We Are MMIT

After 22 years with MMIT, Allison Korbich has been a first-hand witness to several seasons of rapid growth and change. As the Director of Solution Consulting, Allison manages the company’s solution consultants, facilitates the creation of client-facing messaging, and supports new product development and enablement across the entire commercial team.

Tell us a little bit more about your role.

I lead an amazing team of product and subject matter experts for MMIT’s core solutions. As we have so many products now, it can be challenging to match the client with the product or products that will provide the best value for them. We do a ton of collaborative prep work with our sales teams to ensure that we’ve aligned on a targeted point of view for each client, so that what we’re offering is what the client actually needs to answer their specific business questions.

What brought you to MMIT?

In high school and throughout college, I worked as a pharmacy technician. I’ve always had an interest in pharmaceutical brands and generics, and working in the pharmacy gave me a unique perspective on how important it is for patients to have access to the right medications. At the time, of course, I had no idea that the world of market access even existed!

I joined MMIT back in its infancy, in October 2001. I was in an entry-level position working with the data entry group. It feels like a lifetime ago! I was a solution consultant long before I came into this leadership role, so my trajectory within the company has really prepared me for my current job.

What does your day-to-day usually look like?

In all of the different roles I’ve had at MMIT, each day is never the same as the next! It’s fast-paced, which I find exciting. My days are filled with collaborations and conversations across many different teams, including product, commercial enablement, and sales. We could be doing anything from testing new products to rolling out enhancements to developing our messaging. I’ll work on pricing and strategy with the sales leaders, and then partner with the commercial enablement team to create strong value propositions. We pull out the value of the solution to help sales understand why a particular feature or capability makes the client’s launch so much easier and more successful.

One of the most critical aspects of my job is ensuring that our team of solution consultants stays informed. As our client-facing market experts, they must continually add to their knowledge about market trends, regulatory changes, and our solutions. My team has to be very agile in client conversations. They have to be able to quickly pivot to what resonates the most with the various roles and personalities on a call.

 What are some of the larger projects you’re working on?

This year has been very busy with our focus on the growth of our real-world data solutions, which includes the integration of claims data into FormTrak with Veeva, our new coverage and claims dashboards in Patient Access Analytics, and of course our lab data alerts. We’ve been hyper-focused on rolling out these RWD solutions throughout the year and making sure our sales enablement is strong.

 What are some of the common challenges of your role?

There’s always a fine balance between bringing a new product to market and ensuring that the solution consultants can maximize their value as subject matter experts. We have 30+ core solutions, and at any moment, our consultants might be asked to highlight a specific feature of any one solution in a presentation.

Part of our role is to build up the sales team and increase their confidence in their own storytelling, so that we’re only brought in after the initial discovery call, when we’re really needed. In November 2022, we rolled out a clear system for engagement, one in which solution consultants are aligned by opportunity. It helps us balance workloads and expectations, and it’s also useful for the sales team, because now they get to work with multiple experts instead of just one.

What’s been your career highlight to date?

This is a hard question! It has really been a pleasure to build my career across various teams here. Most recently, the shift from being an individual contributor to being a team leader has been monumental for me, both professionally and personally. I moved into this role about three years ago, and I was ready to take on more responsibility and mentor others. When you work in a field for so long, you want to share the knowledge you’ve accumulated to elevate your colleagues and teammates. I’ve always gravitated toward training and onboarding—it’s a mama bear complex. I naturally take on that role with sellers, solution consultants, and my friends.

What industry trends do you see right now?

The industry is becoming more reliant on real-world data, which of course has been a primary focus for us this year. MMIT is uniquely positioned to be a one-stop shop for our clients, as we can provide a more holistic approach from pipeline to commercialization with all the solutions we’ve integrated from our sister companies within Norstella.

In today’s complex market, it’s such an incredibly arduous, expensive task to launch a new brand. We can help provide solutions across the board that maximize our clients’ ROI. We serve as a trusted partner, so clients aren’t just relying on us for their market access needs and their real-world data needs, but for all their needs across the development life cycle.

Which of our principles resonates the most with you?

Definitely this one: we prioritize kindness, empathy and grace. I am constantly reminding my kids to lead by example in the sense that they should be positive, kind, and grateful—all of those characteristics that make you a good human. And I try to practice what I preach. We have so many interactions in a day, with different people, teams, and personality types. It can be easy to forget how your words and actions can affect another person, and either improve or ruin their day.

It’s really important to me to leave a positive impression, to listen and to care. I believe in leading with kindness, which in practice may mean listening to a team member share their gripes, and then finding a positive spin to put on it. My day-to-day involves a lot of managing temperaments and making sure everyone feels heard, respected, and appreciated.

What would you tell someone just starting their career with MMIT?

Just dig in, and know that we’ve got your back! Over the last few years, we’ve made a huge investment in our learning and development team. We have a really thoughtful, comprehensive onboarding plan that combines self-learning with instructor-led sessions. But the most important thing for new hires to know is that they can lean on their colleagues. Don’t be afraid to ask a question that seems silly! If you don’t know what an acronym means, just ask.

For seasoned employees, I feel it’s our responsibility to put ourselves out there to welcome new teammates, share the content they need, and answer questions. We move really fast here, but we should never move so fast that we forget what it’s like when you’re new.

Where do you see Norstella in the next year or two?

I expect to see continuous growth and even more integration between our companies, resulting in even more solutions to help our clients. I mean, we’ve had such an astounding amount of growth in the last two years already. I don’t see anything slowing us down as we continue to work toward that shared mission across our five companies.

What do you like most about working at MMIT?

One of my favorite aspects of this company is our collaborative, team-oriented approach to selling. It’s not just a one-man or one-woman show; we all have a common goal that we’re working towards. As a result, we really lean on and support each other, and we’re always strategizing with our colleagues and trading advice. Best of all, we genuinely like each other.

It all comes back to mental health. You have to be happy in your day-to-day interactions with your colleagues, especially when working remotely. I feel lucky that I not only love what I do, but I love the good people I get to work with. I’ve found some lifelong friends here at MMIT.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I’m the mother of three active kiddos who range in age from 8 to 17, so my life is very much centered on family. Most of my free time and my weekends are spent on a sports field, which is great—I wouldn’t have it any other way! We’re a really tight-knit crew. We travel for vacation, we go to concerts, we have pizza Fridays. Even with the big age span, my children are accustomed to spending a lot of time with their siblings, which is really wonderful.

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