Form true partnerships with your clients, keep them happyand make your recommendations short and sweet—that’s the message from pharmacompanies to their marketing research suppliers and consultants, according to anew study by marketRx, a Cognizant Company.

Companies felt that the most important attribute they wantedto see in suppliers was their ability to be a partner, rather than simplyproviding data. Having a positive relationship with them also scored highly, asdid suppliers’ ability to provide companies with concise summaries ofconclusions and recommendations.

However, while most companies generally viewed their experienceswith suppliers as positive, they felt that most have considerable room toimprove on working with them as partners and on providing concise summaries.Interestingly, companies reported that they were less concerned about theirsuppliers offering proprietary techniques and providing normative data.

MarketRx presented the results—considered “directional”only—at the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group (PMRG) Annual NationalConference in Phoenix last month.

The survey also found that the “preferred provider” model is currently dominant (usedby 54% of companies) and will be used increasingly in the next five years atthe expense of the “no restrictions on suppliers” model.

The “preferred provider”model scored high on “knowledge of therapeutic area” and “cost to the client,”while the “no restrictions” model came out top on “quality.”