KOL Deliverables = KOL Budget
Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
As you prepare to reach out to your prospective KOLs, you need to have in mind what you want to accomplish with their help and how much you have budgeted for this effort.
Keeping in mind that this blog is primarily aimed at small to medium sized companies, I suggest starting off with a small budget. Just work with one doctor for 6 months to a year. Then you can decide if you want to scale up.
First, find out from your network in your market what KOLs cost per hour. In ophthalmology, they can range from $1,250 to $2,500 per hour for a small company. Your budget should be on the lower side of that range if you have succeeded in finding a good second or third tier KOL. This means that if you need 3 hours of work per quarter, it may cost around $3,750 per quarter. Believe me, you can get a lot done with 3 hours per quarter.
Second, decide on some tasks that you want the KOL to help you with – the deliverables. Here are some examples:
- He/she allows you to use their name on your website. You call them a clinical or scientific advisor and list them on your site with their picture and bio. This is in fact an indirect endorsement of your product. Being on your website means your KOL is working for you 24 hours a day. Not bad.
- White paper – White papers make great proof source sales collateral. The KOL could help you with one white paper per quarter. One paper could be a case study detailing how he used your technology for a patient and the resulting benefits. Another could be about how she integrated the technology into the practice. Now you are thinking….it will take several hours to write a white paper. True. That is why doctors never write white papers. But you can interview the doctor and write the white paper for him/her. Or, you can hire a freelance medical writer to write it for $120 per hour. Then all the doctor has to do is review it, edit it and sign off on it. Once done, print copies and put a downloadable copy on your website. Easy.
- Host a webinar once every 3 to 6 months – Webinars are not difficult to execute. Your team puts together a PowerPoint that has the right balance of clinical information and promotional information. Review with your KOL and edit to their satisfaction. Their input and the actual webinar may take a couple hours of their time. This is a great way to get actionable leads because people have to register for the webinar. Finally, you can post the webinar on your website. Again, it will be working for you around the clock.
- Product development participation – The KOL joins your team to discuss features and benefits of your product(s). This gives you valuable feedback so you don’t make a development mistake. Your KOL can also recommend other doctors that could review the development work.
- Product video – The KOL can represent your product in a short video that will be posted on your website.
- Phone calls with key sales prospects – Sometimes a doctor that is considering purchasing your product wants to talk to doctor who is an expert on the product. That is your KOL. Sure, the prospect will know that your KOL receives compensation from the company. However, if they respect your KOL, they may give more credence to a doctor to doctor conversation about the clinical benefits of your product.
Finally, discuss the deliverables and time requirement with your prospective KOL. I suggest that the deliverables be quarterly. And, the payment should be quarterly. Once you have agreement on the deliverables, time and compensation, capture the details in a simple Memorandum of Understanding(MOU). An MOU is usually better in this situation that an actual agreement. An agreement is a more complicated legal document that is enforceable. An agreement needs to be reviewed by attorneys. This adds to the cost and creates delays. With an MOU you can always part ways if the KOL program doesn’t work out and there won’t be massive legal headaches.
If you have selected the right KOL and designed a simple yet constructive program, all should go well and your KOL will add a lot of value to your marketing and sales efforts.
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
