#082: Selling Through Biotech Uncertainty

Read time: 5 minutes

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Right now, biotech is in a tough market.

Funding is tight.
Venture capital is cautious.
The NIH is cutting grants.
And across biotech, pharma, and academia, every dollar is being scrutinized.

The macro signs are everywhere:

• Over $3B in VC funding went into biotech in January — but it was concentrated in fewer, later-stage companies.

• 16 million square feet of lab space sits empty in Boston/Cambridge — a visible sign of startup contraction.

• The NIH tried to cap indirect costs on grants at 15%, cutting billions from research institutions.

• And on the public market? Biotech IPOs are still rare, and most small-cap stocks are underwater.

The theme?
Uncertainty. Selectivity. Pressure.

That’s the bad news.

The good news? Great salespeople thrive in this kind of market, because most don’t know how to sell when it’s hard.

But to take advantage, you need to stop relying on technical messaging and need to start speaking to real business impact.

Why Your Technical Messaging Isn’t Working Anymore

Let’s be blunt:
Nobody is buying features right now.

Buyers aren’t asking: “Does this analysis pipeline use the latest dimensionality reduction algorithm?”

They’re asking:

• “Will this help us hit a milestone that unlocks funding?”

• “Can this de-risk our QC process and avoid a recall?”

• “Will this free up our headcount so we can extend runway?”

Technical problems don’t automatically equal business problems.

And business problems are the only thing people are spending money on right now.

If your messaging stops at “what the product does,” you’re not in the conversation.

You’re just noise in a crowded inbox or you end up in the “nice to have” bucket of the prospect’s mind.

Shift From Features to Buisness Problems

Here’s the shift that changes everything:

Old way:
“We offer a novel microfluidics platform that allows for high-throughput droplet screening.”

New way:
“We help antibody discovery teams increase screening throughput 50x, giving them a better shot at hitting candidate milestones in half the time, without needing to increase headcount.”

The difference?

The second version ties directly to a business priority: hitting R&D milestones, faster, with fewer resources.

It’s about elevating the message.

Start with the science but show how it impacts the business.

How to Write Business Impact Messaging

You need to answer 3 questions before you send a single outbound email or get on a discovery call:

1. What technical problem does your product solve?

e.g., “Manual data processing delays flow cytometry analysis.”

2. What’s the business consequence of that problem?

e.g., “Slows down biomarker identification → delays clinical trial readiness → pushes back funding or partnership opportunities.”

3. What’s the impact of solving it?

e.g., “Accelerates timelines, more robust data package, and improves the odds of hitting a fundraising milestone.”

Now, build your message from the bottom up. Here’s the structure to use:

Instead of:

❌ “We built a new analysis platform for high-parameter data.”

Try:

✅ “We help translational teams cut time-to-insight by 70%, so they can hit IND milestones faster without adding new headcount.”

Even better. Reference a specific pressure they’re likely under now.:

✅ “With NIH cuts and team reductions, we’re helping academic labs automate repetitive analysis tasks, freeing up scientists to focus on experiments that lead to high impact publications to access the limited grant funding available.”

Make it relevant, specific, and business-tied. Or don’t send it.

How to Run Discovery That Finds Real Pain

Most discovery questions are surface level and don’t ever uncover the business problem and impact of not using your solution. They uncover symptoms, then dive into their technical presentation.

To break through and unlock the limited budget available, you need to get from technical pain to business-level impact.

Here’s a process we teach to help reps shift from uncovering technical friction to discovering the business impact behind it. The kind that actually unlocks budget and drives urgency.

Step 1: Start with surface-level situational questions

You’re just getting the lay of the land here. These questions help you understand what systems, workflows, and tools they’re currently using.

Ask things like:

• “How are you currently doing [X]?”

• “What does your typical [workflow/analysis/qc/review] process look like?”

• “How many people are involved in [process]?”

• “What tools are you using today? What’s working well? What’s frustrating?”

• “When was the last time you reviewed this process or tried to improve it?”

You're looking for friction points. This gets them talking, but it’s not where you stop.

Step 2: Dig into problems with their current process

This is where you start exploring the cost of inefficiency or the pain of the status quo.

Push deeper with:

• “What’s slowing things down the most right now?”

• “Where do errors or delays typically happen?”

• “If this issue keeps happening, what gets delayed?”

• “Who else is impacted when this breaks down?”

• “Have you missed any deadlines or slipped timelines because of this?”

• “How big of a problem is this for you?”

• “Would the world end if you didn’t solve it?”

Get specific. Get numbers. Get to the problem’s priority.

You’re now uncovering the operational cost, time delays, bottlenecks, and quality issues.

Step 3: Push for business level impact

Now you tie those operational problems to business consequences. This is where urgency lives.

Ask:

• “What happens downstream if this doesn’t get fixed?”

• “What other initiatives or milestones does this affect?”

• “Is this tied to any key deadlines or readouts?”

• “What happens to the program if this gets delayed?”

• “How does this impact your team’s ability to hit funding goals or support other programs?”

• “If you had this solved, what would it unlock for you?”

You’re listening for triggers like:

• Milestone pressure

• Burn rate concerns

• Team capacity constraints

• Funding or partnership timelines

• Competitive risk (“we’re trying to beat another group to this data”)

Eventually, they’ll tell you:

• “If we don’t hit the next milestone by June, our follow-on funding round is at risk.”

• “We’re trying to generate data before the next SAB meeting, if we miss that, the whole timeline pushes back.”

• “This delay is tying up two senior scientists and holding back our other program.”

• “We’re applying for another grant in September and need this sorted to show reviewers progress.”

• “We have a partner waiting on this data to move forward with the collaboration.”

That’s the pain that has urgency. That’s where the budget lives.

Framework: Build a Messaging Map

Use this quick 4-part process with your team to refine your messaging and discovery:

Run this exercise once for each of your products/services and keep revisiting it.

It’ll tighten your messaging and make discovery more impactful. You’ll know where you guide the conversation and what questions to ask when you already likely know the business impact.

Final Thought

This is the market we’ve got.

You can’t control funding cycles or NIH policies.

But you can control how you show up:

• You can message to the problems that actually matter.

• You can ask the questions that uncover budget.

• You can become the rep who’s laser-focused on business impact.

Buyers are tired of generic pitches.

They’re tired of vendors who don’t get the pressures they’re under.

They will make room for partners who solve real business problems.

So be that partner.

1. Lead Generation: We’ll build target lists, write scientifically relevant messaging, and send messages on your behalf to book qualified sales meetings with biotech and pharma companies.

2. Training for Reps: A skill development platform for life science sales reps who want to improve their sales skills, exceed their quota, and take the next step in their career.

3. Training for Teams: If you want to upskill your team around prospecting, driving to close, key account management, AI, or any other topic, we can put together a training plan specific to your organization’s needs.

4. Strategy Call: Need more than training? Want help implementing and executing your sales strategy? In a 30-minute call, we will assess your company’s current situation and identify growth opportunities.