The pharmaceutical sales model has been shaken to its core recently, and it will be interesting to see what lasting changes will take effect after COVID restrictions in HCP’s offices begin to relax. With physician access rates deteriorating for the better part of a decade, the pandemic has only accelerated the journey for pharma sales need to embrace a remote engagement strategy. Digital is reinventing the critical role of medical representatives in pharma marketing
What is “remote engagement”, exactly?
Currently, pharma sales reps are calling and emailing their targets, trying to make contact, trying to bypass the gatekeeper, and trying to get a meeting with the decision-maker (a.k.a. the doctor). Although this may all sound like a normal day’s work to a salesperson in a different industry, this is a completely alien concept for the pharma field sales teams.
The days when a pharma rep can walk into any doctor’s office at a specific time and expect to see the doctor if they were patient enough, could soon be a distant memory. Pharma is now playing a new sales game that comes with a new set of rules.
Data is another critical component in ensuring effective digital engagement. It provides visibility into the speed at which field teams and HCPs are adopting digital, as well as highlights which strategies are working and how reps can leverage digital in the most effective ways possible.
Now is the perfect time to look back at the frequency of virtual meetings and rep-sent emails over the last six months, with an eye toward gaining greater insight into rep behavior, as well as what might be driving their decisions to engage via one channel over another.
Some reps may feel remote meetings aren’t as effective as face-to-face interaction, while others may have preconceived notions that HCPs are unwilling to engage virtually. For those who are shying away from digital channels, industrywide benchmark data can be a powerful tool for shifting mindsets and driving greater adoption by shining a light on what’s truly happening through digital engagement.
For example, with some companies we partner with, their reps reported difficulty in getting HCPs to commit to meeting virtually. However, our benchmark data revealed that there were roughly 80% of HCPs who were engaging with reps at other companies through those same digital channels. By highlighting these insights with the team, field leaders were able to make it clear to reps that perhaps the problem isn’t the channel itself, but the way in which they’re approaching it.
Looking ahead, digital will become critical role of medical representatives, also enable key services from drug sampling and HCP consent to medical inquiry management. Companies will better meet HCPs on their terms with the information and services they need through any channel, any device, at any time, in every therapeutic area.
The digital opportunity for reps is to stay engaged and maintain deeper, sustained relationships with customers. And it’s clear that for digital to stick, rep relationships will be key to advancing the adoption of new digital approaches and driving a greater mix of face-to-face and digital interactions with HCPs.
The real digital transformation in the life sciences is just beginning. The companies that achieve digital excellence this year will successfully navigate this new hybrid environment and adopt new content and engagement strategies that better meet the needs of their customers. The past year of living through the pandemic has shown us the way to maximize HCP engagement, even in a post- Covid world.
