When pharma professionals are taking the course on the brighter post-pandemic future, it is important to look around, orient towards the professionals, and get the latest insights from the fields in a timely manner. Thus, we could not ignore Salesforce’s latest State of Service Report based on over 7,000 survey responses worldwide, discovering how the top teams are navigating the ever-changeable pharma weather and what trajectory customer service is having now. Looking to the future be aware of the most recent data on the hottest topics that were on everyone’s lips during the turbulent 2020:
- How the service standards have been changing in the midst of a crisis
- Strategies, tactics and solutions organizations are turning to in the new normal
- How teams are navigating the changes in their work environment
- The trajectory of field service during a time of social distancing
Time sets the new standards of the customer service
The post-pandemic HCP engagement will sharply differ from the pre-2020 routine, as the pandemic, among other things, has set the new standard for customer expectations. A dramatic shift that occurred in the healthcare industry forced the pharma teams to permanently shift the emphasis of their work. The Salesforce report offers eloquent statistics reflecting how exactly the pandemic affected the regular operation of people, process, and technology.
The impact of this make-or-break year on how teams work can hardly be overestimated. Managing remote employees during the pandemic, provide employees’ safety, maintain “social distancing” and “contact tracing” is the challenge that proved to be in the power of only high performers. Therefore, the set of skills that employees must apply in their work is becoming wider and more diverse. 55% of agents say they need better training in order to do their jobs well. Not to mention the lack of technology that specialists suffer from against the background of an increased number of digital channels and acceleration of digital initiatives during the pandemic.
Amidst economic uncertainty, the companies were holding off on increasing their budgets. The report proves this point by the figures showing that in 40% of teams, the budget stayed the same when 28% saw a decrease. It means that from now on life sciences invests more in easily deployable and cost-effective digital solutions that would cut the marketing resource consumption. It is confirmed by the fact that from March to December 2020, several dozens of new customers have adopted eWizard platform.
The key tactics and solutions to embrace the changes
Life sciences have checked the code to comply with the success measures, and it is a secret to no one that it is agility. This philosophy of allowing companies to pivot on the fly and quickly respond to change is synonymous with an omnichannel strategy. Pandemic forced pharma strategists to master these two essentials of today’s and, without doubt, tomorrow’s HCP engagement.
Have a look at our PDF, revealing all facets of the omnichannel art of customer engagement, or contact our experts to immediately get insights and guidance on the essence of true omnichannel.
Earlier in our blog, we introduced 3 working models that set the tone for agility inside the organization. Briefly, it is:
- agile teams
- flexible processes
- reusable assets
Be sure while you reading, the other companies are rapidly automating their processes. According to the report’s numbers, 77% of agents automating routine tasks allows them to focus on more complex work — up from 69% in 2018.
Life sciences are implementing various solutions to add a good share of empathy the modern HCPs need and build relationships that would be more than “strictly business”. That’s why, for example, AI/ML, chatbots, and other technologies have revealed the full extent of their capacities as the solutions that are helping to gather more basic information about patients, understand their behavioral patterns, automate their feedback, and generally personalize the interaction.
Learn more about the power of artificial intelligence in HCPs engagement and how it shapes the future of healthcare management in our latest overview of TechIQ Global Virtual Conference.
We hope the challenges will fade as 2020 comes to an end because for all of us the best is yet to come! Take the first step into a new future, being armed with valuable reports reflecting the true current state of the market. Download the “State of Service” report and be aware of the latest updates from the customer service professionals.
