Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Relationship
Management
- Malobika Chakravarty
M.Pharm+MBA (QA-03)
Q1. What is the current status and what are the prevailing “Customer Relationship Management”
practices in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry? What are your predictions about the future trends in CRM
in Indian Pharma Industry between now and the year 2025 ? [You can write about individual Indian
Pharma Companies]
Ans)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM):- CRM is based on the belief that developing a relationship
with customers is the best way to make them loyal, and that loyal customers are more profitable than
non-loyal customers.
They focus more on retaining old customers than to acquire new customers.
Traditional relation building method- A sales/medical representative prepare a customer list (of doctors)
in his or her sales territory and prepare their call plans for the day/week/month in accordance with this
customer list. These representatives often do not enlist into the call plan, those doctors who do not
prescribe their products, and devote extra time and effort on doctors who are most responsive to their
products. If armed with the right information, a representative can call on doctors according to their
likelihood of responding to specific brands, and can carry out detailing and sampling of specific brands
resulting in higher customer profitability.
CRM- Pharmaceutical companies are gradually realizing that they can no longer afford to be only product
or market focused. Hence they have to focus now on customer relationship management (CRM) and gain
a complete understanding of their current and potential customers. Companies, which implement CRM,
not only increase the efficiency of their sales and marketing efforts, but also enhance their customer’s
experience and loyalty towards the pharmaceutical company.
1. Changing Customer
needs
Doctors Doctors
Pharma 2. Increased Competition
Company 3. Effect of Digitalization Pharma
Company
Traditional
Method CRM
Current Status of CRM in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry
Global index for the sales and marketing function of Indian pharma companies is called EY Digital maturity
Index (EYDI) for Customer Engagement.
53% 7%
1. Beginners 3. Explorers 5. Disruptors
Though there are several models of CRM but the most popular and best fit model, to the Pharma industry
is that of IDIC model proposed by Peepers & Rogers in 2004. The main aspect of this model and the major
reason for its appropriate applicability to the Pharmaceutical industry is that this model helps build a
closer one to one relationships with customers (which is the exact requirement of Pharma marketing).
I- Identify-This is the first step of the model and it requires identifying who is the actual customer. In
Pharmaceutical industry this job can be accomplished by the MRs who can identify the current &
prospective prescribers (doctors) for their products by conducting a regular retail (chemist) survey in their
sales/geographic territory. After these customers have been identified, an MR can study his/her
prescription at the retail counter or by interacting with the doctors or through his/her associates such as
nurses, ward boys, attendants etc. An in-depth analysis of the prescribing behaviour/pattern gives an idea
to the MR as to which molecule/brand the doctor prefers to prescribe in which ailment, this lays the
foundation for the next step in the model.
I- Interaction- this stage represents effective interaction between MR and the doctor. The call plan
prepared in the previous stage, comes handy at this point of time. An MR can make an effective detailing
presentation about the selected brands chosen by him on the basis of customer analysis done earlier. This
helps him/her to make a better rapport with the customer (doctor) during first few calls which eventually
leads to better relationship in future calls. Once a rapport based relationship is developed between an
MR and doctor than prescription generation becomes easier.
C- Customization- as discussed in the earlier stage, each doctor in the MR’s master customer list, presents
a different challenge to him/her. Therefore customized detailing, sampling, sales presentation & order
booking tactics during each call is the art of selling in Pharma markets. The companies that train their field
force and equip their sales team with requisite tools and techniques, are able to generate brand loyalty
for their product brands as well as the corporate brand. As is seen in the case of top ten Pharmaceutical
companies selected for the purpose of this research study.
Use of contemporary methods of building relationships through internet based tools and methods such
as online CRM software
A typical CRM methodology includes imparting training to the employees and briefing them with the use
of a special purpose CRM software. An important aspect of CRM in this case is to handle incoming calls
and emails. The information collected through CRM software is used for promotion and surveys such as
conducting ‘customer satisfaction’ surveys.
1. Operational CRM:
Provides support to front office business processes such as marketing, sales and services.
Processes involve direct interaction with customers
With the help of operational CRM software, a medical rep can easily store his/her interactions
with the customers (doctors), in customer contact history and anyone throughout the
organization, who wishes to retrieve customer information can do so anytime from anywhere
Includes managing campaigns, enterprise marketing automation, sales force automation, sales
management systems etc.
2. Analytical CRM:
This type of CRM is particularly suited to the needs of marketing and product management team
or Brand managers in a Pharma firm.
Designing and executing targeted marketing campaigns such as those designed for
specific/selected products or those designed for doctors in a particular geographic/ sales
territory.
Designing and executing special purpose campaigns such as customer acquisition (adding new
doctors to the doctor list of the company), cross-selling (promoting new products to the doctors
who are already prescribing some other product of the company), up- selling (on the basis of
customer profile seen by the doctor, upgrading the type or number of products on promotion to
that particular doctor), add-on selling etc.
Analyzing customer (doctor’s) prescribing behavior in order to make decisions relating to
products and services. For example: type of pharmaceutical formulations to be developed,
probable pricing of the medicines etc. is done on the basis of information drawn from the data
provided by analytical CRM.
The information available to the management decision makers is available through
management information systems (MIS) which in turn are supported by this type of CRM.
This type of CRM combines the elements of operational and analytical CRM. This type of CRM is
also particularly useful in Pharma sales activities.
MRs often carry out special or specific campaigns for giving a short term boost, to Sales of
selected products in their sales territories.
It includes:
Forming target groups according to selected client base. The criteria used for delineating these
groups is based on the geographic location/ prescription profile/ suggestions from the MR
covering those territories/ specialty of the doctor etc. At times even retailers (chemist) are also
included in this sales promotion drive. The chemists are selected on the basis of the number of
customers attended i.e. Patient footfall in a day/week or on the basis of their geographical
location.
Sending campaign related promotional material to the selected recipients (doctors/chemists)-
through e-mails/telephone/ SMS/post etc. This not only reduces the work pressure on sales team
but also assists and reinforces their in -call efforts and helps increase their efficiency and
ultimately improves their sales output in their individual territories.
This CRM keeps a track, stores and also analyzes the campaign statistics. It also analyzes trends
and tracks responses. This regular monitoring of the campaign results, help the MRs and sales
team members to continue or discontinue the running campaign or focus more on areas or
avenues/customers from whom response is good. This also helps in streamlining campaign
activities and brings in the concurrent changes if required. This reduces chances of failure of
campaigns and gets desired output from them.
5. Collaborative CRM-
This type of CRM covers the aspects related to company’s dealings with the customer. Since
customers are handled by departments such as sales, technical support and marketing.
Therefore this type of CRM plays a crucial role in integrating the activities performed by these
departments.
In Pharma sales it is very useful because although the front line sales is handled by the MRs or
the sales team of the Pharma company but the back end support to this department is given
either by the brand/product managers who are a part of marketing department and technical
issues particularly those related to mode of action of the drug/side effects/indications/ contra-
indications of the drug etc. are resolved by the technical support department. The main objective
of this CRM is to utilize the information that has been collected from all departments and use
the same to improve the quality of services provided by the sales campaigns. This particular CRM
help the staff members from different departments to share information collected by them when
interacting with customers.
Furture of CRM
GSK will use Veeva Network to provide a complete, authoritative view of accurate customer
data; Veeva Align to align the right resources to the right customers; and Veeva CRM Approved
Email for customer teams to extend their reach. Altogether, Veeva is delivering an integrated
commercial cloud solution to help GSK improve customer insight and multichannel planning and
execution around the world.
The Future of CRM Solutions (Prediction)
1. Veeva Nitro: Detailing an entirely new line of business, a next-generation data warehouse will
provide customers access to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Drug companies
can store and analyze their prescription, sales, and claims data all in one place. The service is
called "Veeva Nitro."
- It will likely take Nitro longer than Vault to catch on with drug companies. That's because
many of the bigger industry players already have data warehouses installed, and Veeva will
be able to capture them only when they want to upgrade.
2. Artificial Intelligence based CRM:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) applies across a spectrum of technologies including machine learning,
predictive analytics, natural language processing, and robotics. CRM vendors have been investing,
acquiring, and building capabilities that leverage AI to optimize customer interactions. Use of AI
can be done in following areas:
i. Customer service: As AI chatbots are being deployed to handle more service requests,
information is now being captured and leveraged through CRM systems. For instance, let’s say
an auto insurance claim is initiated via a web chat. During its task handling, the chatbot collects
necessary data—such as customer name—and authenticates the customer and vehicle. Upon
collection, the data can be passed to a human associate to complete the insurance claim process.
Bots are trained and can learn from feedback based on the success of the interaction. The
feedback loop for a bot can lead to improvements after each interaction.
ii. Lead management: A sales teams can use AI to score a lead, increasing the likelihood of winning
a closed sale. First, AI analyzes the lead and based on interest or buying history, it can provide a
score and recommend what steps are needed to increase success. For example, a medical device
manufacturer may receive a lead from a hospital. In this case, AI would use sales history, data
about the hospital, close ratio of similar hospitals, and the interest level to provide a score. The
AI can then recommend different products and features to offer, such as a field service contract
for preventive maintenance, which would increase likelihood closing that individual account.
iii. Next best action: Using business rules and predictive models, AI embedded in CRM can
recommend steps to sales or service associates to assist with service requests or upsell
opportunities. As associates navigate through customer calls, AI analyzes the data they enter in
the service request in CRM. Based on certain criteria, the system suggests an offer to sell, an add-
on product, or service to the customer. The offers would not be generic but more in-line with
the needs or circumstances of the individual customer. The idea here is that the associate does
not need to remember to make an upsell offer.
3. Process automation advances
Organizations have been using CRM to automate basic workflow, in which events will trigger an
action. If a service request had been previously opened and the status has changed to closed,
then a workflow rule might state that an email should be sent to the customer informing them
that their case has been closed.
i. Task automation: Defining work tasks and if they should be performed either by a machine or
human helps organizations enable their resources to better serve customers. Task automation
also provides the step-by-step instructions of what actions to perform. During an associate’s
interaction with a customer, the CRM system will direct or guide the associate as to what to say
and do to inform the customer. Task automation is structured and prescriptive for what steps to
perform based on input received, customer profile, or other business conditions.
ii. Work distribution: Task automation specifies process flow and tasks to perform and may identify
that certain tasks need to be performed by other resources based on the skilled employees’
availability. The ability to distribute or route tasks is another capability within Process Automation
trending in CRM platforms. CRM platforms for work distribution can include task routing, skill
prioritization, resource availability, and monitoring of events.
4. Data integration
CRM systems provide and consume massive amounts of data. Traditionally, CRM platforms have
integrated with corporate systems such as ERP, accounting, claims processing, and billing systems
that retrieve transactional data. The integration mechanisms have included an enterprise service
bus (ESB), application programming interfaces (APIs), file integration, computer telephony
integration (CTI), etc.
i. Third-party systems: The ability to plug in data from systems such as Google Maps, government
subscription services, mobile cellular services, SMS text messages, and so forth are based on the
internet and delivered through web services.
ii. Systems today—especially those in the cloud—provide communication protocols that enable
access to data using web services. This level of collaboration enables an organization to
communicate seamlessly with other sources and organizations, such as credit bureaus, to share
customer information and expedite the service requests rather than making phone calls or
sending emails. This level of integration will enable organizations of all sizes to increase their
efficiency in servicing customers.
iii. IoT: These IoT devices can send data about product issues, maintenance needs, improper usage,
to an organization’s CRM platform. CRM vendors are beginning to provide platform connections
to handle IoT feeds. Let’s say there are refrigeration units in a hospital that store vital medications.
If there is a detection that coolant is low or something critical to maintaining the temperature,
the refrigerator sends out a data message. The manufacturer of the refrigeration unit using an IoT
platform would receive the message and relay it to the hospital’s CRM/IoT system. The CRM
system would issue a case and workflow to notify hospital staff and assign tasks to move the
medications to another refrigeration unit.
5. Blockchain
A blockchain is an ongoing list of interlinked records called blocks. They create an open,
decentralized ledger that keeps track of transactions between parties that is absolutely verifiable.
i. Security: As CRM platforms are in the cloud, cloud security will be better, but it’s still based on a
centralized security system approach.
ii. Transparency: Blockchain is decentralized and requires no middleman to verify, such as a financial
institution, or other third-party broker to provide. This will increase the speed to securely and
transparently engage with customers.
iii. User control: Blockchain stores and encrypts personal data and verifies this access without
sharing any specifics, thus controlling what level of data is accessed. CRM systems will, in effect,
subscribe to customer data as permitted by each individual’s grant rights. Users will have the
control, as opposed to current CRM systems that provide unlimited access to personal data
without any user control.
iv. Clean data: Who is tired of how inaccurate your data is in other companies’ CRM databases?
Duplicates, wrong addresses, wrong emails, and other elements create frustration for customers.
Blockchain can store and encrypt personal data and confirm details upon inquiry (such as a mobile
phone company verifying your address or current employer) without truly sharing data with the
inquiring party.
Conclusion
Organizations using CRM capabilities that utilize trends, such as AI, Process automation, Data
integration and Blockchain, have the potential to immensely improve their customer experiences.
Thus, in future it is likely that CRM practices will include more of these trends.