Sep 2, 2026
Jerry Arbittier
I have heard numerous pharmaceutical market research firms discuss pitch meetings over the years. The cast of characters tends to be the same. A sales or account director leads the conversation. Someone from client services fields questions about timeline and budget. If the study is complex, maybe a methodologist joins to talk design.
However, the person who knows the most about whether the study is feasible usually isn’t in the room yet.
That’s the team who handles the market research fieldwork. The recruiters and field directors who will spend the next six weeks finding the oncologists, rheumatologists, and physicians who fit a narrow and specific screener. They’re the ones who can tell you, based on real experience, whether a quota is realistic and what it will take to hit it. In most agencies, they join the project once the proposal is already signed.
Here’s why I think that should be different.
The Person Who Knows the Most Is Usually the One We Hear from Least
There’s an opportunity here that a lot of pharmaceutical market research agencies haven’t fully tapped. The people closest to the work, the ones who can speak firsthand to whether 150 completes among Stage IV oncologists in three weeks is achievable and how to get there, are often seen as an operational resource rather than a strategic voice. They step in to execute a plan after it’s already been shaped.
And account directors bring real strengths to a pitch like relationship management, reading what a client needs to hear, and managing the budget and timeline conversations that keep things moving forward. Feasibility, though, is a different kind of expertise, one that lives with the field team. When that expertise joins the conversation earlier, everyone benefits, including the account team, who gets to make commitments they know are solid from the start.
This isn’t anyone’s fault. It’s just how the industry has traditionally organized itself. Sales tends to lead the front end, and field tends to own execution. Pairing the two earlier in the process, rather than after the deal is signed, is a simple shift with real upside.
What Happens When the Field Team Is in the Room
When a field expert sits in on a client meeting, feasibility gets discussed directly, in real time, by the person who owns it. Clients hear firsthand from someone who has recruited this exact population before, who can speak to how a specialty is trending or what it takes to build a solid market research sample within a narrow, hard-to-reach population.
That kind of directness builds trust fast. Clients remember when a vendor gave them a straight answer on feasibility and backed it up with a plan. They remember it even more when that same vendor found a creative way to hit an ambitious quota, because the person managing the recruitment helped shape the plan from day one.
It also tends to lead to smoother projects down the line. A field expert who’s part of the original conversation is in a strong position to keep a study on track, because they’ve already thought through the plan before it launches.
We’ve written before about what actually determines whether a sampling plan succeeds or stumbles, and feasibility conversations are where that groundwork starts.
Why Doesn’t This Happen More Often?
Partly it’s structural. Sales teams are built to run meetings, and field teams are built to run projects. Agencies don’t always build in the time or process to bring both into the same conversation, even when it would help.
There are also fieldwork considerations that can be difficult to anticipate from the proposal side alone. Adverse Events (AEs) are one example. When an AE is mentioned during a survey, Field Directors may have reporting requirements that can add another layer of complexity to fielding. Knowing upfront when a study is likely to involve AEs, and how to minimize unnecessary challenges, can help teams plan more effectively from the start.
Partly it’s a visibility gap. Field work still tends to happen behind the scenes, valued for what it delivers but rarely introduced as part of the pitch itself. In pharmaceutical market research especially, the people who actually make an RFQ real, who build the relationships that keep panels healthy and find the physicians other vendors miss, don’t always get the platform to show clients what they bring.
That’s worth changing. Clients benefit from an honest, expert read on feasibility before they sign anything. And field staff deserve real credit for the thing they’re genuinely best at.
Why Doesn’t This Happen More Often?
Partly it’s structural. Sales teams are built to run meetings, and field teams are built to run projects. Agencies don’t always build in the time or process to bring both into the same conversation, even when it would help.
There are also fieldwork considerations that can be difficult to anticipate from the proposal side alone. Adverse Events (AEs) are one example. When an AE is mentioned during a survey, Field Directors may have reporting requirements that can add another layer of complexity to fielding. Knowing upfront when a study is likely to involve AEs, and how to minimize unnecessary challenges, can help teams plan more effectively from the start.
Partly it’s a visibility gap. Field work still tends to happen behind the scenes, valued for what it delivers but rarely introduced as part of the pitch itself. In pharmaceutical market research especially, the people who actually make an RFQ real, who build the relationships that keep panels healthy and find the physicians other vendors miss, don’t always get the platform to show clients what they bring.
That’s worth changing. Clients benefit from an honest, expert read on feasibility before they sign anything. And field staff deserve real credit for the thing they’re genuinely best at.
Let’s Continue the Conversation
At AOPS, we believe honest feasibility starts with having the right expertise in the room, not just the right pitch. We work alongside your team, bringing our field team into feasibility conversations from day one, so you’re never promising something the market research fieldwork can’t deliver.
If you’re looking for a healthcare market research partner who treats fieldwork expertise as a strategic asset, we’d love to talk.
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Want more market research best practices information?
Contact Jerry Arbittier at jerry.arbittier@getaops.com or 917-327-0533, or visit https://getaops.com/ to learn more today!