Interviewer: I hear things are going well for Talencio. Tell us about that.
Paula: Yes, Talencio celebrated our company’s fifth anniversary in January. Last year, we increased our business by 100% over the prior year; during the first half of this year business has been up another 38%.
Interviewer: Fabulous. How would you describe Talencio’s market niche?
Paula: Talencio provides vetted, accomplished consulting and contract professionals for the Life Science community. I see our differentiators as two fold. First, the professional colleagues we place are truly accomplished in their area of expertise. When we place them with one of our client companies, we know that they will add value and be able to function with a high degree of autonomy.
Second, Talencio serves a specific industry sector – the Life Sciences. We do this because this is the industry we’ve worked in at executive levels. We know this industry. We know the kinds of things that need to happen in the areas of regulatory affairs, clinical trial management, reimbursement, quality assurance, engineering, marketing, sales, distribution, etc. That experience makes us real thinking partners with our client companies. The depth of our knowledge of the industry, and our broad network help us to help our client companies quickly find the right resource solution.
I like to say to our clients “we deliver productivity and expertise by providing professional resources across your value chain.”
Interviewer: What do you mean when you say that the colleagues you recommend are “vetted?”
Paula: We have thousands of accomplished professionals in our talent pool. But we don’t just respond to requests by sending the client company a handful of resumes. First, we seek to thoroughly understand the staffing need and the problem the client company is attempting to solve. We get a feel for the company’s culture. When we thoroughly understand the need, we identify strong candidates for the role, conduct interviews, and present one or two that we feel could contribute significantly in relation to this problem and this company’s culture.
We add value to the client company by presenting them with only the very best candidates for their assignment. We take on much of the role that the company would otherwise have to do in terms of sorting through resumes and profiles, interviews, etc. Working through us really streamlines the process for our client companies.
Interviewer: What do you mean when you say that Talencio is a real “thinking partner” with client companies?
Paula: I’ll give you an example. We were meeting with a start-up company and they were looking for someone to coordinate their U.S. clinical trials. After understanding what they were looking to accomplish, we asked them if they had someone advising them on reimbursement strategy. This was an area they had given no thought to. Yet, without a reimbursement strategy in place, even an FDA-cleared device will not sell in the U.S. Without coverage and payment mechanisms in place, the device will not be adopted for use by physicians or hospitals. So, of course, we introduced them to a reimbursement professional to consult with them and get them on the right track. Because we are in the business of delivering productivity and expertise to meet the needs of our clients, and because we understand the Life Science industry, we were able to provide some invaluable guidance to that company.
Interviewer: So, you focus on the Life Sciences. Do you work only with Twin Cites companies?
Paula: No. Of course, most of our client companies are in the Twin Cities, but we meet the needs of Life Sciences companies anywhere in the U.S. Recently we received a request from a Fortune 500 med-tech company with operations in multiple geographies, to provide two accomplished regulatory professionals to work on-site in San Jose, California. From the time we received the order to the time those two professionals began working was a little more than two weeks.
Interviewer: Give me an example of a placement that always makes you smile.
Paula: I’ll give you two. Both show how we find the right fit for even the most challenging Life Science resource needs.
We were working with a client who had a significant issue with their manufacturing process. They had to scrap lots of their completed product for quality reasons. Talencio sourced for them an expert in non-woven, thin film polymers with heat sealing experience. Our colleague on contract was able to identify and resolve the manufacturing problem within three months, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. The resolution of this significant manufacturing issue positioned the company to be an attractive acquisition, which was their end goal.
Another client asked us to source a Chief Medical Officer with expertise in the company’s area of business. We have physicians in our database, but I knew that this would be tough to source because of the specific expertise required. This is where my broad personal network served me well. I called a physician in the appropriate field who is a personal friend and asked for his recommendations. Within a week I had identified and interviewed an ideal candidate with appropriate skills, and the client was delighted.
Interviewer: What’s the one word you would use to describe Talencio’s purpose?
Paula: I think that word would be “fulfilled.” Of course, we are fulfilling consulting and staffing requests. But we want everyone we interact with to feel respected and fulfilled in the process.
We want our clients to feel listened to and understood – in other words, fulfilled – from our very first meeting and throughout the time that our colleague on contract is working for them.
We want all our colleagues to feel fulfilled by our respect for their expertise and their time. We want them to feel fulfilled because the assignments that we present them are an excellent fit for their skills.
And, finally, We want our Talencio staff to feel fulfilled, knowing that they are providing productivity solutions and expertise that will allow our Life Science clients to thrive.
Interviewer: Thanks Paula, for sharing your perspective.
Paula: It was my pleasure.