How to write the perfect meeting request for BIO 2018

The 2018 BIO International Convention is coming up fast. To help you better prepare, we’ve just released a new whitepaper: 14 best practices for maximizing your meetings’ ROI at the BIO Convention. In it you’ll find all the tips and tricks you need to get the most out of your partnering meetings at BIO. We’ve crunched the numbers to find out what will get you the best return on your efforts.
Below we’ve gathered four best practices to help you write the perfect meeting request. Once you’ve mastered that, check out the whitepaper to get ten additional best practices for optimizing your BIO meetings.

Best Practice #1: Make an impact with your subject line

Pharma companies handle thousands of meeting requests. To stand out from the pack, your subject line needs to make an impression. A simple “request to meet” won’t do the trick. If you want to meet someone in particular, start your subject line with “Attn to …” and then follow with the rest. If your request involves a specific therapeutic area or has a context (i.e. a previous meeting, a recent email exchange, an important product update, etc.), make sure that this information appears. Pharma companies often have one person who manages requests and routes them to their internal teams. If the subject of your message is not immediately clear, you might not receive a response at all.

Best Practice #2: Keep your subject line short

Making your subject line specific doesn’t mean that it should be long. Companies that receive many requests will skim through their messages and deal with the most promising ones first. If your subject line is too long, chances are that your message won’t make the cut.

Best Practice #3: Limit the length of your messages

It’s a tricky balance. Your messages must be specific enough to generate interest, but not so long that people are discouraged from reading them. Most messages are between 300 and 1,000 characters. Based on our analysis, the optimal message has about 400 characters. These messages have the highest acceptance rate.

Best Practice #4: Mention your assets or therapeutic areas

If you have an asset to discuss, definitely mention it. Meeting requests mentioning a specific asset are 20% more likely to be accepted. As for the therapeutic area, it isn’t so clear cut. Just mentioning your therapeutic area isn’t statistically sufficient to make a difference, there’s only a +2% acceptance rate. However, as discussed previously, not all therapeutic areas are equal. As shown below, the average acceptance rate per therapeutic area varies from 15% to 40%. The impact will vary, but it’s worth mentioning your therapeutic area, especially if you don’t have any assets to discuss.
Now that you’ve got four best practices for sending the right meeting request, download our whitepaper to discover ten additional best practices for optimizing your meetings at BIO.
See you at BIO!