Within the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consultants at Pivotal Scientific have started to see new trends emerging within the Life Science industry. The first being the surge in companies looking to position their businesses for long-term growth as they approach us asking for recommendations on suitable companies to buy. From Q1 to Q3 we have seen the same amount of M&A conversations within this timeframe as we would have seen within the year. COVID-19 has certainly increased the speed of the decision-making process to discuss M&A opportunities as companies take advantage of this widespread situation.
As we all become accustomed to this new normal way of conducting business, companies have had to quickly learn to communicate via different means as the sales channel of conferences and shows virtually disappeared over night. Not only did this affect access to direct customers sales but also the general B2B networking opportunities which these shows provide. From a recent Pivotal Scientific survey, we learnt that 40% of Life Science businesses have invested in new communication technologies. We hosted several virtual meetings to connect businesses worldwide to discuss OEM and distributor partnerships which allowed companies to network and adapt to new pressure points within the industry. Within the PSL Alliance many collaborations were underway with OEM deals and data sharing discussed as R&D departments shifted their focus onto COVID-19 testing kits.
Companies also responded by allocating new jobs to the field sales team such as spending time cleaning up CRM data or setting up webinars. Marketing teams worked to quickly update their marketing materials to have a more educational and a ‘we can support you through this time’ tone.
Finally, it is no secret that the pandemic has caused an acceleration in digital transformation with 45% of Life Science companies increasing their digital marketing spend. Companies have had to review their touchpoints with the customer and how they communicate with their partner companies. For example, companies spoke to us about tactics which could be implemented to increase traffic onto their website as well as reducing the number of steps a customer had to take to purchase a product. We also discussed distributor management tactics with suppliers as more content was passed onto them as online branding increased in importance.
The Life Science industry was certainly one of the largest industries to be affected by the pandemic as we witness business leaders having to quickly adapt their core operations to protect their staff, customers, and business.
Our experts at Pivotal Scientific are always on hand to speak with you if we can be of assistance.
