MSL Insights Done Right: What Excellence Looks Like

This is the most beautiful MSL insights story I have ever heard.

When she stepped into her Senior Director role 3 years ago, her organization had never even done an insights report. No process. No system. No expectation that Medical Affairs could influence strategy through what the field was hearing.

So she started small. Within 3 months, her team was creating and sharing monthly insights reports manually with a survey tool. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked. And as cross-functional colleagues began to see the value, something shifted.

Fast forward to today, cross-functional partners don’t just read insights; they crave them. Insights aren’t something her team pushes out anymore. They are actively seeked out. Other teams proactively reach out to Medical Affairs: “Can you ask this question?”

This is what MSL insights done right looks like.

Here’s the best part: Insights have become a strategic tool for the organization, not because of a sophisticated platform (although she secured the budget to get one and it’s humming now) or a polished report, but because she built the relationships to make them matter.

It happened because she built relationships and invested in clear, consistent communication, not just with her MSLs, but with her cross-functional partners. Because at its core, MSL insights excellence isn’t about data. It’s about connection.

If your MSL insights are not being used to drive decisions, you have a relationship problem. Your relationships with cross-functional partners are not tight, and insights upside is being left on the table.

Why Most Medical Affairs Teams Never Achieve Insights Excellence

For the past 2 years, I’ve been asking Medical Affairs leaders a simple question before I train their MSL teams:

“What’s your insights process?”

This is where it gets interesting.

Some say they don’t have one (ouch!). But most leaders can describe the mechanics, “MSLs enter observations into Veeva” or “we send out quarterly reports,” but very few can explain how insights actually influence strategy or guide decisions.

When leadership isn’t clear on how insights drive decisions, it’s impossible for MSLs to align, and there’s no chance cross-functional partners will see insights as a strategic tool.

This is the hidden gap in insights excellence (get more 6 more insights excellence drivers here).

→ It’s not a technology problem.
→ It’s not a reporting problem.
→ It’s a relationship problem.

Just like MSLs must learn what KOLs value in order to build trust (plug-and-play AI prompt for this here), Medical Affairs leaders need to understand what their cross-functional partners value.

• What keeps them up at night?
• What information do they need to make smarter decisions?
• How do they want insights delivered so they’ll actually use them?

If you don’t know the answers, even the most insightful (pun intended, ha!) MSL reports will sit unread in someone’s inbox.

If You’re Not There Yet, You’re Not Alone

If your cross-functional partners aren’t beating down your door for MSL insights yet, don’t worry. Most Medical Affairs teams aren’t there either.

This level of insights excellence, where insights are pulled in and treated as a strategic tool, doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when leaders invest time in building strong processes and stronger relationships across the organization.

That’s why we designed our Insights Excellence Workshop (contact me to learn more).

It’s built to help Medical Affairs leaders:

→ Map out their current insights process (and identify gaps).
→ Understand what their cross-functional partners actually need from Medical.
→ Build a framework for gathering, analyzing, and sharing insights in a way that supports strategic decisions.

In these sessions, leaders often have their own “aha” moments. One VP told me her biggest takeaway wasn’t about platforms or KPIs. It was this:

“I hadn’t thought deeply about how to share insights yet. I need to figure out what they actually want. “

That realization alone has transformed her approach to working cross-functionally.

3 Tips to Build Stronger Cross-Functional Relationships

1. Find Out What Matters to Them

Just as MSLs uncover what KOLs value, Medical leaders must understand what drives their internal partners. What are their goals, pressures, and decision points? When you know this, you can start generating insights that are relevant and decision-grade, not like another data dump.

 2. Ask Them How They Want It

This might seem silly, but when was the last time you just asked? Don’t assume your partners want insights packaged the same way you do. Ask them:

•  “What’s the best way for me to share insights so they’re most useful to you?”
• “What format fits into your workflow, an email summary, a dashboard, a live debrief?”

These simple questions show respect for their time and priorities and opens the door to collaboration.

3. Be a Thought Partner, Not a Data Courier

True collaboration happens when you stop “sending reports” and start anticipating what your partners need. Instead of waiting for them to ask, position yourself as someone who understands their goals:

•  “I know your team is working on [launch/initiative]. Here’s what we’re hearing in the field that might help shape the approach.”
• “You mentioned [challenge/priority] last quarter. Here are some patterns we’re seeing that could be relevant.”

It only take a few times of you giving them information that is useful to make them want more. When you show that you’re thinking ahead and invested in their success, trust deepens, and so does the impact of your insights.

Bonus tip: attend cross-functional training to learn more about them. 

Conclusion: MSL Insights Done Right

At its core, insights excellence isn’t about dashboards, KPIs, or polished reports. It’s about relationships and trust.

You don’t need a sophisticated platform to get there (though it’s nice once you do). You don’t need a perfectly optimized process or a magic metric that guarantees impact.

→ What you need is the courage to have conversations.
→ The humility to ask your partners what they really need.
→ The discipline to show up consistently and deliver value, even in small ways.

Because when you invest in the relationships that make insights matter, something shifts. Insights stop being something you push out. They get pulled in.

Medical Affairs stops fighting for a seat at the table. It becomes the table.

It all comes down to this:
Insights don’t change strategy.
Relationships do.

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