Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) are very important for any pharma company. KOLs are usually physicians or doctors of high repute and they are keenly followed by other physicians and doctors. The KOLs are influential people and are often involved in research activities. They are mostly key speakers in international forums and are also involved in writing articles.

Pharma companies have management of KOLs as one of their important KRAs (Key Result Areas). They engage the KOL while developing new drugs and get critical feedback from them. They may also be consulted for clinical trials.

Since KOLs are considered thought leaders, they are followed by peers, and it's important for pharma companies that KOLs prescribe their medicines. Like CRM (Customer Relation Management), there is a  term called KRM (KOL Relation Management).