Product Performance

NGP. Who is TARP Worldwide?
CG. TARP Worldwide, located in Arlington, VA, is the world's leading customer experience agency and research consultancy. We pioneered the science of quantifying, managing, and optimizing the healthcare customer experience. TARP initiated the science of experience management decades ago when we stated it was five times cheaper to keep a patient than to get a new one. We combine customer satisfaction research and analytics with actionable programs that change employee behaviors and improve the quality of the customer interaction. This powerful combination creates quantifiable bottom-line results. Simply put, we Release the Profit of Interaction^TM.  Within our healthcare division, TARP's products are designed to improve the physician-sales professional interaction.

NGP. Has TARP Worldwide always had a healthcare division?
CG. After more than three decades working with many of the top pharma and biotech companies and healthcare system organizations, we recognized a need to service these clients through a dedicated healthcare division.  Within TARP exists decades of professional pharma and healthcare sales and marketing expertise leveraged through innovative and revolutionary product and service offerings. Our Healthcare division is operated from offices in the Midwest, equidistance from all of our clients around the country, making it much easier to provide personalized attention and customized work.

NGP. TARP Worldwide healthcare recently announced the launch of a product for pharma companies with field sales forces. Can you tell us about this new product?
CG. In healthcare, the most prevalent, financially significant and highly scrutinized interaction exists between the pharmaceutical sales rep and the physician. The economy is demanding a higher ROI from sales resources. Pharma needs more effective physician interactions to drive incremental performance, improve product standing and establish a dependable, meaningful relationship with physicians.

Considering the changes in the healthcare industry and the immense demands on physicians' time, an innovative new approach is required in order to thrive in the new environment. Our Affinity Solution is innovative in that it is not just sales training, but interaction training. By studying and optimizing the physician/sales rep interaction we are creating a new way of selling - a new way of thinking really - that will have physicians perceiving sales professionals in a whole new light. Rather than a necessary drain on their time in return for samples, reps will be seen by physicians as knowledgeable consultants and partners in delivering healthcare to their patients. Sales professionals will quickly become the physicians' favorites because they get it.

We get it - this is what we do better than anyone else. TARP's Affinity Solution was designed with the specific purpose of improving the effectiveness of pharmaceutical sales professionals.

NGP. What led TARP to developing and offering Affinity Solution?
CG. Through our exhaustive research and product validation efforts, we had hundreds of physicians report to us that they are tired of pharma sending in sales reps, when they have continually asked for healthcare consultants.  This disconnect between pharma companies and their primary customers, being physicians, led us to develop an innovative and revolutionary product, Affinity Solution.

Our Healthcare division has broad and deep experience in the pharmaceutical industry. As we have closely monitored the evolution of this industry over the past 10 years, we identified a significant unmet need where TARP holds more than three decades of expertise. This unmet need lies in intensely measuring, analyzing, profiling and then improving the pharmaceutical sales representative-physician interaction.

NGP. Why did TARP feel that now was the right time for Affinity Solution?
CG. The industry needs this now more than ever. Look at the economy and the dramatic pressures pharma faces. A complete restructuring is under way; since 2007, major pharma companies have laid off more than 70,000 employees, most in the sales force. This is significant and devastating to their once failsafe business models. As every pharma company looks to accomplish more with less, they must diagnose and treat the illnesses of their sales models and sales forces. This begins with taking a much closer look at the interaction between their field sales people and their targeted physician customers. In the old model, pharma would use metrics like reach, frequency, and number of samples delivered as their primary sales force diagnostic tools. In the new model, that's just not enough: an X-ray is limited compared to an MRI - we are talking about using an MRI. TARP's expertise in the areas of diagnosing and treating unhealthy customer experiences and interactions is unmatched. We coupled that with our healthcare division's pharma expertise. Our Affinity Solution emerged and is perfect for today's transformed pharmaceutical industry.

NGP. What differentiates Affinity Solution from other product offerings on the market?
CG. Nothing like this exists in the market. This is an integrated research and practices program. We start with TARP Research to prioritize. We execute a carefully designed, aligned, and integrated scientific survey completed by targeted physicians and the sales representatives that call on them. From this, key driver and 'gap' analyses will be defined, providing actionable steps to improving sales force performance and effectiveness.  We then move to TARP Practices to realize. We work closely with our individual clients to make change happen, leveraging our expertise and innovation in training and communication programs to close the identified 'gaps' and capitalize upon identified key drivers. Finally, we close the research loop and optimize. From a post-training scientific survey, we track our effectiveness, making clear the measurable increases in physician loyalty, thereby holding ourselves accountable as a business partner. Based on a client's pre-determined targets for improved effectiveness, we assess program performance. If targets have not been hit, we will work on our dime to make it happen. If targets are hit, we won't hang around - capability transfer successful! That's the difference in partnering with TARP.

NGP. What has been the response to Affinity Solution so far?
CG. We are thrilled to have hit the mark. The reaction from the pharmaceutical community has been outstanding as they recognize this product as powerful and unique from any other offering on the market today.  More specifically, pharma companies are excited to see a product offering that can be highly customized by disease state or medical condition, physician specialty and type of sales force structure.  Additionally, the physician community is equally excited about the product, as it gives them a voice to pharma companies, as they desire a more reciprocal and consultative relationship with pharma sales reps. From the beginning, we knew we had developed something special and unique. Following our announcement of the Affinity launch, we have been very pleased with the response. Pharma gets it and knows TARP does, too. We believe this is revolutionary and will dramatically improve pharma sales force effectiveness.

NGP. How or where can people find out more about TARP and Affinity Solution?
CG. The easiest way for people to learn more about TARP and Affinity Solution is to contact me at cgiuliani@tarp.com, or Geoff Arbuckle, our Vice President of Healthcare and Business Development at garbuckle@tarp.com. You can also visit us on the web at www.tarp.com, where you will find a link to our Healthcare division.  Additionally, we maintain an active presence within social and professional media networks and on our expert blog at http://blog.tarp.com.

Christopher Giuliani has more than a decade of professional experience in healthcare sales and executive management roles responsible for growing bottom-line revenues. He is an expert in leadership skills, process and people alignment, relationship management, strategic planning and, most critically, listening to and understanding the needs of a business as it pertains to the customer experience. He held sales and management positions at Galderma Labratories and Capital One before joining TARP Worldwide as the Vice President, Healthcare and Sales.