Building Commercial Success in 2022: A How to Guide for Digital-First Customer Engagement

The life sciences industry has experienced a permanent shift to digital – a trend that began before Covid but has only accelerated over the last three years. Gaining physical access to HCPs has become increasingly difficult, creating an ongoing challenge in the industry. Instead of meeting reps during office hours, high value HCPs want to engage on their own terms, when and wherever is best for them; online interactions off business hours are preferred. 

This demand for self-service has opened a new channel of direct engagement via conversational AI. Although pharma is behind other industries in transforming into a “digital-first” ecosystem (much in part to the complex regulatory environment) – the necessary tools exist to transform a company.

There are three critical areas that can position a brand for success, namely by providing self-service, virtualizing – for instance, adding effective and efficient AI to MSLs and commercial teams, and by using conversational AI to refine engagements. AI can truly complement reps by delivering reach and frequency at scale, allowing HCPs to interact with brands on-demand and on mobile. Companies can no longer afford to walk away from no-see HCPs as this is a critical mass – solutions need to be adopted around them. 

Another benefit to using conversational AI is the real time data that it generates. This data, which includes engagement, time spent, usage and aggregate findings enables greater insight so brands can continuously improve. These metrics transfer knowledge from the rep, who has historically been the single relationship holder, to the brand.  

Integrating conversational AI can help commercial models evolve. The life sciences industry is rapidly changing as preferences shift and new technology is adopted, such that the greatest risk is not actually taking a risk, but taking no action at all. By staying put, companies are in jeopardy of reducing engagements and therefore, losing value. 

About the Author

Emilie Branch 

Content Manager

Emilie has nearly a decade of experience in marketing, writing, research and strategy for the pharmaceutical industry. She has contributed to top pharmaceutical publications including American Pharmaceutical Review, European Pharmaceutical Review, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, Manufacturing Chemist, Pharmaceutical Outsourcing, Specialty Chemicals, and Contract Pharma. Prior to joining Swoop/IPM.ai, Emilie served as Strategic Content Manager and Managing Editor for Pharma’s Almanac where she lent her voice to some of the industry’s top players including GSK, MilliporeSigma and ThermoFisher Scientific.