1. Overlooking the need for a mindset shift
I think we’d be hard pushed to find a pharma company that isn’t activating hybrid sales strategies to maximise their customer engagement. But success requires more than people, channels and tactics, it demands buy-in and mindset shift.
Sales teams must be open to incorporating digital tools and technologies into their daily activities. Beyond adopting new software, it transforms the way teams work. The goal is to blend traditional face-to-face interactions with the power of digital, creating a seamless experience for healthcare professionals.
Concerns over sales attribution or feeling like the digital activity is misaligned with face-to-face conversations can be common barriers to digital adoption from the field force and this needs to be resolved by all parties. A marketing-driven approach to digital integration will never receive high uptake, sales teams need a seat at the table to be co-creators.
The solution: Educate teams on the value of digital transformation and the opportunity it provides to enhance customer interactions, work together to understand customers, markets and requirements so that the digital solutions can make their jobs easier – it’ll be the most effective way to drive adoption. As Veeva research shows, “sales professionals who share digital content during HCP engagements drive 2.5x more patient starts.” But they won’t share it if they don’t believe in it.
2. Working in silos between sales and marketing
Following on from point one, sales and marketing teams need to come together more often. Operating independently, with little communication or collaboration creates barriers, inconsistencies in messaging and missed opportunities to leverage combined knowledge and strengths.
The fix: Foster collaboration between sales and marketing to build a culture of teamwork. Open lines of communication will allow sales teams to offer valuable customer insights to marketing teams to create essential resources and campaigns to resonate. When both teams align, they form a powerful force for growth.
3. Failing to build the right infrastructure
Getting the right platforms for the job can be a struggle, and when you’re retrofitting into existing systems to try to connect the dots, hybrid sales and omnichannel efforts can fall short. Implementing an integrated customer engagement platform with marketing and engagement tools connects sales and marketing activities for maximum efficiency and impact.
Your CRM should not only house customer data but also enable sales teams to identify opportunities and next best actions – allow interrogation of valuable customer insights to shape their experience aligned with your objectives.
The strategy: Invest in a centralised CRM platform that provides real-time visibility into customer behaviour and enables smarter decision-making. Carefully plan the migration to ensure you don’t lose valuable data such as client consents or preferences and ensure that everyone can access the same data.
4. Neglecting ongoing training and support
Technology adoption is only successful when teams are properly trained. A common mistake is failing to provide continuous training on new tools, such as CRM systems. Given how often platforms release an update, understanding what’s new and what can help is essential to leveraging everything you’re paying for. Without this ongoing support, teams can struggle to use these platforms effectively – which in turn impacts customer experience and the ability to maximise opportunities.
The way forward: Organise regular training sessions to ensure everyone is comfortable using the CRM and digital tools. This allows them to navigate between in-person and virtual engagements smoothly, ensuring they can track marketing activities and sales interactions effectively. And it’s another opportunity to gain insights from all teams on what’s working and what’s not.
5. Not mapping or integrating customer touchpoints
Another common mistake is not mapping out all the customer touchpoints. It’s imperative to identify the channels where customers engage most frequently outside the rep contact, whether it’s through webinars, emails, events, online portals or something else entirely. Failing to integrate these touchpoints into your CRM system can lead to missed opportunities to connect with customers at the right time.
The resolution: Identify key touchpoints across owned and third party channels and sync them with your CRM. This gives sales teams a complete view of the customer journey, allowing them to engage customers at the right time via the most effective channels. Marketing can then ensure they have the most appropriate content available. Interactive dashboards can help speed up this process by providing real-time insights on customer behaviour, enabling quicker identification of the next best action.
6. Inconsistent messaging across channels
You have your customer touchpoints mapped, but the brand experience can fall down with inconsistent messaging. Whether a customer engages via email, or in-person events, the messaging and branding should remain consistent. Failing to do this can create confusion and undermine trust.
Your content plan: Ensure that messaging is unified across all channels, both digital and in-person. Content is key in maintaining consistency, and an experienced partner that understands customer engagement, content and marketing, can play an important role in managing and streamlining the process. By auditing your existing content and identifying content gaps, they can ensure you have the right resources, telling the right story for every stage of the customer journey.
7. Failing to align sales and marketing efforts
We’ve spoken about sales and marketing working closer together and communicating more – and it’s essential. If your sales reps aren’t aware of the marketing campaigns being used to driving leads outside their customer interactions, they can’t follow up effectively. But beyond that the teams need to be activating in harmony.
Solution: Inform sales teams on marketing campaigns as a key internal communications stakeholder set and encourage regular feedback loops. This allows everyone to work toward common goals and continuously improve their approaches together.
Avoid pitfalls and embrace the future of pharma sales
Achieving connected customer engagement whether in-person, through digital channels or a fully omnichannel plan requires a comprehensive approach, from shifting mindsets and fostering collaboration to building the right infrastructure and providing ongoing training. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can align sales and marketing efforts, maintain consistent messaging and leverage digital tools to enhance customer engagement.
With the right strategies in place, you’ll not only drive business growth but also deliver an exceptional customer experience that meets the evolving needs of your audience. Stay ahead of the competition by mastering hybrid sales and omnichannel excellence.
