Turbocharging Pharma Competitive Intelligence with Effective Primary Research and CI Interviews

In the pharmaceutical industry, in-depth stakeholder interviews (also known as pharma primary competitive intelligence, primary research, or human intelligence) constitute a crucial source of competitive intelligence that cannot be obtained through secondary research alone. By engaging directly with key opinion leaders, subject matter experts, healthcare providers, payers, company executives, equity analysts, industry experts and so on, effective competitive intelligence exercises help to extract crucial tacit intelligence from several business areas.

Competitor interviews are an essential component of competitor analysis. They provide invaluable qualitative insights into rival firms’ strategic thinking, capabilities, and future plans. However, employing questionnaires or randomly questioning stakeholders won’t enable intelligence collection and would be futile in shaping decision-making objectives. An array of proven elicitation techniques finessed for extracting and collecting intelligence when interviewing competitor sources are de rigueur. This article covers how to effectively conduct primary research for pharmaceutical competitive intelligence – we share field-tested strategies to prepare customized lines of inquiry, build rapport while guiding conversations, efficiently gather intelligence through two-way dialogue, and process findings for analysis and implication assessments and follow-up.

Preparing for Pharma Primary Competitive Intelligence

• Understand intelligence gaps – Identify blind spots tied to key decisions, like competitors’ market expansion plans, technology investments, pipeline development, leadership changes, etc.
• Research participants – Learn interviewees’ roles, expertise, and perspectives from past content and speeches. Note areas of interest or concern.
• Prepare discussion guide – Develop 10-15 probing questions customized to address intelligence gaps impacting priorities. Include rapport-building and contingency queries.
• Prioritize focus areas – Shorten your question list to focus on the 3-5 top priority intelligence requirements given a limited interview time.
• Discussion themes – Let interviewees know general topics in advance, but never actual questions.
• Assemble research dossier – Compile relevant materials to probe emerging areas spontaneously during the discussion.
• Conduct mock interviews – Practice transitioning smoothly between tailored questions while extracting intelligence. Refine elicitation techniques.

Conducting Pharma Primary CI Interviews Tactfully

• Set expectations – Frame the discussion as an informational exchange, not an interrogation. Discuss confidentiality and anonymity.
• Build rapport – Get to know interviewees personally. Ask about background and interests beyond work. Establish common ground.
  Ask strategically – Pose probing questions conversationally. Don’t aggressively press reluctant areas. Elicit perspectives through dialogue.
• Foster reciprocity – Tactfully share benign perspectives when helpful, not confidential data. Maintain comfortable two-way flow.
• Listen deeply – Note nonverbal cues. Paraphrase responses. Draw out details with thoughtful follow-up questions.
• Stay alert – Pick up on clues and inconsistencies worth investigating further through probing.
• Guide discussions – Politely redirect tangents back to key topics. Pace conversations to cover priorities.
• Exit positively – Thank interviewees for their time and insights. Maintain relationships for future engagements.

Gathering Pharma Primary Competitive Intelligence Efficiently

• Prepare transitions – Have lead-ins ready to pivot smoothly to priority topics.
• Probe thoughtfully – Ask smart follow-ups to expand on comments and draw out key intel.
• Interpret carefully – Look beyond surface responses. Flag evasiveness or contradictions for discreet clarification.
• Connect insights – Note when separate comments reveal conflicts to highlight through summarized paraphrasing.
• Corroborate clues – Cross-reference hints from dialogue against known data points from research.
• Contain tangents strategically – Redirect wandering discussions back to pertinent areas, while listening for clues.
• Draw out details – Allow pauses after questions. Silence encourages interviewees to provide more specifics.
• Check progress – Assess progress against priority topics periodically as per the primary research plan. Refocus conversations as needed.
• Press gently – Apply increasing finesse when eliciting details on high-value subjects.

Processing Primary Research Data and Findings

• Take detailed notes – Capture verbatim quotes, timestamps, and key takeaways to reference later.
• Highlight insights – Note topics that provoke enthusiasm or reservation for further exploration.
• Store materials – Keep organized records of notes, recordings, and research dossier for retrieval.
• Enter into systems – Log intelligence into databases soon after interviews while the information remains fresh.
• Tag and index – Use names, dates, and topics so insights are easy to locate later.
• Share initial findings – Discuss key takeaways internally for clarification and additional context.
• Follow up – Schedule follow-up discussions promptly to address unanswered questions.
• Transcribe strategically – For long recordings, transcribe and extract clips related to key insights uncovered.
• Monitor changes – Flag shifts in interviewee stance, opinions, or facts over time through recurring engagements.

Following Up Effectively

• Build relationships – Maintain cordial rapport with interviewees. Position engagements as an ongoing dialogue.
• Express appreciation – Genuinely thank participants for their time and insights shared after each discussion.
• Request feedback – Ask interviewees for input to improve approaches for future exchanges.
• Close information gaps – Review notes soon after interviews. Schedule follow-ups to address unanswered questions.
• Compare interpretations – Debrief with others who met the participant to compare the intelligence gathered.
• Validate through triangulation – Corroborate interview findings against other data sources.
• Refine techniques – Evaluate elicitation effectiveness after each discussion. Adjust approaches accordingly.

In summary, properly planned and conducted pharma primary CI interviews provide human intelligence to enhance data-driven strategy in drug development, clinical trials, product launches, brand activities and plans, sales force, deal-making and strategic thinking. Leveraging CI interviews should be viewed as a strategic capability that enables deep competitive foresight, risk mitigation and agile responses. Successful competitive intelligence programs in pharma companies that integrate both ongoing secondary research and targeted primary research are more value-added, and hiring external consultants to conduct primary pharma competitor intelligence is an effective strategy.

BiopharmaVantage specializes in providing premium quality competitive intelligence services to pharma and biotech companies. If you would like to explore how we can assist, then please contact us.