Pierre Morgon Chief Marketing Officer, Cegedim Pierre.Morgon@cegedim.com Twitter: @P_A_MORGON |
Gracia Rodriguez Valbuena Marketing Consultant, Cegedim Relationship Management Gracia.Rodriguez@cegedim.com |
Face-to-Face Product Detailing vs. Alternative Product Detailing Channels
Life Sciences organizations still focus a great deal of their energy on face-to-face detailing. While a study by Cegedim results highlight that face-to-face interaction appears to deliver optimal results when compared against other channels, it may be attributed to an industry tradition rather than improving commercial outcomes. Moreover, alternative and more cost-effective channels have proven to offer comparable benefits to personal exchanges, in terms of added value perceived by the customer, and therefore provide improved ROI.
Nonetheless, the face-to-face channel averages 91.9% of the total detailing interactions. Of the companies surveyed, they vary from 95% to 86% in terms of their total detailing effort devoted to face-to-face engagement. The remainder of detailing channels is used only marginally despite their exceptional balance between required investment and positive results.
The study data supports the conclusion that guided detailing still achieves consistently better results than self-guided detailing – illustrating the value of employing a multichannel campaign as a tool to assist commercial teams in transmitting their messages. On the other hand, providing content for customers’ online use can lower operational and implementation costs.
An interesting point of further consideration is how to utilize multichannel to increase the small percentage of self-guided detailing (1% average in the UK) in the segment of desired customers that companies are unable to cover, and how to better leverage the material created and posted digitally.
Needless to say, different companies’ strategy results may vary. In this case study, one company revealed that remote detailing (digitally with a representative) was rated as “very useful and of value for my practice” by 80% of physicians. In trying to uncover the cause of this company’s variance from others, it is important to ask vital questions about what factors were employed. Specifically, were the channel preferences studied and respected when selecting the remote detailing channel? How was the quality of the material presented? What was the level of expertise of the sales force? Did a face-to-face relationship previously exist between the representative and the customer? Where these interactions properly contextualized in a multichannel program, combining face-to-face interaction with a remote follow-up?
This article is an extract of a white paper on how multichannel engagement strategies help organizations succeed in a more complex, regulated and cost conscious market. To download the full report click here.
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