Four steps to Omnichannel Excellence in Life Sciences

1.  Custom-build an Omnichannel Team

The rationale is clear. Leadership provides vision and direction. Cross-functional collaboration brings diverse expertise to the table. This helps facilitate comprehensive problem-solving and innovative thinking. Let’s delve deeper into these critical components.

Appoint a Chief Omnichannel Officer (COO)

They’ll need industry experience and a flair for innovative thinking to set the vision and steer transformation. Your COO champions the cause, aligns it with broader corporate objectives, and:

• Sets a clear omnichannel vision and strategy.
• Navigates the pharmaceutical industry’s complexities.
• Inspires your team to embrace change and innovation.

The choice should align with post-merger scenario strategic goals as well as the merger tax plan.

Drive cross-functional collaboration

Build a core multi-disciplinary innovation team, ensuring it:

• Includes customer-facing functions (e.g., FLSM, MSL etc.)
• Leverages IT expertise for seamless digital integration.
• Utilizes marketing insights to craft compelling content.
• Harnesses sales data for targeted outreach.
• Employs data analytics for informed decision-making.
• Ensures compliance with regulatory guidelines.

Customer-Centricity is everything

At the heart of this endeavor lies a relentless and non-negotiable commitment to the customer. Every decision, from technology investments to content creation, must be guided by a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences.

2.Agile methodology provides the flexibility you’ll need

Traditional project management methodologies often falter in the face of rapid change. Agile encourages adaptability and responsiveness. It also makes it easier for people to see progress. This is ideal for Omnichannel activities and transformations.

You don’t need to undertake a full-scale Agile adoption

But using these key principles can increase efficiency, and inclusion, and help the team shine:

• Iterative development
  Agile enables teams to continually test and refine strategies.
• Cross-functional Teams
  Ensures comprehensive problem-solving.
• Quick decision-Making
  Essential in dynamic industries.

Affiliate Collaboration to leverage local insights

Small and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies often operate globally through local affiliates. These are well-positioned to provide insights into regional nuances, market trends, and customer behaviors. This includes:

• Real-time insights into local market conditions
• Collaboration ensures strategies are tailored to regional needs
• Navigate regional compliance requirements.

Effective collaboration enhances your omnichannel strategy’s relevance and success. And, never forget that most of the customer-facing functions work on an affiliate level.

3.Take stock of what’s out there

Always conduct a thorough assessment and prioritization of existing digital initiatives. You can then understand what’s in place and select initiatives that deliver maximum impact. Additionally, mapping activities across functions, tiers and geographies helps get your organization onboard and enables local teams to shine

How to audit current digital initiatives

Catalog and assess existing digital initiatives, making sure you consider:

• Performance metrics
  Evaluate each initiative’s effectiveness.
• Strategic alignment
  Assess how well they align with corporate objectives.
• Identify duplications
  Or overlapping efforts to avoid draining resources

Create a prioritization matrix

This will ensure resources are channeled effectively and should consider:

• Strategic alignment with corporate objectives
• Feasibility, in terms of practicality and resource requirements
• Customer value, gauge potential impact on customer experience

Scale strategy to maximize impact

Once you’ve identified and prioritized initiatives, select those with the potential for regional and international scalability. Use the following three criteria for selecting initiatives:

• Assess the potential reach and impact in different regions
• Evaluate initiatives for global scalability
• Ensure sufficient resources for scaling selected initiatives

Scalability is a key determinant for long-term success. So, it’s vital you invest time in this area.

4.Get your blueprint right

A carefully built operating model is key to coping with the intricacies of data, people, and systems working together. It gives you the ability to:

• Customize content
• Meet compliance requirements
• Provide seamless customer experience

This is essential given the many layers of the pharmaceutical industry and challenges to functioning omnichannel.

Establish a centralized Data Hub

This puts insights at your fingertips. So, create a hub that aggregates customer data, to provide a comprehensive view of customer behavior and preferences. These insights are invaluable for tailoring digital content and engagement strategies. Your hub should:

• Aggregate data from various sources for a holistic view
• Enable real-time analysis for informed decision-making
• Leverage data to personalize customer experiences

Localize content to connect on a cultural level

Localization enhances customer engagement, but it must be:

• Tailored to align with local cultures and values
• Accessible in local languages
• Compliant with regional regulatory guidelines

Integrate channels to unify customer experiences

From social media to websites and mobile apps, seamless integration is key to delivering a consistent customer experience. When integrating channels ensure:

• Branding and messaging consistency across all platforms
• Seamless movement for customers between channels
• Data consistency across channels

Establish an analytics center for data-driven optimization

Real-time performance monitoring is critical. Your regional analytics center must continuously assess the impact of digital initiatives. And the insights need to inform ongoing optimization. It’s vital that your analytics center:

• Monitors initiative performance against established KPIs
• Conducts A/B testing to optimize digital strategies
• Tracks and analyzes customer interactions across all channels.

Effectively navigate the regulatory and compliance landscape

Regulatory requirements in the pharmaceutical industry are stringent and vary by region. Stay abreast of regional compliance and regulatory changes. Implement a robust compliance framework to ensure adherence across all digital touchpoints, this must include:

• Regulatory tracking to stay updated on regional compliance requirements
• Documentation and reporting to maintain accurate records for audit purposes
• Employee training so team members are aware of compliance requirements

In summary

The path to creating and implementing successful omnichannel strategies lies in:

• The building of dedicated teams
• Employing agile methodologies
• Prioritizing initiatives
• Implementing regional operating models

We believe that being conscious of these four catalysts helps pharmaceutical firms to successfully navigate the complex digital landscape. And ultimately this unlocks the full potential of intelligent inter-channel connectivity to:

• Enhance market presence
• Provide customers with more tailored and engaging experiences

Discover how we can help accelerate your journey to omnichannel excellence today.

About the author

Dr. Martin Kamleiter-Borski is an Independent Consultant with a-connect. Martin is a seasoned Life Sciences and Healthcare expert who leverages his deep expertise of many years of hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry to assist clients in mastering the challenges of change, evolution, and disruption in this dynamic ecosystem. Martin is a physician with a doctorate in neurosciences from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany. His extensive background includes research, clinical psychiatry, and consulting with EY. His primary areas of focus are Commercial Excellence, Innovative Business Models, and Digital Therapeutics.