PM360 March 2011

TECH UPDATE: Boosting Sales and ROI with the Right Tech Tools

Find the right product for your organization and needs. Don’t let being “cool” outweigh being “focused” when it comes to selecting new technologies. Here’s how.

BY ROB D’URSO AND JOHN RIGGLE

HERE ARE TWO QUICK REMINDERS TO KEEP LIFE with technology in perspective:

Everything you have is already outdated, no matter how new and exciting it is.
As you age, you will become exponentially surprised each year by the next new tech wonders available.

In the off chance you haven’t noticed, there is a scramble taking place out there in the world of technology. Companies want to sell the latest and greatest, and customers want to own the latest and greatest. (Do you remember when iPods were listed by generation? Seems like a long time ago, right? It was two years ago.)

Technology slows for no one or economy, updates are made constantly, and none of us is free from the temptation of increasing our tech inventories. The question for pharma is, “Which technology should we embrace, and how do we deploy it?”

Technology is truly infinite—if you can imagine it, it can be made. (The new Buick with internal memory in the radio to allow drivers to pause and rewind live broadcasts is like TiVo on the go!) But just because it can be made doesn’t mean it should be made or that we should use it.

So are we introducing the new technological wonder just to say we did it, or because it meets a bona fide need such as increasing sales or reducing costs? Pick up anything within reach that’s “tech” and ask yourself:

Can this be functional, or is it just fun and trendy?
Does it have staying power?
Can it make us more effective? Or does it make us less effective?
Can a wide range of people use it, and would they want to use it?

Clearly technology helps marketing and sales activities. It has for years, and it will continue to for as long as there are promotional efforts, customers to sell to, and valuable new advances in technology. Twenty years ago, it was the computer in the pharmacy that could tell a sales rep what prescriptions were being written in a specific area, ten years ago it was SFA systems, and the past few years have opened the door for digital marketing. The quality of the technology and the ability to stay the course in terms of leveraging the most relevant technology are the biggest challenges. It’s not uncommon to find something you love and try to make work. But for technology to work in pharmaceuticals, it needs to work immediately, fit a current need, and not require excessive compromises or patches. So what technology should you be considering for the workplace? This article addresses tech potential, testing, and rollout, with examples from the pharmaceutical industry. Please keep in mind that technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace—this article will be outdated by the time you finish reading it.

TECH POTENTIAL
Last summer, a fairly large pharmaceutical company implemented the use of iPads for its sales force. The high-level goals of the iPad program included consolidation of marketing messages and materials, the ability to use embedded video and audio during physician interactions, and to ensure that only the most recent materials were put in front of potential prescribers. Printing expenses would be minimized, shipping costs would be lowered, and updates could be made more quickly through mandated syncing.

So what’s not to like about this scenario? Add to it the capability to review sales data, collect sample signatures, and access company email, and it just might be perfection. After all, if you could direct everyone to one central location for promotional tools, product training, personal development, administration, and reporting, why wouldn’t you?

Well, for one reason it costs a fortune.

Maybe you don’t have the money or the infrastructure to implement iPads in the sales organization. And it’s perfectly understandable if you don’t. Not many pharmaceutical and biotech companies out there are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new technology. There’s a wide range of “tech steps” you can take as an organization, and they all have the potential to drive sales through enhanced interactions with sales representatives, prescribers, and patients. Sales reps could benefit from real-time promotional updates, prescribers could benefit from access to the latest clinical trials and product information, and patients could benefit from online support groups and disease state education.

So have you leveraged technology to the fullest extent possible? Are you doing everything you can with the company-issued laptops, smartphones, or company websites? If so, then what is your reach item? Do you want to issue iPads to the sales force? Or maybe iPods with pre-loaded training content? There’s a lot available at many different price points, and sometimes the most effective technology upgrade is the one that costs next to nothing as long as it fits your company’s specific needs.

TECH TESTING
Tech testing isn’t just the beta test to see what a handful of people across the country think about your great idea. Tech testing is about finding the right level of technology for your organization and proving it can bring value and be sustainable. And that involves asking a lot of questions. Here are some questions to ask, specific to technology and its potential fit in an organization:

Do our promotional activities/efforts need assistance, and is the introduction of new technology the way to accomplish this?
How much could we possibly gain in terms of message impact with the implementation of new technology?
How does use of the new technology increase message retention, promotional reach, or differentiation?
Would the increase in revenues offset the investment made in this new technology?
Does our organization embrace new (or new to us) technology?
Does this new technology change our corporate image?
Do we have an infrastructure to support the new technology or does one have to be built?
What is the shelf life for the new technology?
What updates do we think we would have to make in the future, if any?
How much training would our organization have to undergo to become proficient in the new technology?
How would the new technology be received with our customers?
Who needs to be involved with the new technology evaluation and selection process?
Who needs to be involved with the new technology beta testing?
What options would there be, if any, for the person who is “tech phobic”?

These questions go beyond “Would a Flash version of the MOA keep the physician’s attention?” and might help keep your new technology from becoming like that piece of exercise equipment in your basement that you use as a drying rack. So who needs to be involved with the process of identifying, testing, selecting, and implementing new technology? Here’s a list of players that must be involved in the process:

Project leader should be completely knowledgeable on all aspects of the new technology, how it will be deployed and work with all key stakeholders
Vendors, ideally two or three with similar products, that can be evaluated for the best possible fit
IS point person, similar to the Project Leader, this person can speak to integration with existing systems and possible gains/losses associated with implementing this new technology
Legal/Regulatory needs to make sure the i’s are dotted, the t’s are crossed, and there are no issues with ownership, pricing, or exclusivity
Marketing team, for appearance and perceived impact of the new technology on customers, determining how the tool will be used, as well as planning content for inclusion in the new system once launched
Sales managers and representatives need to understand what’s going on and what’s being evaluated, and they need to be involved in the process of testing the technology in real-world applications
Training, anything that involves the sales managers and representatives needs to be effectively communicated and taught. Training needs to be involved in the process of testing the technology to learn the potential pitfalls and challenges

Every company has a varying ability to test the technology and make the investment to understand its applicability and staying power as well as the realistic impact it will have on marketing messaging, sales activities, and potential ROI. The more information gathered prior to decision, the likelier it is that the right decision will be made, even if that decision means no new technology just yet.

TECH ROLLOUT
So the new technology has made the cut—the organization sees value in it, IS and internal systems can support it, Legal is good with the terms of the arrangement and the media to deliver messages, the Marketing team is developing materials specific to this new technology, Training is working on a user guide and information materials, and Field Sales is eager to get it in front of their prescribers. It’s not uncommon for everything to go well until rollout. Everyone involved in the process understands the new technology and sees where it works, so there is often an assumption that the field and customers will, too. You have your new technology, and you know it’s going to enhance your promotional activities. But does everyone? And for those who claim they do—do they really? If you’ve invested this much time and thought into the process, don’t skimp on the rollout. In fact, spend maybe a little too much time on the rollout and then defer to a trusted colleague to help rein you in. A good rollout will, at the absolute minimum, consist of the following:

Noise: Make everyone in the organization know that something new is on the horizon, and it’s big, and it’s a game changer. (A basic of adult learning principles is getting buy-in up-front: “OK, I have to go to training for the next three days and be away from family and friends and my doctors, but I know it’s worth it because it will put more money in my pocket later in the year.”)
Planning. You don’t just tell your sales force you have a new prescription product for them to promote, you launch it; and you need to do the same with your new technology, if you want it to be embraced and used enthusiastically across the field.
Training. Not only do your users need to understand how the product works and be able to leverage it for their sales activities, at some point somewhere in the country there will be a rep who can’t get the new technology to work and who is going to be in front of the most influential prescriber he has. All of the reps need to be trained on how to handle that situation (and dozens of others that may arise) and how to effectively deliver messages in the face of these challenges.
Follow-Up. Share best practices, keep the technology part of future meetings and messaging, push through software updates when applicable or appropriate, and reinforce the expectations that this new technology is maximized, whenever possible. (Remember, we call pharmaceuticals “new” for a year after launch—why wouldn’t you do the same with a significant tech investment?)
Support. Everyone needs to know the role he or she plays and how to triage issues as they arise to make sure that immediately after the rollout, issues are swiftly addressed and people buy in to an organizational commitment to the technology and they don’t just consider it “another great idea from Marketing or Sales.”

CONCLUSION
This won’t be easy. In fact, at times it might seem like it was a mistake. But if you do your research and can see where it will positively affect the bottom line, then chances are it was worth it.

But take your time. Find the right product for your organization and needs. Don’t let being “cool” outweigh being “focused” when it comes to selecting new technologies. Laser disk videos were new technology at one time, and so were eight-track players. Now they’re gone and everyone looks back on them with a mild level of embarrassment. You don’t want the same to ever be said of your efforts, your products, or your organization.

Now in the immortal words of pharma management everywhere—Good luck and good selling!

Rob D’Urso is Director of Marketing and John Riggle is Training Manager at Promius Pharma. They can be reached at rdurso@promiuspharma.com and jriggle@promiuspharma.com