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Five Ways Asia Pacific Life Science Industry Leaders Are Enhancing Customer Experience

The life sciences industry in Asia and across the world has faced unprecedented disruption from the pandemic. According to Veeva Pulse data, COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to digital for life sciences, with significant growth in remote and digital engagement since early 2020, and a 10X increase of HCPs using three or more channels in their engagement with pharma1. This engagement is continuing to remain high, with evolving requirements and preferences of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) in the ways they engage with pharma reps and medical science liaisons (MSLs) through virtual communications. Similarly, patient expectations, informed by their consumer experiences buying products on Amazon or Alibaba, ordering food and transferring money on their preferred devices, have also increased during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, HCPs and patients now increasingly expect low friction, high-quality customer experience (CX) in their interactions with pharmaceutical companies.

Yet, while 70% of HCPs will be digital natives in 20212 and market research confirms “physicians are incredibly time poor” and “compared to traditional in-person interactions, digital offers HCPs the flexibility they need”3, the pharmaceutical industry has lagged behind other sectors in adopting quality digital experiences.4

Five steps to closing the CX gap with HCPs and Patients

A study found that customers who had a great interaction with a pharmaceutical company were three times more likely to share the information they received with others.5 The study also found that 44% of HCPs who had a great interaction said it enhanced their perception of the product as well.5 These customers were also more likely to interact with the pharmaceutical company using other digital channels.5

This means closing the CX gap has become a priority for pharma marketers, but delivering the right content and making sure it is executed via the right channels, to the right customers can feel like an uphill battle without the required resources and roadmap. We have identified five steps to delivering more engaging customer experiences with HCPs and patients.

BC blog - 5 ways visual
  1. Get stakeholder buy in on the “why”

    The business case establishing CX as a priority for commercial and medical teams is the first step we see leading pharma companies taking. This ensures a leadership that’s aligned on the vision and value of improving customer experience, and ensures the resources necessary to close the CX gap. An increased focus on high value interactions with target HCP and patient personas, rationalisation of activity and investment to low or non-productive customer segments, and a technology-enabled, customer-centric culture that prioritises “progress over perfection” are all key elements to be considered by CX teams when developing a case for change.

  2. Focus on the “moments that matter”

    Innovative industry leaders leverage comprehensive, insight-based customer and patient personas to create journey maps and validate customer experience gaps. In processes led by brand and medical teams, these gaps are used to size and prioritise the key ‘moments that matter’ in the HCP and patient journeys. This stage is often referred to as “walking in the customer’s or patient’s shoes” and focuses commercial and medical teams on high-value opportunities to create targeted new content and tactics.

  3. Co-design your omni-channel tactics

    Cross-functional input in designing HCP and patient engagement tactics ensures diversity of perspectives and stakeholder buy-in. This is most frequently achieved through ideation workshops with customer facing and support function teams from both medical and commercial functions. During the tactical ideation stage, creating an open and collaborative environment to foster fresh ideas and out-of-the-box thinking is critical.

  4. Develop effective micro-journeys to improve CX

    Omni-channel execution provides HCPs and patients with seamless customer experiences in their engagement with pharma companies. CX-focused pharma companies use micro-journeys as a step-by-step tool to sequence the activities to be executed by the cross-functional team and deliver the desired customer experience. For example, a micro-journey focused on a launch event would include an automated text message to HCPs that missed the event, with a link to an on-demand replay of the webinar, then an email or text, based on their preference, with a link to schedule a virtual or face-to-face call with a rep or MSL to discuss the company patient support service and sample program.

  5. Close the loop between customer data and execution KPIs

    The final, critical step in closing the CX gap is collecting customer engagement data and using key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor performance and improve execution. Leading organisations are collecting comprehensive customer data and insights across all their HCP and patient engagement touchpoints. Commercial and medical teams then use these to fine-tune digital and face-to-face execution, tailor omni-channel engagement to customer and patient preferences and understand the end-to-end customer experience to create next-level, innovative customer and patient practices.

About Veeva Veeva is a leading provider of cloud solutions and consulting services to the global life sciences industry with an outcomes orientated, highly collaborative approach to create sustainable strategies and capabilities. To learn more about Veeva Business Consulting and how we can support your commercial and medical teams can close the CX gap with HCPs and patients, please reach out to Daniel Bacon or Sharon Sun.
1. Veeva Pulse analysis
2. Across Health and Veeva: Intelligent HCP Engagement
3. https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_thought_leadership/engaging_hcps_on_their_own_terms_how_pharma_can_adapt_to_the_post-pandemic_digital_era_1380836
4. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/pharmaceuticals-and-medical-products/our-insights/closing-the-digital-gap-in-pharma
5. The State Of Customer Experience In The Pharmaceutical Industry, 2018: HCP Interactions, April 2019, https://dt-consulting.com/the-state-of-customer-experience-in-the-pharmaceutical-industry-2018-hcp-interactions/