Networking as a chemical CRO: bold focus, full service or kind of King Lear?
What scope and kind of network do customers expect from a chemical CRO?
The answers to this question naturally might span from “none at all” to “the larger / the more diversified – the better”. Generally, at first glance, the second option looks more promising – following the idea of “big is great and beautiful”.
A closer look, however, results in a more differentiated answer – just because, there is another generally accepted idea of “Nothing will come of nothing” (by the way: Shakespeare’s King Lear). In other words: the formation and nurturing of any network consumes resources.
Resources – that (perhaps) could be spent in a better way!
How did I came across this issue? As a chemical CRO, ChiroBlock offers to contribute chemistry related answers to customers’ problems. Despite of this focus, some customers ask for support in completely different fields:
- How should I design my mosquito trap?
- Will this device resist UV light?
- Will this food additive taste well?
- How large is the market for my new fertilizer in Europe?
Why do I care? Because customers ask these questions and the customer is king!
Really “king” or kind of “King Lear” (who got told whatever he wanted to hear and finally ended up very badly…)
I think there are three possible approaches:
- Pretend knowledge (and lie to the customer: “yes, it will taste like strawberries” …comparable to King Lear)
- Stick to your roots and use the undesired word “not” (I do not know. I can not help.)
- You do not know but you do know someone who can help à relying on a large network
Our approach is number “2” for all aspects beyond our business scope. Despite the disappointment this may cause at the customers’ side.
The reasons are simple: First – we do not lie, pretend or flatter and second we can not afford to invest in networking contacts of all kind – from agriculture to market research or from high cuisine to physics. We stick to our business and prefer to contribute (nearly) anything in the chemistry field. Even there, we need partners resulting from (horizontal) networks – like the cluster “4Synth”. Alternatives would be larger ones like ChemNet, CASID or CEFIC: All chemical technologies, scales, regulatory issues, supply chains that we do not have in-house – can be provided in this way.
The customers get what we promise to provide: support in making chemical compounds regardless of a final application, of their very structure and of their synthesis techniques.
We think: This is a good balance between resources spent to networking activities and the benefits achieved.
What approach is your favourite – focussing or intense networking?
#CustomSynthesis, #ChemicalNetwork, #ChiroBlock, #4Synth, #ConvertingIdeasIntoMolecules