By Anna Capers, Senior Client Partner, Inizio Evoke
Multiple sessions at Reuters Pharma 2024 discussed current best practices and the vision for Omnichannel in Pharma. Ultimately, the aim of Omnichannel is to deliver a seamless, personalised customer experience integrated across the channel mix whilst collecting data to feed further insights.
But what makes truly great omnichannel?
The theme that resonated most for me was the importance of face-to-face (F2F) communication and the human connection within the mix. This could be from a rep orchestrating a customer journey based on a specific customer need; or a rep / MSL able to respond to a specific need from another channel in a timely manner.
Recent data supported this shift back to emphasizing the F2F interaction. Whilst post-COVID 50% of rep/HCP interactions were virtual, we have now seen a significant reduction to less than 5% of interactions being virtual.
My top three takeaways:
People
Work with your F2F teams to build capability and mindset, helping them see how omnichannel supports their customers and their role. This might mean providing reps with more disease education content or supporting MSLs to have more conversations with their customers to support them in commercial or strategic decision-making. Listen to your local team to ensure that on-the-ground insights are incorporated into local customer journeys and shared with global teams to feed future development
Data
Just because you can collect it doesn’t mean you should. Decide what you want to collect and how you are going to use it. Data should be actionable, so ask yourself how it will inform future interactions.
While data can take many forms—customer engagement, customer satisfaction, business impact, and patient outcomes—to be truly impactful, it needs to demonstrate a behaviour change. Facilitating the usage of data in a timely manner is essential for a seamless experience. And plan for the future; the essential data points of today, won’t be the ones of tomorrow.
Content and customer centricity
Content journeys should be based on customer needs. Empathy is essential when developing content; ask customers what they want and why, and be prepared to really listen, even when it isn’t what you expect to hear. In fact, develop a test-and-learn content development model where you can test different messaging and learn from it.
Pharma still has a way to go before the seamless, timely omnichannel experiences we are used to from big consumer brands are commonplace, but it was inspiring to hear how pharma is investing in the longer-term people, data, and platform projects to make this vision an achievable reality.
At Inizio Evoke, we are committed to making health more human™ and are partnering with our clients to simplify and enhance omnichannel experiences, embracing the human interaction.
To learn more, contact business@inizioevoke.com.