As the life sciences industry continues to embrace virtual interactions over the long term, digital is becoming more than just a way for field reps to communicate with healthcare professionals (HCPs). It will enable key services, including HCP consent, medical inquiry management, and drug sampling.
Smart organizations know it’s critical to provide HCPs with the information and services they need through any channel, on any device, at any time, and in every therapeutic area. That’s no longer a short-term need related to the pandemic. In fact, 60% of physicians say they want significantly fewer in-person engagements and more digital access moving forward.
The ability for reps to work in a virtual environment is key, but relationship-based selling will continue to be just as important. That’s because high-value conversations open the door to more digital connections with HCPs and advance their adoption of new virtual approaches.
Reps are driving a broader mix of face-to-face and digital interactions with HCPs, and this evolution is primarily being fueled by two big changes to their engagement models. In particular, remote selling has become a bigger part of the rep’s strategy, which in turn, is giving them greater flexibility to meet customers on their terms. But making the most of this new hybrid environment will require a significant shift in mindset in order to blend traditional ways of working with new digital approaches.
Remote selling is the new normal
Digital is transforming the way companies connect with HCPs, most notably through the use of remote meetings to engage HCPs. The number of virtual meetings held by Veeva customers increased six-fold since last year, with biopharma companies connecting with hundreds of thousands of HCPs online. This has driven longer and more in-depth rep and HCP engagements, with interactions now lasting an average of 19 minutes versus the typical three-minute sales visit.
It is unlikely that in-person access to physicians and hospitals will ever return to pre-COVID levels. The industry has embraced remote online meetings as a convenient and efficient way to connect, giving field teams another channel to complement face-to-face HCP visits.
Greater flexibility to meet doctors where they are
Field reps may have their own preferences for splitting their time between home and the field. But in the age of social distance selling, companies also need to meet customers where they are. This means understanding an HCP’s favoured method or channel of engagement and their access policies.
Doctors have varying preferences for engaging with reps. Some continue to favour face-to-face interactions, while more are looking to digital. This is driven by the fact that nearly 70% of all healthcare providers are now digital natives.
Access to doctors also varies by region and by country. Many facilities still fully restrict in-person visits, while others are starting to open up and allow physicians to see some reps face-to-face. In other instances, reps that are accustomed to engaging with multiple HCPs may now only be granted access to one doctor per visit.
Furthermore, companies have to navigate access policies that change continually, based on evolving circumstances. Some reps may have had doctors agree to an in-person visit, only to change their mind at the last minute because of patient safety concerns.
Fortunately, hybrid engagement approaches allow those reps to quickly change gears and host virtual meetings instead. These alternative formats are just as productive, and typically result in the same outcome. But it’s up to commercial teams to be more agile in their engagement strategies.
Digital tools give them more flexibility than ever before to meet doctors on their terms – so they can focus on treating and caring for their patients. Whatever the future holds, establishing and maintaining close virtual relationships with customers will be key to ensuring patients receive the medicines they need.
Digital requires a shift in mindset
Leveraging digital to complement existing ways of working requires a growth mindset. Many field teams will need to think beyond traditional territory coverage models, for example, because geography is less of a barrier with digital. And reps who flourished in face-to-face interactions will have to learn to translate that success into different digital channels.
Digital also requires reps to think differently about their overall engagement strategies. This includes the use of email – arguably the most traditional digital channel. Previously, the industry used email mostly as a mass marketing tool to drive consistent messages to many HCPs. This helped companies achieve excellent brand recall around the world. Looking ahead, email will become the connective tissue between what reps are used to (in-person interactions) and new digital engagement methods (remote meetings).
More than two-thirds of HCPs now prefer email to other forms of engagement. This is good news because there are many new ways to connect with HCPs over email using different types of content. For example, the shift to creating modular content allows reps to piece together pre-approved content blocks quickly and easily – from text and images to graphics, charts, and tailored social media – to tell a cohesive story with a variety of polished assets.
With readily available content ‘modules,’ reps can use an iterative storytelling approach to engage in relevant, useful conversations with HCPs at the right time. A rep who finished an in-person meeting with a doctor, for example, might use email to reconnect and share content that builds on their conversation – ultimately helping to secure a remote meeting as a follow-up.
Reps who use digital to stay engaged will maintain deeper, sustained relationships with customers. Those who build upon each HCP engagement and use virtual channels to bring customers along their journey will be most effective.
Achieving new levels of engagement
The ability for reps to operate in a digital environment is critical given dramatic shifts in face-to-face access and HCP preferences. The decline in physical access in 2020 required every company to rethink how they connect with HCPs so they could continue to help them provide the best possible care to patients. Thankfully, digital opened the door for reps to become more flexible and deliver what HCPs need at any given moment.
As the industry moves ahead, digital channels will complement in-person visits in a much bigger way. Every online channel, from remote meetings to email, will become a more important and useful component of companies’ engagement strategies. This will create opportunities for some reps to connect with customers they haven’t spoken with for years.
With newfound flexibility to engage customers on their terms and get doctors the information they need when they need it, the industry is entering its greatest era of effectiveness and efficiency in serving HCP customers. Digital-driven relationships are essential to making this happen.
About the authors
Mark McLaughlin is a commercial biopharmaceutical leader with experience in the development, launch, and commercialization of blockbuster specialty medicines. He is currently a sales leader at one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, developing digital capabilities to operate in a hybrid commercial model.
Aaron Bean leads Veeva’s European business consulting practice in London. He has 18+ years of experience working with life sciences companies across Europe, focused on commercial strategy through to execution.