Omnichannel Recommendations

We want to share some tips and tools to inspire your omnichannel journey. 

Keep in mind that we are always happy to chat, contact us!  Or take our omnichannel assessment here.

These tips can be summarized as:

• Redefine omnichannel
• Create value
• Consider metrics and data
• Invest in skills and professional growth
• Avoid silos
• Value reflection
  
  

Redefine omnichannel

Omnichannel should be the use of multiple channels to create a consistent customer experience. The pharma industry is great at creating innovative products, the value for patients and healthcare professionals is clear when it comes to what the product has to offer. It is also true that physicians seek lectures organized by pharma to learn about the new trends, so congresses and webinars are the “go-to” channel to deliver the message, unfortunately, companies are often impressed by certain channels that sound promising but too often don’t deliver, or they struggle of combining channels. Hence, omnichannel doesn’t start with channels:

• First set an objective, that is, some behavioral change you want to be reflected in your audience.
• People rather than channels–For the HCPs is important to define what you want to achieve with them before even asking for consent. In this process, try to also think about those in your team.
• Communicate your intentions because lack of clarity hobbles many efforts. Make sure your team knows and supports the main goal.
• Prioritize a channel and start from there, a good one could be the meetings your reps have with HCPs. Set up some objectives and work the rest of your channels towards such encounters

It is easier to see the commercial value that a team can create when we define “I want people to be able to ask their GP to look at certain symptoms” than to see how an open rate of 25% helps increase disease awareness. The need for interconnected steps becomes clearer when your entire system works towards a goal. The constant question is “what then?”.

At PharmaRelations we have created 5 pillars that can support your organization in becoming more omnichannel.  Download our brochure here.

Out of the box services to navigate the transition:

• Omnichannel audit
• Digital rep/MSL
• Role mapping
• Omnichannel consultant
• Scenario planning
• Agile marketing team

PharmaRelations have over 150 client-based consultants working across the Nordics and another 50 office-based consultants in our seven life science hubs across the Nordics. We are relentlessly working on adding new services demanded by the industry and adding new experts to our competence hub.

Create value

To be customer-centered, or in this case, patient-centered/HCP-centered has everything to do with anticipating their wants and needs, rather than bombarding them with the message you want to communicate.

Instead of asking backward, the early identification of the needs of the users can guide upcoming initiatives. A simple recommendation is to sit people who know the audience and “pick their brains”.'

Take advantage of the experience of your team in the industry to create some “hypotheses”  and test them, the goal is to pursue the delivery of value early and often over waiting for perfection.

Beyond focus groups, there are plenty of ways to learn them, you just need to have the right tools to do so, an easy one is social media, what are people talking about? You can also follow up on the questions asked after webinars or set polls during your meetings, what is the experience of your representatives and MSLs? No matter the strategy, the point is to listen and try to understand.

Make it simple: Start by defining your audience and then 3 questions:

• What do we want to achieve as organization?
• What are the frustrations or pain points of our audience?
• What are the expectations of the people in the audience, and what do they want?

Check out our user-friendly templates to guide an initial understanding of your audience.

• Persona
• User stories

PharmaRelations services to navigate the transition:

• Brand plan workshop
• Content creation workshop
• Omnichannel audit
• User stories workshop
• Setting up your social media listening tools
• Copywriter

PharmaRelations add value to your organizations in a multitude of ways. We ensure the highly specialized knowledge and know-how that you need in every situation. We advise you on talent for Life Science, based on our vast knowledge in the sector. We add agility to your organization. Instead of having fixed resources, we help you to have the right resources at any point in time. We help you to grow your company with the talent you need.

Consider metrics and data

Data starts when an objective and a channel are selected, and not after the activity has been performed and top management asks: “how is everything going?”; hence, it is important to keep them in mind from the beginning of the strategy definition. It is in their nature that digital channels generate more accurate data than traditional channels, so simply anticipate common questions and plan accordingly. The questions are not usually answered by just looking at open rates, the number of slides shown, or the number of attendees, if your omnichannel strategy is correct, your data should show you how your audience is transitioning from one channel or phase of the journey to another, as result you would need:

• First, a thread you can follow
• Platforms/channels you can somehow measure
• People that can analyze such data and generate insights for the rest of the team
• Willing people to ask key questions and listen to the data.

PharmaRelations has developed a diagnostics tool focused on Omnichannel and data Access it here.

• Dashboard creation
• Data analyst 
• Omnichannel specialist

PharmaRelations´mission is to grow and strengthen the competitive edge of the Life Science industry in the Nordics. We grow by becoming enhancing our focus by following a clear strategy. Many of our new associates during 2021 have been in specialist areas that we have strategically decided to be leaders in, some are in new areas that we have added to increase our scope.

Read more about PharmaRelations here

Invest in skills and professional growth

Organizations that can better prepare to face uncertainty work on three fronts: get clear on their objective; it is clear for them how they create value and what makes them unique, but more importantly, a culture that allows the growth and appreciation of their staff. Digital is not a department; it is a new environment. As such, Digital needs to be included in the organizational goals. Digital can be used by medical and commercial just as much as both sides can contribute to the customer experience. Having said that,  there is a strong need for more digitally savvy employees in different departments. Employees fear change and might not want to change their current tasks, but motivation grows when professional development is clear.

• Innovation is defined as the use of current resources in a different way to achieve better results. Redefine your objectives to reallocate resources
• Help your team understand their contribution by making the ultimate goals clear, this will make them more involved
• Makes them part of a team, we will talk about silos here, but in this case, we are referring to creating a role mapping, so people can easily understand whom to go to contact for any given case
• Check with them periodically
• Create a professional path

Services to navigate the transition:

• Omnichannel training
• Role mapping 

  Your next omnichannel assignment

  Persona workshop

  Agile marketing team

Avoid silos

Value creation comes from having an omnichannel customer experience across the organization, no matter the touchpoint. In this sense, at least; CRM, medical, commercial, digital positions, IT, salesforce, marketing coordinators, and data analysts need to be aligned and talk to each other, that is not only to have them all sitting in meetings where only some talk, but to make their interactions more natural. Here are our suggestions to start collaborating:

Inside your organization:

• Crowd wisdom has proven to be successful by taking advantage of the knowledge that cannot be possessed by a single individual. Well-defined objectives can guide constructive and efficient interactions.
• A role map based on objectives, rather than products/platforms/titles
• Hierarchy and predefined lines of communication make communication harder. External consultants can easily cross department lines and move across levels
  
  

Outside your organization

• Acknowledgment and collaboration of key partners that can be closely involved with the settings and needs of the organization, would help you to build long-lasting partnerships.
• Seek partnerships that add value for both parts
• Train your vendors on the ways of pharma
• Share with them your objectives rather than ask for specific projects. Their knowledge can really add value if you involve them early in the process and not only for the execution
• And the golden rule: listen!

Services to navigate the transition:

• Innovation lab
• Hosting collaborative meetings
• Role map
• Project managers
• SCRUM master
• Vendor search

Consultants at PharmaRelations have important roles in the organizations of our clients exceeding in expert positions, but also bringing innovation and new ideas and routines. Sometimes to revitalize a team. A consultant has the possibility to see many different companies and organizations, experience different leadership styles and values, and then use all that knowledge to help new customers.