Establishing customer relationships is essential to growth, says Vicki Tifft, president and founder of Clinical Research Management Inc., a company that develops vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical devices for the government and commercial sectors.
Tifft, who founded Clinical Research Management in the Washington, D.C. area with two employees, moved her company to her hometown of Hinckley in 1996. Today, she employs 200 people in Hinckley, the Maryland/D.C. area, Thailand and Kenya. Revenue last year was between $15 million and $18 million.
Smart Business spoke with Tifft about how she grows her company globally through government contracts.
How did you establish contract agreements with government agencies?
I happened to have been working at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research [in Silver Spring, Md.] helping the U.S. Army create a clinical trial center. We bid on the solicitation and were awarded the contract.
First, you have to have a viable company. You have to be incorporated. You have to be doing work, and you have to be registered with the contract agency. But it’s typical: Bid on a government proposal solicitation and follow the government’s proposal process.
It takes a long time to learn the process, but it really comes back to making connections and networking. I was at the site, creating relationships and working, so I knew the requirements.
When you bid on a project, that’s my advice: You should really know an awful lot about it. You should be well-versed in how the project runs, what the customer’s looking for and be confident that you can come through to provide the service. Otherwise, you won’t be bidding on another project.
How have you remained involved with the Walter Reed Army Institute?
One of the crown jewels of the U.S. Army research facility is this clinical trial center at The Walter Reed Army Institute, and we’ve been with them from the very beginning.
A lot of our employees work side-by-side with the U.S. Army personnel, and we have 100-plus employees in that situation in one massive building. There are an awful lot of challenges in diplomacy because we have to work side-by-side with government personnel and Army personnel, and everyone has their own mission.
How have you overcome those challenges?
It comes down to personal relationships. You have to get in and know the customer, and you have to understand what their goal is and what their requirements are. Then you have to be able to fit the needs of those requirements, and then when something goes wrong, it’s really how you handle that.
That’s where we really made our mark, because no company can have a perfect track record. We always put 100 percent in, but when something goes wrong, we’re there, we communicate often and we want to let the customer know that we’re there for them and we’re going to get through it together.
We have a contingency plan if something goes wrong overseas. Then we make ourselves available around the clock to assist and support to get supplies in. It’s that concept: If that’s what’s required, then that’s what we’ll do.
We’ll make sure that we’re there so people can get support and help when they need it. Another customer might have [a different] requirement, so we work with the customer to think outside of the box and create unique solutions for their problems.
How does your partnership with the U.S. Army affect how you expand globally?
We support the U.S. Army in Thailand at a research institute and we work with computers and validated systems, things that are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Information that’s gained from a clinical trial or testing in a laboratory falls under FDA regulations, [as well as] how you work with the data and extrapolate reports.
There are lot of rules and regulations. So our folks will be keeping the computer systems up, helping to validate the information and setting goals for the U.S. military there.
Eighty percent of our work is for the U.S. Army. We’ve assisted the military for over 12 years, helping to create products that would protect our soldiers. A byproduct of that is if we can get a product out there to protect them from malaria or dengue fever, then the Army — through their partners — will be able to offer that same product to the developing countries.
It’s more than just protecting our soldiers. It has a worldwide ramification.
HOW TO REACH: Clinical Research Management Inc., (330) 278-2343 or www.clinicalrm.com
