SFE and Next Generation CRM
*Dale Hagemeyer, research VP at Gartners, on the necessity of developing new ways to deliver peer messages*
By on Nov 19, 2010Dale Hagemeyer, research VP at Gartners, on the necessity of developing new ways to deliver peer messages
Dale Hagemeyer, research VP at Gartners, says he is aggravated by one thing: hearing people apologize for being in the pharmaceutical industry! Yet we have been responsible, at least in part, he says, for a doubling in life expectancy in the last 100 years within the developed world.
One problem he identifies is that pharmaceutical companies have some of the highest rates of senior executive turnover across all industries. This, he considers, is related to undifferentiated sales activities, and is a signal that the status quo cant be sustained.
For example, what will replace the sales reps who are being cut in droves at present? The industry needs to consider new methods of delivering peer messages. Developing new channels and analytics is pivotal to this effort.
The peer channel
Research shows that physicians get most of their information on medicines from such sources as medical journals, conferences, CME events, word of mouth, and participating in clinical trials. These all parts of the peer channel.
Hagemeyer explains that it works because of credibility and frequency. In both of these categories, word of mouth tops the effectiveness chart. The key to it, he says, is physician choice. It is all about managing people. IT systems, although necessary for analytics, will not get the job done on their own.
Hagemeyer argues that physician choice requires multichannel influencing, and emphasizes the need to know the costs of the various channels that could be used. For example, face-to-face contacts pan out at $288 each, whereas doing this interactively via the Web will cost around $36. Self-service contactssimply accessing a website, for examplecost as little as $1 each.
Hagemeyer demonstrates how this can work, using a Johnson & Johnson site as an example. Users can opt in for alerts, putting them in contact, if they wish, with the entire range of J & J companies. He considers this to be best practice, although this particular site has been superseded. Tracking cookies from this type of site provides the necessary analytics; Getting to know you, as Hagemeyer puts it.
Unified communications
But how can the peer channel be activated in a person-to-person sales situation happening online? Hagemeyer paints a picture of a sales rep exchanging messages with a physician via the Web, and calling in an on call expert to answer a more challenging question. He calls this unified communications, and predicts it will become the preferred medium by physicians.
The large volume of data collected by these interactions will be used for shaping the next contact. He shows how attitudes to such data repositories need to change. Even the ability to generate periodic reports is no longer adequate. You need real-time access to enable todays questions to be answered.
Generic IT systems are not usually up to the task. I believe it's about being more ergonomic, more analytical, and more multichannel, he says.
Physician choice
Of course, fundamental to analytics is clean data. It enables correct views of customers and a meaningful understanding of relationships over time across all channels. In this context, Hagemeyer returns to the physician choice argument. Making the choices available is underpinned by having the necessary information to hand on what physician preferences are.
Good analytics also help keep sales specialists focused on incentives. Such systems have to be server-based, fully integrated, and meet industry standards of functionality as well as analytical.
If it all seems like a quantum leap, Hagemeyer recommends taking a phased approach. This would start with dashboards, basic reporting and querying, and progress to predictive modeling, optimization, and scenario development. He highlights the value of longitudinal data to understand better aspects of the physician-patient relationship, such as treatment switching and compliance issues.
Next generation CRM
Next generation CRM requires different thinking, according to Hagemeyer. He foresees a progressive move away from transaction-based systems, via analytics, towards fully predictive systems aimed at influencing outcomes.
His call to action is that this shift in focus needs to be understood at the highest levels. The industry needs to think in terms of channels, especially the peer channel.
CRM is an iterative process, and we won't get that iteration without the data collection and analysis he advocates. Technology is important for this, but it is only the enabler.