In varied industries, the CRM methods are quite straightforward in nature and approach. You advertise a particular product or the service to any target audience, monitoring the marketing initiatives, pursuing the best prospective sales opportunities and following via with client service and support as required, it is essential to maintain a positive relationship with the clients.
So, now the big question which arises is how to sell a particular product when it is completely marketed on direct basis to people who will be consuming it?
This is considered as the unique challenge witnessed by the pharma sector when the new drugs are being launched in the market. As the current market is bifurcated, the medicine manufacturers are allowed to advertise the very existence of a new tablet/pill and propose to the curious customers to ask their doctors about it, but they must put efforts for successfully convincing people who are of great relevance such as the doctors.
CRM as a tool assumes great importance for every business irrespective of its domain, but pharma domain enjoys a larger stake in regard to the outcomes of the client interactions. It is very expensive to develop new medicines, even after the advancements made in molecular modeling and deep understanding of the human genome.
It is believed that a new drug is expected to take over a decade or more to create from the initial concept to FDA nod at the price of thousands of dollars. Once it is unveiled in the market, the creator has maximize the profit out of the drug as quickly as possible because the drug patents are meant for just two years after which the generic versions are available which pushes down the profit levels considerably.
Hence, the drug makers opt for a two-pronged strategy of generating public interest while successfully convincing the doctors about their product nature.
Most of the time, the client side of the customer equation is all about focusing on awareness by generating interest among the doctors and also the post-prescription service such as answering queries related to medication , offering discounts. If it is anything beyond that – mainly if it comprises collecting patient identifiable details such as risks violating the different federal and state laws.
Most of the time, the only other piece of marketing initiative that the patients witness is the information pamphlet in the doctor’s waiting room. It becomes tricky for the doctors as well. It is believed that the active marketing of new drugs is resource intensive to the complete medical community, so the drug producers have to stress on what are considered as the key opinion leaders (KOLs).
KOL is usually a respected clinical researcher or a high profile medical writer, who has the potential to impact other doctors and organizations. By maintaining an effective relationship with the KOLs, it becomes possible for the pharma players to get in touch with their audience base.
There are various strict legal and ethical needs about how close drug firms can get with a KOL before it starts looking at the financial aspect. Supporting or even sponsoring a particular research is one of the potential ways of doing it.
Moreover, KOL management is all about ensuring that each KOL is able to get the right amount of attention. The older CRM tools is not equipped to deal with this particular part of this business, hence the specialists have taken up that role.
Most of the software vendors with vertical integrations for life sciences offer a nod to the KOL management and are also developing for buying better capabilities in these areas.
It is widely believed the sales enablement is an essential factor. The sales personnel still need to visit the doctors and make successful sales pitch. Ensuring that the sales team has full and updated details about the doctor’s practice, patients and history, along with the recent details on the medications assumes importance to attain success after the KOL campaigns have attained their targets. The typical CRM tools successfully find their place in the pharma domain.
The social CRM approaches usually stress on the communities of interest due to the restrictions on how firms are engaging with the patients and doctors. It is very important to keep a close check on the other social channels.
The article is also available at http://www.basearticles.com/Article/31819/CRM-in-pharma-industry-emerging-as-an-essential-tool.html
This is considered as the unique challenge witnessed by the pharma sector when the new drugs are being launched in the market. As the current market is bifurcated, the medicine manufacturers are allowed to advertise the very existence of a new tablet/pill and propose to the curious customers to ask their doctors about it, but they must put efforts for successfully convincing people who are of great relevance such as the doctors.
CRM as a tool assumes great importance for every business irrespective of its domain, but pharma domain enjoys a larger stake in regard to the outcomes of the client interactions. It is very expensive to develop new medicines, even after the advancements made in molecular modeling and deep understanding of the human genome.
It is believed that a new drug is expected to take over a decade or more to create from the initial concept to FDA nod at the price of thousands of dollars. Once it is unveiled in the market, the creator has maximize the profit out of the drug as quickly as possible because the drug patents are meant for just two years after which the generic versions are available which pushes down the profit levels considerably.
Hence, the drug makers opt for a two-pronged strategy of generating public interest while successfully convincing the doctors about their product nature.
Most of the time, the client side of the customer equation is all about focusing on awareness by generating interest among the doctors and also the post-prescription service such as answering queries related to medication , offering discounts. If it is anything beyond that – mainly if it comprises collecting patient identifiable details such as risks violating the different federal and state laws.
Most of the time, the only other piece of marketing initiative that the patients witness is the information pamphlet in the doctor’s waiting room. It becomes tricky for the doctors as well. It is believed that the active marketing of new drugs is resource intensive to the complete medical community, so the drug producers have to stress on what are considered as the key opinion leaders (KOLs).
KOL is usually a respected clinical researcher or a high profile medical writer, who has the potential to impact other doctors and organizations. By maintaining an effective relationship with the KOLs, it becomes possible for the pharma players to get in touch with their audience base.
There are various strict legal and ethical needs about how close drug firms can get with a KOL before it starts looking at the financial aspect. Supporting or even sponsoring a particular research is one of the potential ways of doing it.
Moreover, KOL management is all about ensuring that each KOL is able to get the right amount of attention. The older CRM tools is not equipped to deal with this particular part of this business, hence the specialists have taken up that role.
Most of the software vendors with vertical integrations for life sciences offer a nod to the KOL management and are also developing for buying better capabilities in these areas.
It is widely believed the sales enablement is an essential factor. The sales personnel still need to visit the doctors and make successful sales pitch. Ensuring that the sales team has full and updated details about the doctor’s practice, patients and history, along with the recent details on the medications assumes importance to attain success after the KOL campaigns have attained their targets. The typical CRM tools successfully find their place in the pharma domain.
The social CRM approaches usually stress on the communities of interest due to the restrictions on how firms are engaging with the patients and doctors. It is very important to keep a close check on the other social channels.
The article is also available at http://www.basearticles.com/Article/31819/CRM-in-pharma-industry-emerging-as-an-essential-tool.html
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