The 2011 Top 25 Consultants: Aaron Mitchell

Mitchell and his team had to compress ten months of marketing and sales planning into just three months. Mitchell, who does nearly all of his work in the healthcare space, says the FDA approval came much more quickly than anyone had anticipated, and greatly accelerated the product launch date. "During this period, I essentially put my life on hold and did everything I can to help the client," Mitchell says. "The reason I do that is this product saves lives. That's why I enjoy healthcare. It brings it all home." Quite literally—Mitchell has family members on the therapies he supports.

Mitchell and his team work with clients to come up with the key messages that will best communicate the right information to the market. "In the specific instance we were trying to make sure the sales force was ready to deliver those messages," Mitchell says. "How many sales reps do we need? Who are they going to be calling on? What messages are they going to be delivering? … "It's a matter of delivering the right information to the right people at the right time to make sure that patients get the maximum benefit from the therapy."

Mitchell and his team took that product to market, but they were also involved much earlier in the process. Working side by side with clients on product development is the fastest growing area within ZS right now, he says.

"Coming out with a 'me-too' product is no longer a recipe for success. Clients have to have a specific value proposition that will deliver on an unmet need," he says. "Behind every successful consultant are outstanding and dedicated clients that view us as partners, and work with us to drive value to customers."

—J.K.