pharma crm - critical role of flms

15 SEPPHARMACRMIMPLEMENTATION:THECRITICALROLEOFFIRSTLINEMANAGERSWrittenbyPrzemyslawKuznicki

MostprojectmanagersinthelifesciencesindustryknowthatforaCRMimplementationtobeatruesuccess,managementbuy-inandtrainingmustbetoppriorities.ThisisespeciallytrueforglobalCRMimplementationswherestandardizationofprocessesisevenmoreimportantthanthetechnologyitself.However,withoutwideuser

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adoption,theprojectissetforfailure.

Andtoafaultinmostcasesthesalesforce—whosebuy-iniscritical—istreatedasone,monolithicgroup.Rarelyisitbrokendownintosalesrepresentativesandfirstlinemanagers.Itshouldbe.Firstlinemanagers’(FLMs)adoptioniscriticallyimportant.Consequently,theyneedtobetargetedseparately.Inaddition,FLM-specificchangemanagementtechniquesandtoolsshouldbeutilizedtoensureprojectsuccess.WhyareFLMssoimportant?

FLMsarecriticaltodrivingadoption.UsuallyFLMsarethebestrepswhogotpromoted.Therefore,theyactasSMEsinallaspectsoftheirsalesrepresentatives’work.Inaddition,mostpharmacompaniesstrivetogettheirFLMstospendatleast50to60percentoftheirtimetrainingreps.Thismayinclude:dualcalls,f2fcoaching,territory,businessreview,andotherrelatedactivities.Hence,theyareperceivedas“brothersinarms”bythefieldreps.

Also,FLMsoftenserveasthemaincommunicationchannelbetweenthecorporateofficeandtherep.Anyinitiativedeployedinthefield,regardlessofwhetheritisanewmarketingcampaign,anewpromotionalitem,achangeofstrategy,oraCRMimplementation,isusuallycommunicatedthroughtheFLM.(Aninitiativethatiscommunicateddirectlytorepresentatives,excludingorwithoutsufficientbuy-infromFLMs,isalmostcertainlysettofail).

FLMscanalsobethebestsourceoffeedback,betterthantherepsthemselves.Theyareclosetothefield;theyareinthefield:theyknowwhat’sreallygoingon.Theyparticipateinsalesvisitsthemselvesandbecauseoftheirrole,theyhaveabroaderviewoftheentireregion.Overall,theyhaveanin-depth,practicalunderstandingofthefield.Andinmultinationalorganizations,theyoftenactastranslatorsfortheirrepsandtheyfrequentlyserveasabackupcontactforclientswhenrepsareunavailable.

AchievingFLMs’buy-iniseasierthanobtaininghighadoptionacrosstherestofthesalesforce.AnditmustbedoneinordertoensureCRMisuseddaily.Itwillimmediatelyenablethesehighskillmanagerstoeasilyaccesscriticalinformationontheirreps:historicalactivities,previouscoachingresults,currentcycleplans,etcetera.SharingcalendarsisastandardfeatureofmostCRMsystems,whichcanhelpFLMsvalidatetherouteplansoftheirteam.(Note:Iftargetlistreviewsarearoutinepractice,whynotdevelopareportservingthisspecificpurpose?).

FLMAdoption

OfferingvaluableinformationwilldriveFLMadoption,suchasCRMsalesresultsandotherreports,someofwhichareaggregatedfromexternaldatasources.CRMvalueincreasesasitbecomesaone-stopshop—avaluabletoolthatcanbeleveragedtosavevaluabletimeandguidehigh-valuedecisions.TheCRMpossibilitiesareunlimited:salestargetachievement,competitormarketshare,sell-outtrends–alloftheseandmanyotherreportscanbemadewidelyavailableinternally.ThisinformationwillcertainlymaketheCRMmorepalatabletothesalesforceandFLMs.

Itwillalsosavetimeinproducingreports,anotherbuy-infactorthatcanpersuadetheteamtoimplementanduseitdaily.Forexample,weknowofoneU.S.antibioticsmanufacturerthatwouldaskeachoftheirFLMstoprepareashortbusinessreviewpresentationfortheir

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cyclemeetings.Thepresentationwouldfollowthesamestandardformat:containingbothadescriptivesection,aswellasseveralsalesforcemetrics.Afterreceivingfeedbackfromthemanufacturer’sFLMs,theCRMimplementationteamdesignedareportspecificallyreflectingthepresentationformat.Hence,FLMtimesaved.

FLMInvolvement

ForaCRMimplementationandadoptiontobetrulyeffective,FLMsshouldbeinvolvedearlyintheproject.Getthemonboardasearlyasthediscovery/analysisphase.Thisservestwopurposes:itenablesthebusinessanalysttocaptureFLM-specificrequirementsanditensuresthesestakeholderswilltakesomeownershipintheCRMprojectbecausetheirconcernswereheard.Anexperiencedbusinessanalystknowsthatitisnota“sacrifice”ofsystemintegrityortheso-called“purityofdesign”merelybecausetheanalystinvolvedotherstakeholders.

Asinanyproject,selectingtherightpeoplebecauseofthevaluableinputtheyofferincreasesthesuccessoftheproject.However,keepinmindthatFLMswillonlyengageiftheyknowprojectmembershaveatleastabasicunderstandingoftheirjob.Thatsaid,anotherimportantfactortotakeintoaccountistherelationshipbetweenFLMsandprojectteammembers.Ifarelationshipalreadyexists,itcandramaticallyincreasethechanceoftheproject’ssuccess.Inanatmosphereofmutualtrust,FLMscanfreelyexpresstheirideasandprovidehonestfeedbackduringallphasesoftheprojectincludingrequirementsgathering,testing,andtraining.

Thereareanumberofwaysofbuildingthisrelationship.Onepharmacompany,forexample,requiredallITprojectmemberstospendatleastonedayindual-callsperquarter.Withthatopportunity,theylearnedaboutreps’workcyclesandhowtosolvetheirtechnicalissueswiththeirassistance.SomecompaniesallowITtoattendcyclemeetings.ThisgivesmembersofthesalesforceteamtheopportunitytomeetITanddiscussissuesorofferfeedback.Therearemanyotherapproachestobuildingbonds,buteachcompanyneedstofindtheapproachthatworksbestwithinitsparticularcontext.

GlobalRollout

Inrecentyears,mostCRMimplementationshaveinvolvedlarge-scaleglobalrolloutsthattraverseseveralmarkets.Seekingprocessharmonizationandcostefficiency,pharmacompanieshavebeenstrivingtoincorporatea“onesizefitsall”solution—atleastregardingkeyprocessesandfunctions.However,thisapproachistroublesomewhenitinvolveshighlyregulatedandcompliancesensitiveareas,suchassamplemanagement,eventmanagement,andconsentmanagement.Country-specificregulationsneedtobetakenintoaccountandmanyofthemdirectlyaffecthowFLMswork.Onlyanin-depthunderstandingoflocalpeculiarities—enhancedbydevelopingarobuststakeholderengagementplan—willensureFLMsarebroughtintotheprojectearly.

OtherCRM/FLMFactors

InJapan,youmustbylawsubmitmedicalrepcallreportswithin48hoursofthecallstoregulators.ArobustCRMsolutionwillhelpensurethisobligationismet.ItcanalsobeusedasasellingpointforFLMs:thereisnoneedforthemtowastetimecreatingadditional

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documentation.Thatbuy-infactorandothersdescribedhereshouldbefoldedintoyourCRMimplementationcommunicationplan.

InFranceandGermany,workcouncilsneedtoapproveanychangesorupgradesmadetotheCRM.Typically,thereisatleastoneFLMonaworkercouncil.Nothavingthisimportantstakeholderonboardcandelaythewholeprojectbymonths.IntheCzechRepublic,allfieldsshouldbemonitoredforcompliancereasons.ImplementingaCRMsolutionthatwillautomatetextfieldvalidationwillgreatlyhelpFLMssincetheyareinchargeofscrutinizingallcallreportsfromtheirsalesteam.Again,startingengagementwiththesevaluepropositionswillgreatlyincreasebuy-in.

Othercountry-specificconstraintsinclude:strictcomplianceregulationsandaggregatespendreportingasstatedintheFrenchSunshineAct.ForapharmacompanyplanningaglobalCRMrollout,anexperiencedimplementationpartner,whohasbeenengagedinseveralmulti-nationalimplementationsbefore,canhelpavoidmajorrisksandbeanexcellentsourceofknowledge.

So,citingthewordsofUrsulaK.LeGuin,here’smyfinaltake-homemessageandadvicetoyou:“Itisgoodtohaveanendtojourneytoward,butitisthejourneythatmattersintheend.”

WorkingonFLMengagementdoesnotendwiththeimplementationofaCRM.Quitetheopposite:itisanongoingeffort,butonethatpaysoffimmensely.ButyoumustgettheFLMsonboard.TheywillbeyourstrongestsupportersineveryCRMproject.

WrittenbyPrzemyslawKuznicki

TAGS:LifeSciences,CRM,CommercialExcellence

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pharma crm - critical role of flms

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