Further, the ISP will use its cumulative experience to anticipate and plan for problems the minute a new project comes in the door, or, even better, during the request-for-proposal (RFP) process. While every project and compound is undoubtedly different, the breadth and depth of experience that most CROs and CMOs claim to have should enable them to know where to expect problems and how to account for them in the project schedule and commitment of resources, and to prepare the customer's expectations accordingly.

No doubt the key to achieving these objectives is for ISPs to establish multi-discipline project teams to evaluate and manage projects as they come through the door. The multidiscipline approach truly leverages the advantages of having all elements of the projects in the hands of a single provider. ISPs that do not use multidisciplinary teams are little more than loose confederations of independent service providers.

If questions one and two are answered successfully, dealing with question three should be much easier. If the ISP delivers on its promise, it will have no problem getting repeat customers, and its reputation should spread around the industry. A positive scorecard of customer experience metrics should help convince new clients that they are choosing the right service provider for their projects.

Jim Miller is president of PharmSource Information Services, Inc., and publisher of Bio/Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Report, tel. 703.383.4903, Twitter@JimPharmSource, info@pharmsource.com
http://www.pharmsource.com/.