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A multichannel strategy brings obvious advantages in terms of stakeholder engagement as well as some other not so obvious benefits. GSK’s Alexei Kolchin talks to Nick de Cent.

By Nick de Cent on Nov 4, 2014

Developing a multichannel strategy in the Russian market offers a number of important benefits – some of which may potentially be overlooked – as well as several distinct challenges, according to Alexei Kolchin, VP & Director General, GSK in Russia.

Among the positive changes that GSK has seen since implementing a multichannel model is an increase in customer satisfaction. “Customer satisfaction is higher,” Kolchin declares. As evidence, Kolchin cites the success of recent eDetailing activity whereby the average length of each session tops 20 minutes – “In our case, it’s almost 23 minutes” – and much longer than a typical face-to-face visit.

At the same time, customers tend to spend almost an hour each time they engage with the company through its webinar program. This approach clearly creates a need for quality content but also generates much greater interest from customers.

A second advantage relates to the quality and efficiency of communication, which can improve significantly. “It’s not something you can expect up front but, after a couple of years, you can really see the multichannel strategy becoming more and more efficient".

A third bonus is improved morale within the company. “Positivity went up big time because, once you see the successes, people internally start believing this is something which could bring long-term success in the business.”

Among the easy-to-overlook benefits is the ability to deploy the same content across several channels and across different Russian-speaking geographies.

On the other hand, a key challenge in terms of multichannel performance is the system you use. With so many channels available, companies need to be able to integrate all activities in one system to be able to engage even more effectively across the various channels and customer segments.

Lack of Internet adoption in the Russian market can sometimes be an issue. “For instance, it is quite easy to reach oncologists or specialists but it’s a bit of challenge to reach GPs or pediatricians,” Kolchin explains. Furthermore, the fact that the market is largely undeveloped also means that companies are learning multichannel activity as they go along. “The industry is still very basic in its way of working with these skills.”

Building a winning approach

The number one issue is not external: the infrastructure, the customer, adoption of the Internet; the number one issue relates to internal barriers".

Introducing a multichannel model is certainly not simply about cutting sales costs, Kolchin maintains; it’s just as much about adapting to market conditions. Indeed, developing a successful approach is “quite a big investment” that is part of a long-term strategy with commitment from the organization to move ahead.

A crucial success driver for building this winning strategy relates to internal engagement within the organization. “The number one issue is not external: the infrastructure, the customer, adoption of the Internet; the number one issue relates to internal barriers,” Kolchin stresses. The key is to be able to sell the change inside the organization in order to be able to move forward.

Continuous improvement is a vital component of developing a successful multichannel approach, particularly with digital. “It’s amazing how many options you have. First you freeze the big entry ticket and the high cost you need to pay to enter. Then you significantly improve the way that you work through those channels and decrease the cost per contact.” So successful has this been that, over several years, GSK has managed to decrease its cost per contact somewhere between four and six times. Building on that, you also need to boost the quality of communication, for instance by providing 24/7 service, Kolchin says.

Role of the rep

Asked how salespeople communicate value through multichannel, Kolchin suggests that this is not really their role. “I think salespeople should know their customers and make the right channels available for their target audience… which means that the customers should receive the content they want, at the time they have, in the format they like. The task of the salespeople is actually to create this kind of situation.”

However, he also points out that much digital communication is carried out among HCPs themselves, interacting peer to peer, or also by GSK medics communicating with the HCPs. Furthermore, the sophisticated segmentation process that goes hand in hand with a multichannel approach means the actual content is in much higher demand than in a simple face-to-face call.

He states: “So this is why, for compliance reasons but also on a competency level, salespeople are just not right to communicate through these channels.”

Consequently, implementing a multichannel approach inevitably means changes to the size and mix of roles within the sales organization. Certainly reps will need training in digital competencies but, beyond that, “you may expect a reduction in the number of ‘basic’ representatives because you reallocate this headcount to other functions, particularly to the medical organization,” Kolchin explains. Pharma companies need to transform their medical organization to support the multichannel approach.

Focusing on customer value

Turning to the question of how to implement a customer-focused strategy based on value creation, differentiation and superior customer experience, Kolchine acknowledges that this can be difficult. “The simple answer is: it is very hard,” he states.

Inevitably, it takes time to implement a successful approach. “People within the organization need to understand that the benefits come over time – within one to two years. “That’s why, in terms of the immediate expectation out of this channel, they shouldn’t expect everything to be working immediately.”

Asked who GSK sees as its main customers – HCPs, payers or patients – Kolchin replies: “I think GSK is a very patient-centric organization but, of course, we need to partner with HCPs and payers to ensure the best treatment is available for patients.”

He highlights the complexity of the business model whereby pharma develops and brings value to the patients who are taking a product that is recommended by someone else and often bought by a third party. “You need to manage the complexity, of course being completely patient-centric but also taking into account the needs of the other stakeholders.”

Market factors

The Russian pharma market has been extremely buoyant with a huge unmet medical need and this lack of penetration defines the long-term development of the market. “We are just lucky on how many more patients we could help in this market. This market will definitely be much bigger and the only question is how.” Simultaneously, however, growing competition means that there are more players in the Russian marketplace.

In addition, regulation is a key driver in the Russian pharma landscape. “The market is getting more and more regulated.” Perhaps uniquely in the global pharma landscape, regulators require pharma organizations to submit information within the public domain around activity such as sponsorship relating to HCPs.

“I completely support this initiative because it brings transparency to the market,” says Kolchin. On the other hand, the regulatory regime also brings with it challenges which mean pharma needs to allocate resources to planning for such compliance activity. That said, Kolchin contends that the smart use of technology can help to adopt almost to any barrier, including regulatory issues. “This is why there is always a solution for everything.”

Indeed, the need for compliance brings a positive dynamic to the market, which can be seen as one of the hidden benefits of the multichannel approach. “Yes, compliance is a challenge but it also provides the opportunity to communicate with customers in a broader way.” Furthermore, eDetailing activity and webinars are recorded and far more open than a business model based entirely around face-to-face interactions, Kolchin concludes.

Russia is clearly a thriving market set for continued growth although increasing competition and regulation will add to its complexity over the coming years. 

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Alexei Kolchin, VP & Director General, GSK, Russia will be a panelist at the forthcoming Sales & Multichannel Excellence Russia, 19-20 November, Moscow. For more information, click here.