Successful companies are able to demonstrate that their products are safe and effective. One of the best ways to achieve this is by testing the efficacy of a dietary supplement, over-the-counter drug, or homeopathic product in human subjects. When the benefits of a company’s product are shown to be statistically significant in a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study, both consumers and the company are assured that the product meets its label claims.

Companies that want to strengthen sales of a particular product should invest in a clinical trial performed by a third-party contract research organization (CRO) in human volunteers to achieve this end. CROs are neutral arbiters that put their reputations on the line when their results support a company’s label claims. What’s important to recognize is that consumers, companies, and CROs all have a common interest in making certain that every tested product is safe and effective.

Here are some ways you can improve sales of your product through commissioning a clinical trial with a CRO.

1.) A clinical trial helps substantiate your product claims.

Successful results in a clinical trial are a company’s best marketing strategy. Once your product has been tested in humans and shown to be effective, you can use more specific language that demonstrates a supplement, drug, or homeopathic product’s efficacy. Many companies perform their own preliminary research, but to truly demonstrate the benefits of a product, you need to turn to a neutral third-party that can confirm those results in well-designed and executed trials.

Products should be evaluated in human clinical trials before they go to market to address your consumers’ expectations and questions. This tells your customers that you’re performing due diligence and that the product will deliver the results you’re promising.

Also important: a clinical trial helps substantiate your structure function claims to the satisfaction of regulatory agencies.

2.) A product-specific clinical trial assures the existing-literature claims of individual ingredients within your product.

If your product contains multiple ingredients, you have the option to use the research performed on these ingredients in the existing literature in the absence of a product-specific clinical trial to support sales of your product. For instance, if your fat-loss product contains caffeine, raspberry ketones, and Garcinia cambogia, then you can use the individual claims of these one-off supplements in your marketing.

However, one mistake many product manufacturers make is that they use these claims without the back-up support of clinical trials performed specifically on their product. Many savvy consumers (and even retailers) may wonder if your product itself achieves these effects. A clinical trial provides the assurance that your particular formulation is as effective as the ingredients it contains.

3.) Often the results of a product-specific clinical trial broaden the claims you can make.

The results of a clinical trial performed on humans give you very specific information that you can then use in your marketing. Often, the results allow for more impressive claims than those based on non-product-specific research. CROs understand that companies formulate their products based on the best research available. At this point it makes sense to allow a third-party CRO to test your product in human volunteers.

When companies have done their homework in formulation, they’re often extraordinarily pleased with the unbiased results a clinical trial gives them. In addition, this helps them substantiate health claims and accommodate FTC laws.

Christopher Baker is CEO of Global Clinicals, Inc., an OTC and dietary supplement CRO based in Los Angeles CA, www.GlobalClinicals.com.