There’s never been a greater need to impress customers and make them understand the value pharmaceutical companies offer. Following on from his article on the concept of mass customisation, Apodi’s Tony Swift discusses how this theory can also be applied to two customer segments: the patient and the GP.

With the reduced number of blockbuster products entering the market, many sales and marketing departments are tasked with gaining market share for products and services that may have similar characteristics to competitor products. These departments are skilled at identifying traditional routes to market with the result that the promotional strategies deployed are often quite similar from one company to the next. The only real differentiator may be how much budget each company is willing to allocate to support respective products.

However, some companies are starting to implement mass customisation strategies, because as Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric stated: “We have only two sources of competitive advantage: 1) The ability to learn more about our customers faster than the competition, and 2) The ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition”. These companies are focusing on identifying what value means to each individual customer, collating that information effectively and delivering the value in an efficient and economic way.

The patient

Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies have focused on engaging with GPs and other payer stakeholders rather than on building relationships with the end user – the patient. However, companies are realising that engaging with patients can lead to improved adherence results, better compliance and more appropriate use of their product. The attempts to engage with patients vary in levels of sophistication. At a basic level, companies are investing in digital IT platforms where websites attempt to inform patients about the therapy area and the products available. These sites might also attempt to improve adherence through reminder systems such as emails and texts to encourage compliance.

More sophisticated solutions now aim to identify key characteristics of patients and their behaviour and to customise the offering to them. For example, by identifying why a particular type of patient fails to adhere, the offering can be customised to that patient. By having a clear understanding of why people fail to comply, a company can then identify groups of patients whose reasons for non-compliance are very similar – i.e. one group responds better to online health monitoring, another to reminder systems, another to better education etc. As a result, each individual patient is allocated to a group and the adherence offering is then customised to each group.

Successful implementation of adherence programmes which include customised solutions to patients is still quite rare. The reasons for this may differ. However, I believe it all starts with the product-centred cultures that are prevalent in many companies. Historically, companies have been focussed on winning market share and new customers. Whilst this, of course, still remains important, many companies now have to focus on customer retention, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Where this strategy is in its infancy, many companies look to IT for salvation – if only it were that simple! Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is more than deploying similar marketing techniques and new information technology. It needs new skills, systems, processes, behaviours – in fact, a CHANGE IN CULTURE. This can only be driven by the leadership of the business once it has decided that CRM and mass customisation are a strategic imperative.

This new strategy, if executed effectively, can lead to a range of new tactical initiatives in the area of patient adherence, such as improved technology, clinician-based call centres, education programmes, patient acquisition programmes, patient service programmes and so on. With the appropriate systems and processes, these initiatives can be developed to provide real customised value to patients.

The GP

Because pharmaceutical companies have been engaging with GPs for many years, mass customisation programmes aimed at GPs rather than patients should be easier to deliver. They know where GPs are, often know them personally and still have access to many – although the ability to engage is declining quickly.
Currently, however, successful customisation programmes aimed at GPs are few and far between. The reasons are similar to those above and result from the product-centred nature of most pharmaceutical companies. This product-centred approach can impact on the daily life of GPs in numerous ways, including:

• The traditional detail deployed by many sales representatives when visiting GPs.
• The practices, processes and systems that define ‘sales excellence’ in the industry.

An example of this is a detailed follow up I reviewed recently for a company. This was an extremely professional piece of work that identified the impact of the visits of a sales force on GPs. Multiple questions were asked about the ability of the representative to convey the product’s characteristics and benefits – and from this point of view the exercise was worthwhile.

However, there were few questions based around what value each visit had created for individual GPs. The assessment was almost solely based on the product and what was important to the company, rather than what value could be created for the customer both now and in the future.

For companies wishing to deploy VALUE-BASED MASS CUSTOMISATION, the following key initial steps could prove useful. These steps would run alongside more product-focused activities, not replace them.

1. Build a structure based on Customer Account Managers driving key messages and value to targeted healthcare professionals.
2. Develop a segmentation strategy for identifying segments of GPs based on value characteristics.
3. In each interaction with GPs, identify what value characteristics are important and allocate to a segment – commit to developing a mutual LEARNING RELATIONSHIP where knowledge of the therapy area, product and patient outcomes are paramount.
4. Access IT systems where the value identified can be saved and distributed to key management and marketing professionals – some existing CRM systems can be customised to make this happen.
5. Develop value solutions that can be quickly deployed to individual GPs – these can include additional services, product support, access to Key Opinion Leaders, clinician staff training, and services that improve the patient experience.

The role of IT

IT has a vital role in the development of value-based mass customisation strategies. I recently spoke to an expert in the industry, Charles Roots of Actis Sales Technologies, who explained that:

• Successful implementation of CRM projects needs input from senior management, IT departments and marketing departments. Technology implementation must be aligned with the business strategy and, in the area of mass customisation, with the whole initiative of providing value to customers one at a time. If only one of the above parties is included in the implementation process, the strategic benefits that could be obtained often fail to materialise
• Some organisations believe that installing technology is the determining step in the drive to a more customer and value-focused organisation. However, it is clear that truly successful companies understand that the process begins with a strategy to transform the company from a traditional selling organisation to an organisation where delivering value and developing learning relationships comes first. In these companies, IT becomes a very powerful enabler of business strategy.

Conclusion

Many commentators have noted that the pharmaceutical industry is at a crossroads. With fewer blockbusters, governments facing huge financial challenges and health services looking for more value for money from all suppliers, times are hard. This is causing difficulties in the marketplace and many people have lost jobs in the resulting turmoil. Company leaders are under pressure to maintain and increase profitability and restructuring is increasingly common.

And yet comparatively, healthcare budgets are being protected and there has never been a greater need for a positive contribution from the pharmaceutical industry. Despite the distrust that has arisen between the industry and the NHS, enlightened leaders from both parties understand how a partnership between the two is of critical importance.

Whilst researching for this series of articles, it has become clear to me that this partnership can only prosper if the industry is willing to, and be allowed to, engage with the NHS in a positive and economically viable way. I believe pharmaceutical companies should play their part by focusing on delivering real value to all key stakeholders, including patients, GPs and other payer stakeholders. That is not to say this is absent in the industry, but there is no doubt that more can be done.

For those companies embarking on such a journey, the impact on customers (NHS and patients) could be dramatic. But it will also benefit employees of such companies. The vast majority of people want to do something worthwhile and being able to see how their work creates value for the customer and improves patient outcomes is just about as rewarding as it gets.

Tony Swift is the Managing Director of Apodi. He may be reached on tony.swift@apodi.co.uk.

Charles Roots is the Managing Director of Actis Sales Technologies. He may be reached on charles.roots@actisst.com.

How do you view CRM: as a chore, as a way of saving effort, or as a valuable window on your customers’ world? Leading CRM vendors tell Pf where the pharmaceutical industry sometimes gets it wrong – and how a combination of new business thinking and new technology can turn customer data into powerful insight.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is more than an electronic system for data handling. It’s a well-established business strategy for collecting and utilising the most relevant information about the market. As such, it is a function of the whole company that lends itself well to an integrated commercial strategy. A glance at the industry’s news shows that customer and sales data affect every aspect of a pharmaceutical company. Moreover, how a company uses those data to develop its products and communicate their value to customers can have a significant impact on customer relationships.

But is CRM in danger of going stale? Has it become something that only sales people use, and even then not whole-heartedly? Is a perceived lack of progress with CRM due to problems with the technology, the people using it, or companies’ approach to it?

The answer, according to the specialist CRM suppliers Pf spoke with, is all three. But as they also told us, these drivers of fail need to change. A new ‘golden age’ of CRM is on the way.

Dead-end data
According to David Round, General Manager at Cegedim UK, the most common problem of CRM use in the pharma industry is poor awareness of its potential: “If you have a particular group of users who don’t feel the system works for them, and therefore don’t put in the richness of information that they could, that has a bigger impact on the CRM project as a whole.” Unless the company is using CRM to its best advantage, field sales professionals may lack confidence in it as a tool. 

In addition, Round argues, not every CRM system is fit for purpose: “Where technology can be a hindrance is where the way that it works is relatively fixed or determined in some dark room somewhere, and it doesn’t match the day to day process of the people who are using it. The technology, if it’s not designed correctly with the end users in mind, can actually contribute to a lack of return or a reduced return on investment for the CRM solution.”

Adam Nicholson, Commercial Director at Conigi, identifies four sources of CRM blues: CRM only seen as a sales team tool, thinking limited by previous CRM experiences, fear of the system’s complexity and (conversely) fear/perception that it cannot deal with new commercial realities. All of these, he says, are consequences of narrow thinking: “The reality is that if you pick the right vendor and the right solution, you have enough headroom for development to build what you need now and as your business changes.”
Not seeing the wood for the trees, the insights for the data, is another source of CRM frustration. Dan Goldsmith, General Manager at Veeva Europe, argues that the most successful pharma companies are able to derive “rich and insightful information” from CRM by moving “beyond the operational or transactional information” to a deeper analysis of customer behaviours – with the CRM supplier “not just supporting their business processes but helping them innovate the way they engage and architect the customer experience”. 

Nick Plank, Director, C&C Group, says that CRM systems, like pharma’s operational model, have evolved to meet the needs of a changing NHS in the past decade – and will evolve further as technology continues to advance. “Ten years ago, the environment was very much focused on the rep and in particular on the traditional one-to-one face-to-face style of territory organised sales forces. Fast forward to the present and CRM looks very different, with KAM structured teams engaging with customers on an account basis as opposed to a geographical brick structure, plus a variety of new stakeholders in CRM from medical development advisors to medical science liaison. A fully-integrated CRM accessible to multiple stakeholders is now essential if business functions throughout the enterprise are to have holistic visibility of the account and contribute data from their specific areas such as information gathered during digital engagement.”

Keep taking the tablets
All relevant stakeholders are agreed on the revolutionary importance of the iPad and similar tablet computers for CRM in the context of field sales. These devices take CRM out of the office and onto the road more effectively than ever before. They also have the power to support closed-loop marketing and related strategies, giving CRM a more dynamic role in the customer relationship and in the pharma company.

David Round comments: “I think that CRM is about to enter a pretty golden age, because the birth of the tablet computer and the iPad in particular means that the rep can use the system much more effectively on the go. Reps are more inclined to enter information just after the call than wait until they get home, and what the iPad does is give them the ability to record this information with much more richness and much quicker after the interaction. Obviously, mobile access to the internet is still limited in many medical locations, and for this reason, the CRM must be able to provide most of its functionality in an office mode. As many reps would point out – what’s the point of having a mobile CRM that only really works online?”

In addition, the iPad gives the field-based sales rep rapid access to market information at a time when the UK drug market is going through dramatic change. The ability to keep track of the changing customer base and to structure new relationships with new types of customer is essential, and new technology is vital for this. As Adam Nicholson observes: “Gone are the days when you had a linear customer relationship in place and a linear CRM system to manage that. With the changes in the NHS, you’re going to have to have dynamic processes in place and a dynamic solution to manage it as you move forward.”

The iPad is arguably the first technology to make mobile CRM an effective reality. Dan Goldsmith argues that “it really hasn’t been until the introduction of the iPad that we’ve seen both widespread adoption and significant results delivered to pharma”. There are three reasons for that, he says: the mainstream adoption of mobile technology, the industry’s new appetite for “advances in digital and interactive presentations with customers”, and the reliability and simplicity of the iPad itself – “the ideal device at the ideal time”.    

A recent IMS report highlighted the growing importance of embedded business intelligence within the fully-integrated CRM. “This is where hosted European sales data warehouses are particularly useful, because they reduce costs by providing a single integration for analytical CRM across Europe,” says Nick Plank. “A managed hosted European approach to analytical CRM means employees across Europe can access market intelligence online when and where they need it without installing software. It also aligns well with the current move from on-premise systems to Cloud CRM because analytical data can be passed directly to the operational vendor using site-to-site integration – giving reps access to information immediately, wherever they are, via their mobile CRM tools or mobile business intelligence apps.”

Building dynamic relationships
What makes for an effective CRM system? The answer depends on how the sales professional and the company use the system. CRM is not about customer data: it’s about customer relationships.
David Round emphasises the need for “human-centred design”: it’s essential for the CRM user to be able to see the data in context and react appropriately. He uses the analogy of a sat nav system: it’s a superb tool to get you through unknown territory, but you also have to keep your eyes on the road. So the best systems support customer relationships instead of providing an electronic surrogate for them.

Round also warns against being too well-informed. If a rep greets a new customer they have never met before with the words Hi, I’m Jo. How are your children Sally and Billy? the relationship will get off to a bad start. What the rep really needs is the relevant background information to understand the customer’s role and make proactive suggestions from the start.

As Adam Nicholson observes, the CRM system has to deliver insights at both the quick overview and the deeper insight level: “We are rich with data within the industry; the old challenge has always been how you turn that data into information. Successful solutions should allow an individual to look at their data at a top level when they need it, but give them the ability to drill down into the customer data or the sales data to gain more in-depth analysis when needed.” 

The best CRM solutions are able to serve the needs of the most ambitious sales professionals and companies. Dan Goldsmith comments that cutting-edge CRM systems are enabling “interactive presentations, delivering better segmentation and targeting down to a more individual level, as well as collecting more psychographic or behavioural information”. The ultimate (and realisable) goal is a “behavioural profile” of each customer that feeds back into the sales message and interaction.

The bigger picture
The closed-loop marketing model implied by this approach cannot begin and end with sales. Adam Nicholson speaks for all forward-thinking CRM vendors when he says: “If you really want to make CRM work, it’s about engaging all the functions, be that marketing, medical, regulatory or finance, because if you implement the theory of CRM it actually impacts and improves business processes across all the functions.”

If you started reading this article with the mental image of a lonely sales rep (that’s you, that is) wrestling with interminable on-screen figures on a laptop in a hotel room, or on a tiny mobile phone screen in a rail station café, maybe it’s time for you and your company to consider upgrading your hardware, software and probably footwear. New CRM systems are able to support an integrated strategy of commercial interaction at every level of your company, and mobile devices exist to make the most sophisticated CRM systems easily applicable wherever you are.

With the right CRM system, the right mobile platform and the right attitude, you can: research each customer’s needs and behaviours; gain up-to-date information on the rapidly changing customer base; be fully primed with the right clinical information and tailored marketing messages; read and record key information without eyestrain or signal problems; and fit the technology to your individual needs and your company’s business goals. It’s up to you.

Tracking and responding to NHS change in a highly competitive Olympic year will be a test of endurance for medical sales professionals. In a light-hearted article, David Round examines why winning a place amongst the medals will depend upon getting your preparation right.

It’s a well-worn cliché that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But as the UK pharmaceutical industry heads into an Olympic year when the pace of change amongst its NHS customer-base will undoubtedly increase, medical sales professionals will need to demonstrate more than a little knowledge to achieve a podium position for their products. The Health and Social Care Bill may still be some way from the finishing line, but as the health service continues its transition towards the seemingly inevitable, changes on the ground are already taking place. And the implications for pharma are huge. The industry cannot afford to sit and wait – it needs to act now to ensure its sales and marketing communications are reaching the right customers, with the right message at the right time. For pharmaceutical sales executives, it’s about developing more than knowledge: it’s a question of intelligence. And the answers may be right at their fingertips.

It has been widely documented that the NHS is working its way through a period of unprecedented change – both in its working practices and, of course, in its organisational structure. As a result, pharmaceutical companies – often criticised for being ‘data rich but information poor’ – will, more than ever before, need to maximise their data assets to deliver a more customer-centric approach to selling. And sales professionals will need to draw on all the information at their disposal to develop and deliver relevant and robust value propositions that satisfy customer need.

The noise-driven, share of voice model of pharmaceutical sales and marketing has become like Monty Python’s parrot: it has ceased to be. Today’s approach, which relies on a reduction in call volumes, is less linear, more selective and much more sophisticated. Key Account Management is leading the industry pack. But whilst the approach is, in theory, more measured, making it work requires quality customer data as a platform to identify ‘key accounts’ and, crucially, the ability to translate that data into meaningful market intelligence. Companies are becoming much smarter in segmenting their key customers – but faced with moving targets across a changing NHS, maintaining the accuracy, and in the process the efficiency, of the approach is not easy. It is, however, imperative.

The race to reform
The transition towards the new environment is already well under way. Last year in England 152 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were reorganised into 51 PCT Clusters of variable size, while the ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) were restructured to form four large regional clusters. By April 2013, PCTs and SHAs will be extinct and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and the National Commissioning Board will spearhead the commissioning of NHS services under a new-look structure. If you throw into the mix the onset of Clinical Senates, Health and Wellbeing Boards and new Commissioning Support units (which may well emerge as private organisations and therefore new customers), it is easy to see that an already complex customer matrix is set to become even more complicated. And that’s simply the start line.

Critics of the reforms claim that the situation on the ground is fast approaching chaos within the NHS, as the wider organisation struggles to implement changes even before the Health and Social Care Bill has achieved Royal Assent. But in the interim period while the health service readies itself for the inevitable, UK pharmaceutical companies cannot afford to let their sales and marketing operations become similarly chaotic. Tracking and more importantly responding to change throughout the transition period will be vital for medical sales professionals if they are to support their customers through the metamorphosis and, in the process, meet their own commercial objectives.

Access to quality data that can not only enable Account Managers to make the right targeting decisions, but can also help them engage in the most appropriate customer dialogue, will be critical to success. It is not simply a case of knowing who to target – understanding why and how they should be approached is equally important. It is this understanding that separates knowledge from intelligence. And separates winners from also-rans.

Keeping on track
Sales professionals not only need to identify their ‘key accounts’, they also need to understand the varied environments in which these individuals operate. What challenges do they face? What are their key priorities? Do they carry out more than one role – or sit on a variety of boards and committees in addition to their main job? If so, how does this impact their spheres of influence? How pivotal are they in driving service redesign, influencing formulary decisions, or facilitating joint working within their local organisation? Where do their roles and their needs overlap with your product or service?

This is standard market access. And it’s vital. Pharmaceutical sales professionals need to define how they engage with the NHS and why their customers should want to engage with them. They need to establish how they are going to deliver value and improve outcomes for the health service and its patients. And to achieve this, they must understand their local health economy, its priorities and objectives, and identify the key stakeholders whom they can help support to meet those needs. What is the structure of the local organisation? What is its indicative budget and its strategic plan? Who is responsible for commissioning in your disease area? What areas are emerging Commissioning Support Units going to be supporting commissioning in – and what are they not? As PCT clusters evolve and CCGs take shape, which customers are most relevant today, and how relevant will they be tomorrow or indeed in two years’ time? Only by tracking customers in real time as they make their transitional journey towards the new NHS can sales professionals be sure that their interactions are aligned with that change, and be prepared to respond accordingly when required.

Technology in a team sport
The Key Account Manager in the modern market must, therefore, have the mental preparation of an Olympic athlete – but work on the basis that the race is never won. The NHS is a dynamic marketplace where change is continual. The Key Account teams that are best able to track, capture and share intelligence will be best placed to emerge victorious. The role of the Key Account Manager is, after all, an individual pursuit in a team sport.

The tools to support ‘informed’ Account Management are already here. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that help capture and share vital customer intelligence have been in common currency across the UK drug sector for many years. But never before has their value to the medical sales professional been so important. Industry surveys suggest that CRM usage amongst front-line sales professionals could still be improved – and this is essential. CRM systems are only as good as the data that is put into them. But when collected and shared properly, that data is there to help medical sales professionals. In a fast-evolving customer environment that will almost certainly intensify as the NHS continues its inexorable march towards a new structure, key account management can only be enhanced by the knowledge and intelligence a good CRM system can help deliver.

In fact, the sheer volume of likely NHS change in the next 12 months could provide a catalyst for 2012 to become the year when CRM finally comes of age. And those sales professionals who recognise its potential to significantly support customer interactions – and make for a more intelligent and appropriate engagement – will undoubtedly reap the rewards.

But the time to act is now. In an Olympic year, the fast track is the only option. After all, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

David Round is UK General Manager, Cegedim Relationship Management.

Despite huge investments into CRM systems some pharma companies still struggle to get all of their staff to embrace and fully interact with them. Pf’s Iain Bate explores why, and what the future holds for technology in the industry.

There’s no doubt that technological developments have changed the way we live and work from year to year – maybe even from month to month in the 21st Century. But has the world of healthcare been travelling in the slow lane of the intergalactic highway?

The potential that technology offers to pharma, and the general world of healthcare, is enormous. But is the pharmaceutical industry, and its staff in particular, using it to maximise the returns of billion-dollar investments?

It would seem that technology is the ‘buzz word’ on the lips of a few of healthcare’s major players at present. The DH recently invited people to nominate their favourite health-related mobile phone ‘app’ – be it for keeping fit, to locate a hospital or chemist, or helping to manage an illness. Creative minds were also asked to design their own health app with a panel of DH judges deciding on their favourite from the most popular entries.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says it’s the Government’s intention to give people better access to information using modern technology and the exercise is a “unique opportunity for the NHS and those who develop apps to not only showcase their work, but to bring to life new ideas and realise true innovation in healthcare”.

As part of the DH’s technology revolution, patients may also soon be offered online consultations with their GPs using programmes such as Skype. Clearly the Government is embracing the convenience technology offers to patients, but are other sectors in healthcare as interested? It would seem there is still some way to go.

 

In two minds

Pf ’s 2010/11 annual Company Perception, Motivation and Satisfaction Survey suggests that not all respondents are completely convinced by the power of technology in the workplace. Although the Survey – which relates to 2010 and the early part of this year – found that nearly 90% of respondents have access to a CRM system, only 43% find time to use it in the field and more than a fifth of people fail to accurately record post-call reports with important clients.

Questions have to be asked as to why, despite multimillion pound investment and training by pharma companies, there remains a percentage of staff that still ignore the power and potential of the technology at their finger tips.

Results from the Survey reveal there’s no difference in uptake by key account managers, primary and secondary care representatives, those in primary care roles only, firstline sales managers and secondline sales managers and the use of CRM technology between differing age groups – although surprisingly 10% of respondents in these positions with less than two years of experience said they did not have a CRM system, compared to just 5% more experienced colleagues.

The launch of the iPad in March 2010 promised to revolutionise the way sales representatives, and those in similar roles, use CRM systems in the field. However, nearly three-quarters (70%) of respondents from the Survey are still presently sent out with laptops containing their customer-relationship systems.

When quizzed on what they’d change about the hardware which houses their system, the majority of respondents said that their CRM was too awkward to carry, with poor running systems an issue and that batteries ran out too quickly. Apple claims its second-generation iPad now enjoys ten hours of use away from a plug socket in the field.

Yet the switch to the latest convenient tablet devices may not necessarily be about high levels of investment, it may be down to maximising value for money as Paul Shawah, Vice President, Multi Channel Strategy, Veeva Systems explains. “I would say the life cycle of devices within the industry is generally about three years, sometimes a little bit longer,” he said. “When a company invests in new technology they typically depreciate that over that period, so they don’t want to replace it in the field for that time to maximise their investment.

“However, with the introduction of game changing technology like the iPad, this has changed. We see a number of our pharmaceutical customers are justifying the business case to move to the iPad even before their tablets are fully depreciated. This speaks to the business benefit that pharma expects to achieve from the iPad and the related applications only available on that device.”

A convenient shield

Despite technology eliminating mundane process in the workplace and offering the potential to assist employees and improve their efficiency at work, it has historically been used as a shield to mask poor performance and abused as a means to waste company time – a recent online survey by AOL found that nearly half of Americans (44.7%) rank surfing the web as their primary activity during the two hours they ‘waste’ each day at work.

But it would seem that a high number of respondents do value the opportunities CRM offers. Almost two-thirds (64%) said they always enter correctly the amount of customer sales they make into their CRM. But 21% admitted they fail to always report face-to-face meetings with clients. More surprisingly, over a fifth of participants said they do not always record the number of products they had sold to clients.

The lack of honest accuracy is surprising considering the amount of time spent using CRM systems each day. A third said they spend between one and two hours a day on their system with a fifth spending three hours or more on their CRM. During their time using the management system, more than half (55%) said that call reporting was the most useful feature.

Although respondents were less impressed with the KAM abilities of their software with only 19% believing it to be the most useful facility. When questioned about what they would change given the chance, 45% said they wanted an improved database, over a quarter (28%) called for their system to be overall more useful, and 18% said they would prefer their CRM to be easier to use.

 

The next level

But what of the future of CRM systems? Will they be easier to use and have improved customer databases? David Round, General Manager, UK, Cegedim Relationship Management, says the regular interaction we now have with technology means we’ve all come to expect the latest developments.

“End users are significantly more ‘technology-savvy’ than their counterparts of even five years ago,” he explained. “If anything, the challenge for companies is to ensure that they provide their end users with the types of technology that they use as consumers. It’s also important to focus on the usability of your software to ensure maximum use. Technology companies – and pharma – must work together to develop a better understanding of the interaction, to ensure it meets users’ needs in the field.”

One main reason that users have become more ‘savvy’ is down to the use and interaction with social media. Whether at home or at work, websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and most recently Google+ have driven an increased use of various forms of technology – especially on devices such as smartphones or tablet devices which reps are calling for in the field.

Pharma companies, both in the US and UK, have flirted with the idea of fully embracing the power social media harnesses, but at present are restricted by the PMCPA’s Code of Practice and by the FDA – who has again delayed the publication of its guidance.

The FDA says it is “difficult to provide a timeframe... due to the extensive work and review process, or ‘Good Guidance Practices’, which ensures that FDA’s stakeholders are provided well vetted guidances articulating FDA’s current thinking on a topic”.

Although the FDA may be unsure on how to direct healthcare companies, David Round believes the introduction, both professionally and personally, of social media has had an impact on staff and their expectations.

“For the modern professional person, much of their everyday life is conducted online – for example on shopping, utilities, insurance or booking a holiday – and many users then want the same level of capability from the tools they use in their job,” he added.

Dan Goldsmith, General Manager, Veeva Europe, agrees there has been a significant shift in the way we operate and interact due to our experiences online through tagged posts or hash-tagged searches. But although the 800 million users on Facebook – more than half which ‘log-on’ every day – and 175 million people on Twitter have no problem saying hello to friends, pharma finds it more difficult reaching out to people.

“Social media create a new avenue for healthcare dialogue and will only continue to pervade our lives,” said Dan. “Consequently, I believe that pharma faces two challenges. The first is to decide how to participate in the online dialogue with stakeholders and then to create those interactions through the channels we’re all familiar with, such as Facebook and Twitter.

“The second is to figure out how to leverage the model of social dialogue internally to support stronger collaboration and more focused communication among employees. Already, we see some companies taking advantage of the latest social business tools to connect employees with one another and to access and share information in real time.”

Clearly CRM solution providers understand the potential modern technology and social media platforms offer to companies. Whether pharma and its workforce get fully up to speed on the intergalactic highway sooner or later remains to be seen.

Sometimes, reporting on the UK pharmaceutical industry feels a bit like Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day. In the late 1990s, when I edited my first title for UK pharma, all the talk was of the move from GP Fundholding and the imminent introduction of Primary Care Groups.

By 2000, New Labour’s NHS Plan promised a revolution in healthcare built around delivering improvements in ‘partnership, performance, patient care and prevention’. The politicians were about to ‘modernise the health service’.

Fast forward almost 12 years and we’re still being read the same script; new politicians, the same old lines. Four Ps – partnership, prevention, productivity and patient care – continue to dominate airtime, only this time, of course, it will be different.

Different? Some hope. This is Groundhog Day. So how is the UK pharmaceutical industry responding to change? Its customer-base, meticulously redrawn through 10 years of implementing the NHS plan, is yet again being reshaped. PCTs are on the way out. CCGs and Clinical Senates are on the way in. Keeping track of decision-makers and influencers is critical. Getting in front of them in the right volume, at the right time and with the right message is life and death.

The industry is currently pinning its hopes on Key Account Management (KAM), supported by a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) philosophy that promises to enable the field force to have a more detailed understanding of individual customer needs across a diverse and complex landscape.

The tools to support the CRM approach are impressive, established and evolving in time with the modern technological advancement. They also provide huge value to medical sales professionals, and the ability to enhance customer interactions.

But, as ever, this is Groundhog Day. Twelve months ago, Pf’s annual survey into field force attitudes revealed an apathy amongst some sales professionals towards the use of CRM. A year later and it appears that, despite its many advantages, the value message for CRM is still not being heard by all of those who can undoubtedly benefit from it.

This year, 90% of Pf’s survey respondents have access to a CRM system – but only 43% of these find time to use it in the field, and more than a fifth admit that they fail to record post-call reports accurately.

In a fast-moving, dynamic marketplace, generating, sharing and maximising real customer insight is one of the best ways for sales professionals to achieve competitive advantage. CRM tools provide the perfect mechanism for this. Only the foolish would pass up the opportunity.

I feel like I am repeating myself. But then again, this is healthcare Groundhog Day. Next month: more NHS reform.

Chris Ross
Editor

Capturing and interpreting customer insight is the bedrock of success in modern sales and marketing. In a customer-centric world, the development of tools that can help companies better understand customer need has been vital. Pf’s Iain Bate charts the evolution of data capture – from paper to cloud-based CRM.

There was a time when sales representatives across most business sectors used pen and paper to document call activity. Rumour has it that some pharmaceutical companies were still operating such primitive paper-based systems as the millennium approached – though that’s most likely an urban myth. By then, the revolution had already happened. Using new-fangled Electronic Territory Management Systems, companies could monitor the interactions, communications and movements of their staff as and when they wished – though in many cases, sales representatives were only encouraged to log their call activity sporadically whilst continuing their daily appointments with clients. But as the digital age gained speed and the thirst for data capture increased, companies began to recognise the need to improve their customer insights – to develop a deeper understanding of customers’ needs. The introduction of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in the early 1990s took data capture to a new level, changing the way representatives reported the outcomes of interactions with customers, and, in turn, providing greater opportunities for companies to use such data for competitive advantage.

Unlike the early database marketing systems, modern CRM is designed to support an integrated approach and offers the opportunity to share information across a number of departments without trailing through reams of information. In short, if used correctly, it is a convenient tool and an essential component for Key Account Management (KAM). Like any technology, modern day systems have been development to be used on a variety of platforms and versions of popular hardware. But this wasn’t always the case.

Early CRM systems were hindered by the bulky hardware they were programmed to run on. Laptops or similar hand-held devices were not always as light and convenient to carry as they are today and sales representatives were often off-put or embarrassed to set up these systems in front of clients and make idle talk for a few minutes while the software loaded.

The stigma of the old CRM systems may still linger today with mixed adoption results across all industries. In last year’s Pf Company Perception, Motivation and Satisfaction Survey, only 51% of respondents who said they have a CRM system actually use it in field. But it’s not all bad for pharmaceutical companies that have invested millions of pounds in an attempt to understand their customers better. A fifth of sales representatives said they used their system for more than three hours a day with more than half (51%) saying that call reporting was the most useful function and 17% said it was an effective component in KAM.

The overall CRM goal is to identify, attract, and win new clients, and to nurture and retain those already on the books. CRM can help entice former clients back, luring them away from competitors. And, used effectively, it can reduce the costs of marketing.

The benefits are there for all to see. Systems can drive quality and efficiency, decreasing overall costs, whilst at the same time improving decision support, enterprise agility and, more importantly, customer attention.

Richard Boardman, who has been involved in the CRM industry since 1995 and is the founder of UK-based independent CRM consulting firm Mareeba, has always been in favour of their use in sales teams. “I’ve been a fan of CRM technology from the early days,” he said. “As long as you could get people to use the systems they were always going to make for a more successful selling organisation. If organisations get it right, CRM technology can be a big source of competitive advantage.”

But what is the best type of system to use? Companies currently integrate a variety of ‘programmes’ within their systems providing wide-ranging functionality.

Sales force automation (SFA) is the most commonly used type of CRM system. The software efficiently streamlines all phases of the sales process, reducing the time that sales representatives need to spend on each phase of their daily jobs. At the heart of SFA is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts and workflow automation, quote generation, and product knowledge.

Marketing CRM systems help companies identify and target potential clients and also generate leads for sales teams to pursue. A key marketing capability is tracking and measuring multi-channel campaigns where users can view emails, social media websites and telephone calls.

Customer service and support programmes – an important factor in attracting and retaining customers – often include appointment, analytics and social media tools.

Social media is the latest tool used by CRM systems and one currently with the most potential for development. The likes of Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook provide the opportunity for individuals and companies alike to have their voice/product heard across the globe at the click of a button. Customers can research products or companies online then seek recommendations or advice through social media channels. While a good reputation is essential in the world of business, a poor one online can have a devastating effect – even if a potential client has never heard, visited or spoke to a representative of a company. More and more companies are now attempting to gain access to these conversations and take part in the dialogue to sway opinion.

It’s the importance of social media and the ease of how it can be accessed through mobile devices which Richard predicts will bring about the next developments in CRM systems after a relatively slow start.

“I think if you analyse the history of the market it’s amazing how slow change has actually been in the last ten years,” he said. “I can’t think of much in the way of dazzling new functionality in that time, but I think that will probably change. I’m sure mobile access will be a growth area, and I think we will see a lot more functionality to tap into what’s happening in social media.

“I think we will see suppliers who specialise in particular vertical markets come under more pressure given the ease of development of some of the more popular generic applications. We will also see open source or very aggressively priced products really start to change the dynamics of the market. This will again put pressure on suppliers to show the added value of their offerings.”

But despite the proposed advancements and new functionality, it’s the low adoption rates which still haunt company executives who spent large sums on CRM investment. In 2003, a Gartner report estimated that more than a billion dollars had been spent on software that was not being used. While the problem of adoption may have become less severe after the ‘Facebook generation’ entered the workforce, in 2007 a UK survey revealed that four-fifths of senior executives reported their biggest challenge was getting staff to engage with the systems they had installed.

Richard, who himself worked for a number of major UK CRM vendors, says the issue around adoption may not necessarily be with the hardware of software, but with the sales instinct of the person using it.

“Some salespeople really don’t like sharing information,” he said. “They feel their contacts are their contacts. Others feel they are too busy to update the system. Some are simply uncomfortable with technology. A lot of times though it’s because supporting infrastructures aren’t in place to maximise usage. We may have progressed some way with the technology side of CRM, but we’re still pretty much in the dark ages in respect to user adoption. In principle mobile usage should take off, but then we’ve had mobile solutions for the last decade or so, and they haven’t really taken off, so I’m not sure it will be as fast as some people think.”

So there lies the challenge. Since their inception, CRM systems and technology have developed from paper, through to electronic databases to become an important component of a Key Account Management approach in little over twenty years. But getting staff to engage with them and fulfil their potential still remains an obstacle not even a CRM system can solve.

Chris Ross, Pf Editor, explains why pharma companies need to stop focusing on products and start thinking about their customers.

It seems everybody these days is talking about ‘customer-centricity.’ As the saying goes, if you’re not thinking about the customer, you’re not thinking. Marketing guru Philip Kotler goes further, saying that companies need to stop focusing on their products and start focusing on their customers instead. “Products come and go,” he says. “A company’s challenge is to hold on to its customers longer than it holds onto its products. It needs to watch the market life cycle and the customer life cycle far more than the product life cycle.”

The recent NICE conference made a powerful case for customer-centricity in healthcare – and the need for the NHS and life sciences industry to work together more effectively to improve patient health. Patrick Valance, Senior VP, Medicines Development, GSK, said the industry must address the gap between discovery and invention, and to develop medicines in areas of unmet need. To achieve this, companies must develop a better understanding of their customer-base and work more closely with them, not only to identify patients’ and customers’ needs, but also to deliver solutions that help meet them.

Field-based pharma executives – from both sales and marketing – can play an invaluable role in improving companies’ customer insights. The sales force provides the industry with its biggest collective reach into the marketplace – but it still needs to do more to maximise the benefits of such exposure. For sales professionals, the key is to ask the right questions, capture the essence of the answers and, crucially, share this vital information with colleagues right across the organisation – in medical, marketing and sales departments.

This approach is the definition of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – and tools to support this information exchange have been in place for many years. But fulfilling the promise of CRM is largely dependent upon the willingness of customer-facing professionals to use the technology. A 2007 UK survey found that the biggest challenge for 80% of senior executives was getting sales people to engage with the CRM systems they had installed. Commentators say that issues around adoption may rest with the instinct of the sales person – and that many don’t like sharing information.

But in the era of customer-centricity, sharing is not an option, it’s a necessity. Remember the cliché: if you’re not thinking about the customer, you’re not thinking. Are you thinking hard enough?

 

Contact the author: chris.ross@healthpublishing.co.uk

Analysing the performance of sales representatives has never been more important to pharma. David Round, Cegedim Relationship Management, explains the importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and business intelligence in tracking and improving KAM activity.

In the good old days, performance measurement was about coverage and frequency, sales volume and value, and various other activity-based measures. The customer base rarely changed and pharmaceutical companies had a consistent approach to tracking representative’s performance. Those days are long gone. Yet despite the widespread adoption of Key Account Management and the challenges of meeting the needs of a now constantly changing customer base, some companies are still reliant on more traditional measures.

Over the past decade, the pharmaceutical industry has endured/embraced numerous changes, not least the shift towards the Key Account Management (KAM) model. Yet despite the declining relevance of ‘coverage and frequency’ in today’s highly complex sales environment, there is still no consensus across the industry as to how best to measure and manage performance.

The traditional model was straightforward and adopted by pretty much every company, irrespective of therapeutic area. It was a relatively simple process to determine the right message and assess the required frequency of visits to influence prescribing. But it was not always satisfactory – not least given the inability to directly match activity information to a specific end sale.

The good news is that now the industry can measure absolute performance against definite success factors, such as whether or not the product is on formulary, providing a far more tangible link to KAM activity. The challenge is trying to find meaningful performance measures to support a sales process that could last for 18-months and is specific to the requirements of the local health economy.

Local empowerment

The KAM model is indisputably harder to measure. It is complex, multi-layered and involves numerous individuals within the team. Pharmaceutical companies need to put in place a way of supporting KAMs within the local health economy, co-ordinating the many individuals and tasks required to deliver the key account plan and understanding how best to drive the process through a number of key milestones towards defined end goals, such as progression through the stages of local drug approval process.

For companies that can leverage strong CRM and business intelligence technology, there is an opportunity to attain unprecedented granularity of performance information. In this multi-discipline environment, the CRM system is fast becoming the key repository for KAM information, from the key account plan and the SWOT analysis, through to tactical plans, including the required engagement with specific individuals within the local health economy. It is the source of information for defining the internal resources required to undertake these tactical requirements and, critically, provides the central platform to track the progress of the key account plan towards specific milestones.

Today’s business intelligence technology allows pharmaceutical companies to build on that CRM system to track performance at several levels. From the task/action level for each individual user, through to the performance against the business objectives set for each account, and up to the overall account ranking, which demonstrates performance towards the end goal.

Using dashboards at each level provides the KAM with an immediate insight into the status of tactical actions that need to be carried out to achieve the overall account and strategic objectives, and how the performance of these actions is affecting or could affect the longer term performance and account status. Furthermore, by using traditional red, amber and green to highlight the action status, a well designed dashboard can make it far easier to prioritise activity and minimise the chance of action slippage which could damage the entire team’s performance. For example, has the medical scientific liaison engaged the local Key Opinion Leaders or stakeholders; or the KAM attended formulary meetings?

Determining performance measures

This visibility of activity, and the ability to track performance in real-time is key in enabling the pharmaceutical company to ensure the key account plan is progressing. With a 360 degree view, companies have a fantastic platform to achieve excellent performance management. The challenge for pharmaceutical companies today is to determine the relevant metrics.

And this, to date, has been a stumbling block for many companies: simply measuring performance against the rest of the industry is no longer relevant. In this brave new world, every pharmaceutical company has a different value proposition and supporting strategies that reflects specific therapeutic areas and the individual local health economy.

The performance measures must reflect that value proposition. However, since value propositions vary between therapeutic areas and within different local health economies, companies that opt to impose one set of performance metrics across the board risk fundamentally constraining the KAMs. Metrics must be set within the context of each specific account plan, and then rolled up to measure performance within the overall market strategy.

With this local empowerment, pharmaceutical companies can then truly enable KAM through full local budget management. KAMs can include budget information within the CRM system, from the cost of promotion meetings to grants and sponsorships, providing a single, central resource that can deliver key insight into the effectiveness of budget management within the overall context of performance against business goals.

Adding sales data provides pharmaceutical companies with the ability to assess performance from a P&L perspective within a local health economy.

New measurements

After decades as the primary way of measuring performance – both internally and against the competition – it is no surprise that activity measures are still in place. This is an easy crutch to lean on. But if organisations really want to create highly efficient, functional KAM structures, the measures need to change and support KAMs in day to day, as well as long-term, account management.

The market has fundamentally changed; these traditional measures will not be replaced with another standardised industry measurement of KAM performance. The key question is: just what will success look like under this KAM strategy to your organisation? Pharmaceutical companies must determine those measures of success that reflect the corporate strategy – and put in place methods of tracking movements towards that success.

Deploying the right technology is critical. True KAM tracking and performance management cannot be achieved without excellent CRM and business intelligence tools – the processes are simply too complex and involve too many different people. But ultimately, it will be the ability to monitor the soft and hard measures that reflect local/account level objectives that will be key in this evolution from the familiar industry standard approach to performance management to one that is highly tailored, highly specific and flexible enough to reflect the demands of a constantly shifting customer base.

David Round is General Manager of Cegedim Relationship Management.

In the rapidly changing NHS Richard Gray, Commercial Director, Cegedim Dendrite UK, explains how technology should be used as an essential component to successful Customer Relationship Management.

For pharmaceutical companies, the ability to share local knowledge and best practice in a timely and effective way will be key to long term success in the new NHS. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has always been viewed as the solution, but may not have always delivered on its promise under the old pharma selling model. However, as pharmaceutical companies embrace market access and the need to truly share information across different areas of the business, CRM will be key to tracking interactions across every part of the organisation and managing the complexities of stakeholders’ relationships.
The vast majority of pharmaceutical companies may have made the shift to a Key Account Management (KAM) structure in order to respond to the needs of a payer-led health service; but just what support is in place to ensure that a KAM model is effective?
Over the next 12 to 18 months, the NHS is set to experience massive structural change, from the disbanding of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) to the creation of GP commissioning bodies. Keeping pace with this change, the new stakeholders, and the way in which the pharmaceutical company is interacting with these individuals – and their network of contacts and opinion leaders – will be essential.
These new bodies will be under huge pressure to drive down costs and deliver efficiencies, all within a totally new way of working, offering pharmaceutical companies clear opportunities to share best practice, shape service provision and build strong, supportive relationships.
It is therefore essential to have an effective mechanism for sharing information across the pharmaceutical company, to leverage insight gleaned during interactions to ensure the specific needs are understood and met according to the overall strategy.

Enabling key account management
But for today’s new generation of KAMs just how is this complex market access requirement to be delivered? How can a KAM ensure activities, from providing health service stakeholders with information within a defined timescale to implementing a strategic messaging campaign, are carried out on time and to the required standard? Does a KAM know that a key target has contacted the call centre for information? Can a KAM track not only which key stakeholders have received a direct marketing email, but which have responded and whether there is any overlap between these individuals – from committee membership to the use of shared GP commissioning services?
In this increasingly complex health service, pharmaceutical companies should not be concerned simply with one to one relationships but also with the extended relationships. Interactions with a stakeholder’s colleague or co-member of a committee can be extremely relevant to the overall pharmaceutical messaging.
So, can CRM solutions really support market access strategies? Can they reach across organisational boundaries to provide access to information across the business from sales reps to medical liaison, call centre to research and development? And, can they really support the needs of the new pharmaceutical KAM?

The extended CRM model
The CRM model for pharmaceutical companies is very different to the way the majority of organisations use this technology. At the most basic level, most non-pharma or fast moving consumer goods companies will use CRM to track interactions from initial customer introduction through to sale. The performance metrics are clear and easily understood.
For pharmaceutical companies however, the complex networks of influences and the multiple ways the organisation will engage with the extended network of stakeholders make such simple performance calculations impossible. Whilst in the past, under the traditional rep/detailing approach, traditional coverage and frequency of visit metrics would have sufficed; with the move to KAM and focused market access strategies that encompass diverse elements of the company, the needs have changed.
Today, pharmaceutical companies require a very different set of metrics that include the quality of the interaction, whether activities are part of a coordinated strategy and the timeliness of information provision. In addition, to the ability to support these diverse metrics intuitively, the CRM system needs also to reflect the unique nature of pharmaceutical data.
Whilst most organisations in other industries will populate their own CRM databases with information from customers and prospective interactions, pharmaceutical companies have a far more complex network of stakeholder contacts to track and understand. Therefore, the role of a CRM vendor changes in this arena; and an ability to provide up-to-date, accurate information that reflects the fast changing nature of the NHS, the new stakeholders in medicines management and GP commissioning groups, as well as pharmaceutical relevant CRM software, is essential.

Customer insight
It is only with this depth of information and the ability to support pharmaceutical specific metrics that a company can put in place a CRM strategy that supports effective market access. Key to achieving this model is the decision from day one to ensure every relevant department and individual has access to the system and, more importantly, also believes and values the benefits the good use that CRM brings – from sales and contact centre to medical affairs. Just providing KAMs with access is not going to suffice; if the customer is to be truly at the heart of the organisation, every part of the business must have access to all interactions.
Of course with this depth of complex, overlapping information, it is essential to ensure each individual understands the data, both how it relates to a specific role or function and its relevance to the overall market access campaign.  CRM systems must be able to display the information intuitively, providing a 360 degree customer view with simple links to relevant interactions such as meetings, face-to-face calls, emails, direct mail and call centre requests.
Within this framework, the KAM can build up virtual organisations and key accounts; which could be a person, a health centre or other NHS body, or just a virtual organisation built from a number of different stakeholders. Providing a KAM with the ability to create the key account, with an action plan and SWOT analysis, is key to supporting this huge transition and achieving really effective relationship management.
Add in real-time mobile access and everyone now has access to all requirements exactly when they need them. KAMs can track project plans, chase up actions and measure performance within a single, trusted, cross-organisational system.
A good CRM system cannot turn a rep into a successful KAM overnight. But without the ability to track the quality of interactions, the timeliness of actions and the relevance of the extended relationship, KAMs will have little chance of implementing successful market access strategies or delivering the local knowledge required to build strong relationships across the new NHS.

 

Richard Gray is the Commercial Director of Cegedim Dendrite UK.  Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specialising in the healthcare field.  Further details are found online at www.cegedimdendrite.com. Mr Gray is a regular contributor for Pf; his last article was published in the August issue.