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In an ever-changing market, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers face the challenge of reaching, engaging and convincing doctors and other healthcare decision-makers in new and more effective ways. Omnichannel experience management offers an approach for ensuring a world-class customer experience across all customer touchpoints.

Pharmaceutical marketing is changing. Whereas in the past the pharmaceutical representative was usually the only interface between manufacturers and medical decision-makers, today, they are complemented by a large number of different analogue and, above all, digital channels and customer touchpoints. There are various drivers for this development.

On the manufacturer side, ever shorter innovation cycles increase the pressure on companies to process product information faster and bring it to market. Conventional formats and channels are too slow to secure patient shares and market influence in the important early phase.

4. Fragmented target groups

The decision to use a product, be it a medication or a medical device, is often no longer made by the medical staff alone. The new "stakeholders", such as government authorities, insurance companies or care providers, require a new type of interaction and other touchpoints, which must also be addressed by the manufacturers.

"The aim is to create a positive user experience across all points of contact ."

The omnichannel experience as the key to a world-class customer experience

This ranges from specialist medical documents to study results or progress to networking with colleagues from the same specialist area. Conversely, unavailability, delayed responses and misinformation immediately lead to negative experiences. In an experience characterised by digital interaction, the customer expects a company to be able to use all the information provided to be at any time in the continued interests of the customer, and to even anticipate customer concerns.

"The basis for a first-class omnichannel experience is a deep understanding of your own target group."

Building blocks of successful omnichannel experiences

Properly implemented, the omnichannel experience approach can not only help to increase the visibility and reach of a company in the relevant target groups but also support the development of long-term mutual trust. This requires that individual actors on the company side exchange information across different channels in order to be able to meet the customer with tailor-made offers and suitable proposals. Three principles are crucial here:

• Consistent customer centricity

The consistent alignment of all sales and marketing channels to the needs and behaviour of doctors and medical decision-makers is the central principle of omnichannel experience management. For this purpose, it is necessary to rethink existing processes in marketing, sales or customer servicefrom the user's point of view and to constantly realign them with the user as part of an agile approach. The result is customer-centric communication that, in accordance with an inbound logic, allows the user to get exactly the information they need at any time and across all channels.

• End-to-end customer journey

The omnichannel experience aims to support the medical decision-maker in all phases of the decision-making process and to provide them with the relevant information. It is important here, on the one hand, to consider the different target group segments, with their respective requirements, and, on the other hand, to coordinate the different phases in such a way that a consistent end-to-end experience is created.

• Meaningful customer insights

The basis for a first-class omnichannel experience is a deep understanding of your own target group. The availability of data  and the ability to combine pieces of it in a meaningful way are key prerequisites for improving the flow of information in a multi-/omnichannel approach. Conversely, a high-quality omnichannel experience can help increase interaction with doctors and other medical decision-makers, thereby gaining new audience data, which, in turn, flows into a personalised customer approach.

Omnichannel experience use cases

If these principles are followed, a large number of possible use cases arise for the company's practice, in which significant improvements in the interaction with doctors and government representatives can be realised through omnichannel experiences. This can start with simple things, like integrating the customer service centre with medical support and shipping information management. A corresponding solution could intelligently process requests and, depending on the content, either seamlessly forward them to the medical expert, provide information about the dispatch of a drug, or point out to the contact person to provide information concerning the request. This would be a first positive, process-driven omnichannel experience.

In addition to these process-driven omnichannel experiences, data-driven approaches allow customers to filter out the information they share with the company or the public, that which is relevant, and to provide tailored information that best fits the customer's situation. For example, highly personalised information at the micro-targeting level can be proactively provided at the time when, and through the channel through which, medical decision makers expect it. At the same time, the use of advanced analytics can predict the likelihood that doctors will use certain treatment methods to identify potential new customers.

"The larger companies are, the more their units pursue their own initiatives."

Slow implementation in the life science environment

In the implementation of these use cases, the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry is usually still at the beginning compared to other industries, such as retail. In addition to legal restrictions, which – for good reasons – restrict direct access to certain medical decision-makers, the reasons for this are usually to do with the internal structures of the companies.

On the one hand, cost-intensive and prestigious product development is still the most important component of success. This inhibits the urgency to change and implement new tactics. In addition, the structures of the companies often operate in competition, or at least in silos, internally. The larger the companies are, the more their units pursue their own initiatives. The industry is only just learning to leave this legacy behind, or to combine it profitably with the new digital channels and the methods behind them. This shift will take time. The omnichannel experience approach requires scalable successes, even more active demand from customers and patients, but also a new "normal" of interaction between companies, doctors and patients in order to be able to establish itself across the board.

"A company-wide, common view of the data is often missing."

Data integration as a challenge

Data lake approaches, in which all data is merged into one pool, offer a pragmatic approach here, but, in turn, require sophisticated algorithms and methods in order for companies to be able to derive practically usable insights from them. In this case, companies are required to implement suitable solutions for integrated data management. For only "good" customer data in large quantities can be meaningfully linked together and actively contribute to improving the flow of information in a multi-/omnichannel approach.

" An omnichannel strategy alone does not create a positive customer experience."

Incremental approach for higher acceptance

To this end, companies should clarify the following questions at the start of the project:

• How important is a digital omnichannel strategy to corporate management?
• Does the omnichannel approach face a situation of low process integration?
• Do the different parts of the organisation interact with or against each other?
• Is there an awareness of the relevance of customer data?
• Is the technology suitable for an omnichannel approach?
• And can we define reliable and meaningful outcomes and metrics?

Once these issues have been resolved, implementation can begin. What has proven successful in practice is an incremental approach where the acceptance of the approach within the organisation is increased by first use cases. For example, data from a customer's web visit can be made available so that the sales team can gain confidence in the reliability of the solution. If an intelligent solution makes measurably good suggestions for a specific customer segment, it can be scaled to all customers. Only then does it make sense to link an adapted process map and process design with the possibilities of a supporting system landscape.

On the one hand, it is important to focus on the essentials: investments in digital omnichannel tactics should always be made where there is demonstrable added value. On the other hand, in the interests of an agile approach, it is necessary to continuously check and, if necessary, adapt the individual touchpoints along the customer journey and how they interact with regard to their effect on the customer experience.

Conclusion

The rapidly increasing number of newly approved medical devices as a result of ever shorter innovation cycles, changing communication behaviour and increasingly fragmented target groups require new forms of interaction between manufacturers and decision-makers within the healthcare ecosystem. Omnichannel experience management offers an approach to ensure a high-quality customer experience in increasingly complex and digital customer journeys.

Growing organisational structures and a lack of data integration still often prevent rapid and consistent implementation today. Nevertheless, more and more companies are starting to realign their own "operating models" to a customer-centric omnichannel approach and achieve initial success.