Adjusting Selling Strategy: Teledetailing during COVID-19
April 3, 2020
Although social distancing in the midst of COVID-19 means pharma, biotech and medical device sales representatives have been asked to stay home, that does not mean that the selling process has to stop. Instead, life sciences companies can alter their selling strategies and adapt to the current landscape by engaging in virtual selling, namely teledetailing. Let’s explore what teledetailing for pharma, biotech and medical device sales representatives should look like during a pandemic.
Identifying Audience
One of the primary differences between in-person selling and teledetailing is who is reached. In most cases, life sciences teledetailing sales strategy does not get through to the physician, but instead stays with the office personnel. Although this means teledetailing oftentimes will not reach the ultimate prescriber, some members of the office personnel are rather influential and can serve as an invaluable advocate for a specific product. While the priority for life sciences sales representatives should be to speak with the most influential staff members, there is an opportunity with any phone call that connects with any member of the office staff. Thus, it is important to sell to both audiences—physicians and office personnel.
Determining Messaging
Once the staff in the office is identified as well as each’s level of influence, it is time to determine what type of message to deliver. Some time ago, four major categories of physicians were identified that can provide insight into determining the optimal messaging strategy. Although these categories have largely been considered in relation to physicians, they can be extended to the office staff as well; as we’ve explored above, office staff members are an invaluable member of the physician’s team, and thus determining the optimal messaging strategy for them is equally as important as determining the optimal messaging strategy for physicians.
Let’s explore these four categories and what they mean in terms of office staff:
Business-Centric
Focus is ensuring office runs smoothly; business-centric staff make sure insurance forms are met, paperwork is properly filled out, etc.
Patient-Centric
Focus is on patients; patient-centric staff want to keep patients as happy and comfortable as possible, seek to know each patient’s name, and are keen on giving out samples when allowed
Technology-Centric
Focus is on technology; technology-centric staff are interested in the latest technology and are those members the rest of the office goes to for technology fixes and updates
Research-Centric
Focus is on research; research-centric staff help the office physician(s) stay up to date on the latest medical news and, in some cases, wanted to be physicians themselves
With these categories in mind, sales representatives should classify their accounts by physician and staff traits and share that information with the home office. The marketing department, then, with help from the sales department, should create two sets of messaging for each of the four categories—one set for office staff and one set for physicians. Multiple messaging options should be created in each combination so that representatives can utilize different messaging strategies and record the outcomes.
Testing and Re-Testing the Message
Critical to the success of the switch from in-person selling to teledetailing is having the right message fit the right audience. After the first two weeks of teledetailing, the pharma, biotech and medical device company can analyze which messages led to the most successful outcomes as well as which messages led to the least successful outcomes. Then similar messages to the ones identified as successful should be created and the sales team should be directed to use the messages that are most successful.
Conclusion
Facing difficult times such as a pandemic does not mean that the selling process has to halt. Instead, pharma, biotech and medical device companies can alter their strategies and adapt to the new landscape by engaging in teledetailing. Companies that (1) appeal not just to doctors, but their office staff as well, (2) tailor messages based on audience type and category classification, and (3) test and re-test their messaging will be able to turn these uncertain times into an opportunity and mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
