Pharmaceuticals : Sales Force Automation

A well-designed sales solution can empower sales force, making sales professionals more effective and productive by being better informed and well prepared for customer interactions.

Only a small percentage of sales people’s time is spent productively in front of customers. A good deal of time is spent traveling, preparing and engaging in other non-selling activities. Another large percentage is spent just waiting. A case in point is the pharmaceutical industry, in which a field representative spends an average of just about 4 minutes with a doctor. An effective web based/mobile sales solution enables sales professional to make the most of the time they have with a doctor also giving them convenient tools they can use to be more productive during their non-selling time. The more efficient and effective sales professionals are during their calls, the more calls they can make and more sales they can close.

The pharmaceutical industry's use of IT has expanded beyond R&D. Using IT in the marketing arena to reach physicians and patients has become more common, especially because of the internet. Product web sites are commonplace in pharmaceutical marketing, and e-detailing of physicians is gaining usage.

A typical Pharma Sales Force Automation software will have the following features:

Account Management

Management of key accounts (Doctors, Hospitals, Clinics, and Pharmacies) provides instant, company-wide access to detailed and integrated account data, enabling one to maintain a deep knowledge of key accounts and facilitate collaboration between sales, services, and marketing teams. One can gain instant, company-wide access to all account-related information and contact histories, including email, notes, calls, sales and marketing activity, open support inquiries, case resolutions, and more.

Activity Management

Activity Management allows sales teams to collaborate by scheduling events, assigning tasks, coordinating meetings, and accessing standard communication tools such as email templates and sales presentations. This would facilitate tracking and managing of all account-related activities with clearly defined ownership and accountability thus increasing the efficiency of the sales team and ensuring timely follow-up with key prospects.

E-Detailing (eDetailing)

Traditionally a pharmaceutical sales representative would spend face time with physicians to promote a pharmaceutical product. E-detailing involves the use of either the internet or handheld table PCs, to provide an interactive presentation to physicians. In most cases the presentation connects back to a CRM System that tailors the information presented to the customer currently engaged. Internet based e-detailing can be a method to overcome the challenge sales reps face to secure physician meeting, the e-detail effectively replacing the face-to-face contact. Through eDetailing, physicians can access published scientific, technical, or medical information that is relevant to a product when it’s most convenient for them. Tablet based e-detailing is presented similar to paper detail aids and requires face time with the physician. However the electronic detail aid is capable of providing interaction, video content, sound, and animation which could increase impact on the physician. As an e-detail is stored electronically, CRM systems can be used to select appropriate content depending on the physician data and can be used to track results. The format also allows for electronic storage of clinical papers, articles and so forth, which are then easily accessible when required. The electronic detail aid also means that updates are much easier as they involve uploading new content and there is no requirement to re-print another version.

Campaign Management

Campaign management allows one to maximize the return on marketing investment with detailed tracking, reporting, and analytical tools that provide precise measurements as to what marketing campaigns are in progress, how they are performing, and the types of leads they attract.

Forecast Management

Facilitate accurate, timely forecasts of revenue and customer demand, enabling managers and executives to help the sales organization close more deals, bring higher profits to the company, and align expenses with revenue growth. Forecast management provides insights into future product and service demand levels.

Lead Management

One can optimize lead flow across an entire sales organization, giving sales reps instant access to the latest prospects and ensuring that no leads are dropped. Lead Management enables sales and marketing managers to understand where their best leads are coming from, and what kind of return on investment they are getting on their marketing dollar.

Mass Email

One can rapidly facilitate customer communication, lead cultivation, and cross-sell/up-sell campaigns to create electronic marketing campaigns that deliver appropriate messages directly to the inboxes of targeted customers or prospects.

Customized Reporting & Analysis.

This feature helps gain valuable, up-to-the-minute insight into critical issues such as sales pipeline, forecasting, performance against competitors, and more.

Customer Relationship Analytics (CRA)

Good business decisions can only be made if pertinent data and analytical capabilities are in hand. CRA will provide managers information to plan, execute, measure and refine strategy and activities.

Behavioral Modeling

This feature helps understand and monitor customer behavior, purchasing trends, demographics, channel preferences, etc.,

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