When looking for additional support for various stages of a product, many biopharmaceutical companies struggle to determine whether it is more beneficial to hire Contract Sales Organizations (CSOs) or Internal Hires. Best Practices, LLC undertook this benchmarking research to evaluate the effectiveness of using CSOs vs. internal hires in various market conditions.
Key Findings
- CSOs are best used as a supplement to an existing team of internal hires, not as a replacement unless a product is mature and nearing L.O.E.
- Benefits of using CSOs are purely volume and cost based, not for product knowledge or building a company’s reputation in a given therapeutic area.
Table of Contents
Research Overview, Objectives and Methodology Pg. 3
Participating Companies Pg. 4
Key Findings and Recommendations Pg. 5
Participant Experience Partnering with CSOs Pg. 6
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using CSOs Pg. 14
CSO vs. Internal Hire Investment and Team Structure Pg. 21
Appendix Pg. 26
About Best Practices, LLC Pg. 33
List of Charts & Exhibits
Past Experience with CSOs
Favorability Ratings for Highest Used Industry CSOs
Effective CSO Field Deployment Models
Advantage of Using CSOs
Additional Valuable Uses of CSOs
Best Time to Use a CSO
Comparing a Direct Hire vs. Contract Reps
CSO Contract Duration Advantages
Annual CSO Rep Turnover Rate
Risk-Sharing and Performance-Based Incentives
CSO Rep Management
Average Internal Rep Salary and Benefit Cost
Average CSO Rep Salary
Bonus Amounts Based on Target Base Salary