Posted by Hexagone team |
April 17, 2020
Remote calls have been used since more than a decade in the Pharma industry as it comes with several benefits that have been listed in many articles. But, as amazing as remote detailing sounds, all these nice things and results don’t come without additional challenges, especially when it comes to building a strong healthcare professionals (HCP) engagement during this period of time —one of the biggest roadblocks that sales teams may already be facing.
The outbreak makes remote detailing a little bit different from previous days.
Let’s try to put ourselves in a physician’s shoes.
Most physicians are likely to make their own research about a molecule or a product, before having it detailed by a sales rep. That’s the direct consequence of evolving in a digital world (easy access to information). And this is even more valid lately when sales reps cannot show up in HCPs’ offices.
Which is why a pharma company should never overlook the power of being involved in every channel of communication – The Multichannel Marketing approach. But that’s another topic.
So, starting from that statement, during a call, a well-informed HCP will be expecting more of a discussion to get clarity or have his objections, or any questions addressed especially during a remote detailing call.
They goal is to provide a beyond-the-product-promotion level of support to the physician. Pharma companies need to establish the key messages and support them with a strong and comprehensive way of understanding where the value is for HCPs.
Also, the reality is that now, HCPs are more focused on their patients; they don’t have time anymore for standard F2F detailing discussions. Not that they aren’t interested in what you have to say but building HCP engagement in these times is quite challenging.
And that’s what you need to be prepared for. Standing physically front of a physician in regular face to face calls makes the sales rep in a powerful position. It allows them to better master the conversation with the HCP in order to catch their attention.
During a remote detailing call, the power shifts to HCPs who have the choice to interact the way they want. It’s like for the sales reps to enter a place blindfolded and try to find the best course of action to engage with the HCP.
So, experiencing the shift of going remote usually comes with a little practice for sales reps to get HCP engagement.
That’s why we offer several ideas to help you win the game and stand out from the crowd.
To enhance the remote detailing experience there are 2 keys considerations:
HCPs are looking for personalized content from Life Sciences companies that addresses the “help me helping my patient”. As long as an HCP is engaged with content, as much data is collected to narrow down the profiling and targeting. An HCP 360° experience leads to more value-added content.
Remote detailing requires 2 ingredients:
Any required download or installation will jeopardize your HCP engagement. That’s not negotiable. An HCP especially in these times has no longer the patience nor the time to spend on downloading stuff.
That’s the most difficult part. Why? Because we tend to think that our existing digital content we already have here will do the job. But, content developed for CLM platforms (face to face detailing) is not always compatible with Remote detailing platforms, so you may encounter compatibility issues.
And this is where the nightmare of having to redevelop everything from scratch begins, taking the time to find a certified digital agency for the development of remote detailing content that will produce handcrafted presentations. This will take a lot a of time and will costs money too. We surely don’t have the time and we didn’t expect a huge bill either especially NOW.
If you don’t have compatible content, here the fastest and budget friendly way to create it even by yourself if you like:
And that’s pretty much it.
As explained before, it makes sense to rapidly convert existing CLM presentations to meet business needs. But, you should consider adapting your existing presentations to enhance the remote detailing experience, as a second step.
If you’d like to learn more about how to enhance your remote detailing experience, feel free to reach out to us at contact[at]hexagone.life.
Read more on Multichannel marketing for Life Sciences.
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