The explosion of data coupled with increasingly precise analytics is transforming life sciences in meaningful, practical ways.
Pharma field forces in particular have seen significant developments in recent years, shifting from face-to-face interactions and Excel sheets to mobile devices and multichannel engagement.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) marks another new era. Should reps be concerned? What is the future of the pharma rep in the age of AI? Could they be left behind as their industry leads the charge in technological advancements?
Pharma reps don’t need to wait for the technology to be thrust upon them. As sales organisations become increasingly leaner, reps are being asked to maintain and improve performance in larger geographies, spanning a broader customer base than ever before. To help them overcome these challenges, many sales personnel are requesting additional tools because they recognise that it can help them do their jobs better, more efficiently, and supported by data.
AI is transforming the way reps are engaging with healthcare providers (HCPs), enabling them to personalise interactions based on more precise and targeted customer segmentation. AI can also provide recommendations on relevant content for reps to share, or what the next best actions are based on previous calls and interests. By using these systems, and by having access to data that is continuously updated with new interactions, reps can adapt their strategy along with customers’ changing needs and provide the best possible experiences. Ultimately, these tools help reps accelerate the strength of relationships by enabling them to provide more value and relevance in each interaction.
Companies which accelerate this AI mental shift within strategy, marketing, and sales force effectiveness will leapfrog the industry. Therefore, it is vital that companies bring sales reps along with them on this growth journey.
Intelligent customer engagement starts with making sense of your data
To be more digitally effective and create tailored engagement for every life sciences company leveraging AI, life sciences organisations need a customer engagement strategy built upon data-derived insights. This insights-driven strategy is referred to as ‘intelligent engagement.’
When we think of intelligent engagement, we usually consider all the different channels to interact with HCPs based on their preferences and insights from past interactions. But before all that, you need to build the foundation. If the data isn’t right, nothing else matters. Data sources must be cleaned and organised in a standard way. A commercial data warehouse can uniformly connect and organise all of your important data sources. With organised engagement, organised content, and organised data, pharma reps can engage HCPs in a more relevant and targeted way. Getting this right will prove instrumental in setting themselves apart from the competition.
Personalising the journey with AI
The next frontier for AI in commercial life sciences is bringing more personalisation to interactions between sales reps and healthcare providers. Between multichannel interaction data, claims information, demographic data, and detailed customer profiles, life sciences companies know their customers in depth. The challenge is unlocking this information from silos and making it actionable. This is where AI comes in.
Based on rich customer information captured in CRM and other systems, AI can not only provide recommendations on the next best follow-up action and channel – but it can provide customised content such as a tailored sales aid. Knowing that a physician is interested in a specific disease, presented a session at a medical symposium, and tends to click on links in educational emails in the afternoon in-between patient visits, it will be possible to automatically generate the right piece of digital content and deliver it at exactly the right time. Once companies are ready with a data foundation, providing highly relevant customer experiences will depend on having compliant content available to fuel the AI engine.
Using AI for smarter segmentation
With the use of AI, companies can conduct advanced segmentation of their customer data to tailor engagement. Based on individual behaviour, commercial teams can deliver highly personalised information to improve engagement.
Getting the right content
Content speed to market is a critical issue for the life sciences industry. Companies can create fresh content that is ready to deploy at any time. Key areas to prioritise include medical information, FAQ responses, and digital sales aids. Before content even gets approved, AI can intervene to speed reviews while reducing compliance risk.
You can’t do AI without reps
We’ve established that organised and standardised data is the foundation for AI. But you cannot get quality data from face-to-face or virtual interactions with HCPs if you don’t have a strong connection with them. You can only achieve this connection if your reps have already developed these relationships in the field. Additionally, reps are realising more and more that as they are asked to operate like business owners in their geography, they should be taking advantage of the pace of technology, tools, and insights to help them run that business.
Machines are not going to replace reps. However, the right blend of human and artificial intelligence can transform approaches and help life sciences companies to thrive in a data-driven world.
David Logue is senior vice president of commercial strategy at Veeva
