story is a follow-up to a previous one. It has now been five years since Metrics Contract Services first engaged with Athena SWC. When they first came to Athena, their sales team was interacting with new customers, traveling, and closing new sales, leaving them little time for prospecting. Hiring a front-end sales and marketing team wasn’t an option, so the company worked for a while with a telemarketing firm, but it received very little in the way of results.
Athena’s process-centric approach appealed to the Metrics team, as they felt it provided a foundation for repeatable, data-driven results. At the time of the previous success story, Tom Salus, Metrics Senior Business Development Executive, was pleased with the brand recognition they had received, stating that the investment they made in Athena allowed them to be “introduced to a number of new contacts that we might not have been able to find through our own efforts,” which was just as important as increasing lead flow because of the very long lead times for CDMOs.
The relationship between the two companies has grown over the course of their 5-year partnership.
Beyond A Transactional Relationship
One of the most significant changes that Tom has noticed is that the partnership with Athena has moved beyond a transactional agreement.
“The longer that you’re engaged with somebody, the more you become colleagues or friends,” he said. “When we say we’re going to call Zach, everyone knows exactly whom that is without having to add ‘Costello at Athena.’ It’s the same for some of the people on his team. That’s probably the biggest transition that I’ve seen is that we moved away from the formalities. It’s like a colleague who is your friend – somebody you talk to not only about business but also what’s going on with them. It’s like the person sitting next to you in the office one over. It’s business, and it’s personal.”
Zach Costello is an Athena account manager and the second account manager that Tom has worked with since engaging with
Athena. The previous account manager was promoted to a new position within the company.
As an account manager, Zach is the main point of contact for Metrics and is responsible for the day-to-day tactical operations
for the account. Zach is also accountable for the high-level strategic guidance of the program, including process improvement implementation, CRM best practices and support, target profiling, sales process and situational consultancy, and the development of annual workshops. Zach has a team consisting of sales coordinators, marketing associates, and research associates who work with him to develop and clean target lists, execute outbound calls and emails, and manage the active sales cycle activities from the first appointment through win/loss feedback.
Seamless Transitions For CDMO
After five years of working together, the two teams have established a smooth routine. When changes have occurred, such as with one of Zach’s team members or new technology, Athena ensures seamless transitions so the program is not negatively impacted. This was the case when Athena transitioned the CRM to Pipedrive.
“Athena was transitioning from relying on our CRM, Salesforce, to moving to Pipedrive. It was a seamless transition. The positive there again is Athena does a great job making things smooth for the client,” Tom said.
Patience and Brand Recognition
Getting your brand in front of prospects is critical when you have a long sales cycle. One of the greatest values that Metrics finds with Athenas services is that they do the heavy lifting of making sure prospects get enough marketing touches (calls, voicemails, emails, etc.) so that Metrics is thought of when there is a need. It takes Athena’s team 45 touches on average to have a phone or email conversation with a prospect.
“We know that our sales process is long, and it’s very opportunistic. We’re not going to convince a client to buy our services based on a great sales presentation, or we’re not going to be able to create a project, but we have to be there when the client has a project. Where Athena comes in is keeping Metrics at the top of mind when there’s an opportunity.”
The Results
As a result of the relationship, Athena has increased Metric’s brand awareness in the targeted markets. Metrics has seen success by understanding that timing is critical and that a consistent touch and lead nurturing process is necessary to remain visible to be considered for future projects. This patience and understanding have resulted in nearly $20 million in quotes and $4 million in new business.