Derek Kemmerer
Can you walk us through a typical day in your role at the Michael Allen Company? What are some of the key tasks you focus on?
The main tasks that I focus on at Michael Allen Company are ensuring that our clients are happy and that we are able to deliver projects that address their strategic initiatives, consulting with clients on how our approach is a good fit for their needs, and expanding the client relationships that we have at Michael Allen Company.
Like many people, my day starts with catching up on emails that came in overnight / in the early morning. We work with a multitude of international client teams which means there are often items that need addressing first thing in the morning. Then, my morning often transitions to internal & external meetings to cover current projects, client RFPs for upcoming projects, or overarching discussions about our partnerships with our existing clients.
In between meetings or after the bulk of the meetings have finished, I will work with the team on proposals that are due to clients in the coming days. Once proposals are in good order, I start following up with clients on previous proposals we have provided, and I will start conducting outreach to potential new relationships in areas where we have significant experience and we can provide substantial value to their insight generation process. This generally takes up most of my afternoons, but I also spend those afternoons doing a lot of research to ensure we understand our clients and their needs. This understanding is vital to the healthy partnerships we strive to have with our clients.
What do you enjoy most about working at Michael Allen Company?
At the core of it, I love helping clients answer their important questions, and Michael Allen Company is a fantastic place to be able to do that. The people that I work with on a day-to-day basis at MAC are amazing people, and it is a privilege to work every day with people who are so incredibly smart and driven to deliver insights that help clients drive their business and hopefully improve patient outcomes.
How does your team collaborate to achieve success in your projects? Can you describe the work culture and how it supports teamwork?
Collaboration starts from the moment we receive an RFP. We are working together to ensure that we put forward a methodologically sound approach that addresses the clients’ needs while balancing other competing priorities clients may have such as timeline or budget. That collaboration continues all the way through project execution and delivery. It is a great way to work because the people at MAC care deeply about their colleagues, their clients, and the integrity of the work we deliver. The culture is one of high standards and rigor that drives everyone with a common goal to deliver projects we can all be proud of together.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in pharmaceutical market research?
Absorb all the information you can and take all the learning opportunities you can get. Pharmaceutical market research is a fairly complicated space, and there are a lot of levels to it. My background was on the fieldwork side mainly before coming to the MAC, and that has given me a perspective that helps me regularly to ensure we are consulting clients as reasonably as possible. It also gives me an appreciation for how much effort, coordination, and trust goes into delivering a successful project for a client.
What's one fun or surprising fact about your job that people might not expect?
COVID didn’t completely do away with in-person meetings! We still get the opportunity to visit clients in-person and those are always a great time. We really appreciate and enjoy being able to meet our clients face to face.