avoca approach to client feedback

Avoca’s Approach to Client Feedback/

Customer Satisfaction Survey Programs

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Avoca Customer Feedback Programs

Research Objectives

●  The objective of implementing a Client Feedback Program is to effectively and efficiently measure customer perceptions and to identify areas of strength and areas requiring improvement. ●  The purpose is to gather in-depth information so that the CRO can take specific

actions to improve customer satisfaction, increase market share and enhance customer retention.

●  This research serves to identify customer situations requiring immediate action and important areas of focus for operational process improvements.

●  The data from Avoca Client Feedback programs is used by Executive Management to inform strategic decisions in the Business Development, Marketing and Operational areas.

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Critical Success Factors

●  Development of a Communication Strategy for disseminating information about the Program and survey results to project teams and operational staff.

●  Robust sample to allow for trend, subset and correlation analyses.

●  Conduct of in-depth telephone interviews with the CRO contacts to gather quantitative and qualitative data.

●  Review of individual surveys to proactively identify issues/concerns.

●  Action plan to address issues and gaps and to communicate back to clients the action that is being taken.

Avoca Approach

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Project Planning

●  During an initial strategy meeting, Avoca would share best practices based on 15 years of conducting this type of research. We would help the CRO to determine the most effective way to leverage and disseminate data and to take action based on results. Some of the topics of the Session would include:

╸ Decision process, prior to program start, regarding how the data will be used and who at the CRO will “own” taking action and tracking issues to resolution

╸ Review of other process improvement and relationship management activities to determine how best to align the feedback program with these activities

╸ Benchmarking of specific information; inclusion of specific questions that Avoca uses in our feedback programs so that we have the ability to compare the CRO data to other “reference data” for context

●  Following this initial strategy session, Avoca will provide an initial “straw-man” survey and schedule time for review and finalization with the CRO.

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Avoca’s Approach

●  Senior Avoca consultants would collaborate with the CRO to design a customized survey instrument, sampling paradigm, and analysis plan. It is recommended that Avoca work with Project Management and Business Development Representatives from the CRO to determine the specific questions that will be most informative and beneficial.

●  Invitations to participate in this Program would be sent to respondents from a senior executive at the CRO. In each invitation, an explanation of the CRO’s objectives for gathering client feedback will be provided and The Avoca Group will be introduced. (Avoca will compose the invitation letter, if requested.)

●  Within 24-48 hours of issue of the introductory letter, Avoca would initiate contact to schedule an interview. Up to three reminders would follow the initial invitation, if necessary.

●  Any serious issue uncovered during a survey will be coded as an “actionable" issue by Avoca and will be reported to the CRO within 24 hours of completion of the survey.

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Avoca’s Approach

●  During telephone surveys, Avoca interviewers would gather quantitative data (numerical ratings, rankings, etc.) and would seek to elicit sufficient information in response to open-ended questions to achieve a full understanding of respondents’ views. ●  Avoca utilizes survey specialists who have a deep understanding of clinical

outsourcing. Most of our survey team have worked with Avoca for more than 10 years.

●  An AvocaView™ web portal would be established for hosting the CRO’s data and to provide password-protected, real-time access to individual survey results, the program documents, survey instrument, contact information, and summary data.

●  Individual surveys would be available within 48-72 hours from completion.

●  Avoca could provide recommendations for developing a review and action plan component for this program.

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Avoca’s Approach

●  Avoca typically achieves a 65-75% response rate for these types of programs.

●  Once the Program is finished, an aggregate PowerPoint Summary Report would be provided. This would include sub-analyses (i.e., by company, by region, by respondent role) and could include correlation analyses depending on the sample size.

●  Avoca would review the final Summary Report with the CRO senior management and would offer recommendations based upon the direct client feedback.

╸ During the report-back strategy session, Avoca will facilitate a discussion based on Key Findings and would include our perspective based on our knowledge and experience in clinical research and clinical outsourcing.

About Avoca

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The Avoca Group

About The Avoca Group

●  The Avoca Group helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies and service providers build, measure, and manage critical business relationships.

●  As the industry’s premier consulting firm focused on clinical research and clinical outsourcing, The Avoca Group has a unique perspective of the dynamics between Biotech and Pharma companies and their service providers, and are experts in the nuances of partnering between sponsors, investigative sites, and clinical service providers.

●  Avoca’s consultants have extensive experience working for both Pharma and Clinical Service Providers and possess both process improvement and change management expertise.

●  All survey specialists have understanding of clinical research and expertise conducting in-depth interviews with senior executives in the industry.

●  Avoca has 15 years of experience in the implementation of survey research programs for sponsors and clinical service providers focused on understanding the key quality indicators for all aspects of clinical research and the drivers of customer loyalty. In helping to gather targeted industry intelligence for the CRO, Avoca will bring this experience to bear.

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The Avoca Group

Client List

Pha

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Bio

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AstraZeneca Grünenthal

Boehringer-Ingelheim Johnson & Johnson

Bristol-Myers Squibb J&J Pharmaceutical Research Development Cadence

Celtic Pharma Millennium

Centocor Novo Nordisk

Cerexa Ortho Biotech

CJPCUS Ortho Clinical

Cordis Pfizer

CR Bard Purdue Pharma

Cubist Regeneron

Eisai Roche

Endo Pharmaceuticals Terumo

Ethicon The Medicines Company Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Serv

ice

Pro

vid

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Acurian Marken

Aptiv Solutions Medical Research Consultants Beardsworth

the CRO Metropolitan Research Associates Cardinal Health

Clinical Financial Services

PAREXEL

PPD

CRF Health PRA International

ERT Premier Research

ExecuPharm Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials Greenphire

ICON Clinical Research Quintiles

Idis REGISTRAT-MAPI

INC Research ResearchPoint

Indegene Synarc

inVentiv Health Clinical Theorem

LabCorp TKL Research

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Client Feedback Studies

Award Decision Study

General Business Relationship Study

Project Specific Study

Investigator Site Study

Captures investigator and study coordinator perceptions and levels of satisfaction in order to improve site relationships

Identifies specific drivers for the service

provider’s wins and losses and what it takes

to win new business

Determines what a client thinks is working

and what needs to be improved

Uncovers client attitudes toward services within a specific project

Three Types of Client Feedback

Plus, Investigator Site Studies

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Client Feedback Programs

Overall Objectives for Avoca Feedback Programs

●  To identify the specific drivers for the service provider’s wins and losses and what it takes to win new business.

●  To help service providers understand clients’ perceptions and their positioning in the marketplace.

●  To enable a service provider to learn what concerns or issues a client may have with the company overall, its staff, or its processes.

●  To identify areas of strength and weakness that require attention within an ongoing project so they can be addressed in real time, and to identify overall trends and areas that require improvement across projects.

●  To gather relationship metrics that link to overall corporate strategy execution.

Contact Avoca at: (609) 252-9020

www.theavocagroup.com

[email protected]

179 Nassau Street Suite 3A

Princeton, NJ 08542

Improving the Health of Critical Business Relationships