Posted by Anne-Marie Baughn on Thu, Aug 05, 2010
The dog days of summer are upon us. The kids are out of school and many of us are taking much needed vacations, either at the beach or fishing in beautiful lakes. I often hear many sites say that summer is a slow time, not only for starting new studies, but also for obtaining new study leads.
Summer definitely brings a change of pace to the clinical trials industry, however, if one takes the time to really focus on obtaining new studies for the upcoming months and year ahead, the summer can prove to be a very productive time of year.
I like to think of summer as the calm before the fall storm. Typically September is the time of year when sites begin to plan for the start up of their studies for the fall line up. Take advantage of the summer slow down. During the slower summer months, what new strategies can sites initiate to increase their study opportunity pipeline up for the fall and right through to the first quarters of the next year?
According to numerous site surveys, the number one way sites get new work is through repeat business. This is definitely true for Rx Trials. Doing quality work is the sure fire way to get more trials. However, as we all know, summer is a great time to fish. If you know where to fish, sometimes in those not so popular places, you just might find a new source for those trial opportunities. So get out those fishing poles and cast away!
I have created a list of some of the familiar and not so familiar places that we use to look for study leads. This list is just a guideline designed to give ideas. Some of these are not so much places but processes and can prove to be time consuming. The mild summer slow down may lend the time to explore these ideas. Click here to download this list.
I would also love to hear from all of you as to what study seeking strategies have proved effective for your site. Collectively we can share our successes and hopefully cast our nets to bigger yields. I also invite you to complete the brief survey. The results of the survey will be posted in a future blog.
Click here to take the survey.
Happy Fishing!