‘My priority is to focus on value creation’: Becky Warnes, Founder of Becky Warnes Consultancy

“My market analysis approach involves both traditional research, as well as conversations with potential users, buyers, and collaborators.”

Becky Warnes Consultancy a.k.a BWC is an ethical business that works with healthcare providers, pharmaceuticals, and HealthTech organisations. It focuses on improving access to healthcare and eradicating health inequalities. The company was launched during the pandemic, inspired by a desire to do more to support the health system in the UK and make a difference in the lives of those living with health issues. BWC stands for innovating with courage and authenticity, committing to work, and leading with purpose. It operates in the UK.

Becky Warnes, founder, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Here’s what she said.

Interview Highlights

Q. How does BWC help its clients achieve internal and external alignment, streamline processes, increase commercial acumen, and develop high-performance teams?

The value I provide for my clients is based on improving services and processes. Improvements are seen in reduced waiting or consultation times, better customer contact rates and sales, and more efficient processes and workflows that free up resources. Involving clients to take a whole systems approach is key to identifying short-, mid-, and long-term opportunities.

I need to take the time to understand my clients’ current state, such as situation, people, budgets, systems, and processes. I can then quickly identify the barriers, pinch points, and blockers that prevent processes from running efficiently and from maximizing a service’s true potential. I work with and recommend solutions that meet the needs of the health system and patients. Flashy new digital tech is only fit for purpose if it solves a real problem and is accessible.

Digital health technologies have the potential to radically change the way that healthcare is delivered globally. However, the design, implementation, and sustainability of products is a massive factor in whether they will be adopted by end-users. Many products fail to make an impact because the end-user has not been considered in the design phase. Whether those end users are clinicians, patients, or both, the solution must meet their needs. When working with innovators, I look to ensure that within our go-to-market strategy there is evidence of clinical and patient input in the design. Sometimes, it’s not about finding market-ready solutions, it’s about finding a minimum viable product (MVP) that can be further developed in real-world environments as this provides co-design opportunities. I strongly believe that value creation should be focused on more than just financial gain. Improving health outcomes, whilst developing sustainable solutions for population health needs, should be part of the desired outcomes for any project in the healthcare sector. 

Training and coaching teams and individuals is my core offering. For organisations to make an impact on their potential customers, they must first understand the environment their customers are working in. The way I train teams is by walking them through a patient journey, looking at where the touchpoints are and who they meet along the way. I discuss the reasons why services are as they are, the policies, and the protocols. We also discuss the patient experience and identify improvements that could be made to this. This exercise not only helps my clients understand who their potential customers are, but also helps them to learn the barriers that are preventing service efficiencies. This supports the development of their solution and their commercial strategy.

I work with clients to create implementation plans. It is not acceptable to provide a service or product and leave the customer or end-users to integrate it into business as usual. The industry needs to walk through that journey with healthcare providers, to help them understand the system and help providers better understand their solutions. Stakeholder engagement is something I am passionate about; instigating collaborative working projects between industry, healthcare providers and patient groups is what adds true value to the patient experience.

Q. Being an award-winning consultant, what strategies do you implement to lead from the front?

My work with clients starts by looking within their organisations or healthcare setting. I need to understand my clients’ objectives, values, and culture. I also need to learn their systems and processes to enable me to grasp the current state, including how they measure success and how they target customers. This gives me a great opportunity to work with functional teams and truly understand what the organisation has to offer from their perspective. From understanding internal culture and processes, I can conduct market analysis and identify potential opportunities.

My market analysis approach involves both traditional research, as well as conversations with potential users, buyers, and collaborators. If the market is right for collaboratively funded projects, I will reach out to potential industry partners or other funding sources and propose collaborative working. This benefits them as much as it does the innovator and the health system. However, creating a go-to-market strategy for an innovator involves managing their expectations as much as designing a winning commercial strategy. Creating strategies that tackle hard-to-access areas is something I thrive at. There is always a way to reach potential customers and the obvious tried-and-tested approach is not always it.

My project management skills and experience are invaluable to both industry and healthcare providers. Implementing change using tried-and-tested methodologies generally ensures the best use of time, money, and resource.

Q. What new endeavors are you currently undertaking?

I am currently exploring opportunities to work with overseas clients in the US and Asia. I am not a consultant who takes a policy, rewrites it, and preaches it to the masses. My approach to business is personalised, strategic, and process design focused. I use my skills and experience to understand the demands of policymakers, clients, and markets. This allows me to develop innovative and bespoke solutions that create value for my clients regardless of the country I am working in.

Q. How do you plan to counter challenges that you think BWC might face in the next five years?

Increasing resources to manage increased workloads will enable me to take on new and complex projects as the market grows, and continue to strengthen global partnerships.

There is a paradigm shift occurring in healthcare, and with that comes huge opportunities to make services more accessible and affordable than ever before. I want to be leading that shift by working with stakeholders to make change happen. I also want to ensure I stay true to my values and beliefs, whilst remaining independent and focused on value-based consultancy.  

Becky Warnes | Founder

Becky Warnes is an award-winning business consultant, who is passionate about digital health technologies and women’s health. She has experience working with the National Health Service and industry in the UK on both a local and national level. Becky has 25 years of commercial leadership and programme management experience across several industries, including call centers, finance, and healthcare. She is an experienced trainer and sales team manager, who has led teams and individuals to achieve unprecedented sales success. Becky is an expert in strategy and stakeholder engagement, and her work with clients supports successful product launches and market access planning, as well as care pathway redesign and digital transformation strategy design and implementation.

“There is a paradigm shift occurring in healthcare, and with that comes huge opportunities to make services more accessible and affordable than ever before. I want to be leading that shift by working with stakeholders to make change happen.”