As innovation explodes across the life sciences industry \u2013 from drug development to technology adoption \u2013 it has also created problems. Huge volumes of fragmented data. Information overload. Disconnected tech, and disconnected relationships. Who could blame field teams for finding it difficult to deliver an excellent customer experience, or even a coordinated one? Old ways of working just don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
Astellas is bringing a new way of thinking to this challenge. By connecting Veeva Link Key People<\/a> and Link Workflow<\/a> with Veeva CRM<\/a>, the company is finding innovative ways to streamline expert engagement across the global enterprise.<\/p>\n I recently sat down with Rishi Ohri, senior director of digital excellence, medical affairs, at Astellas, to talk about his company\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n Isabella Kredlow:<\/strong> What are the historical challenges to expert engagement? And what\u2019s the vision for improving it?<\/p>\n Rishi Ohri:<\/strong> The traditional approach to expert engagement was very fragmented. We used a wide range of different solutions across different teams and different therapeutic areas to plan and engage with experts. Getting all of the pieces of the puzzle into one place is very important to us.<\/p>\n We have consolidated technology and created a single source of truth for expert engagement across the organization, improving efficiency and standardizing our approach. This helps us show up to the customer as one Astellas, with a coordinated strategy that puts the customer first.<\/p>\n Then, we need to make sure the internal and external data architecture can work together to help us understand who we\u2019re meeting with, what interactions we are having, and what impact it\u2019s having on the customer. That\u2019s the vision.<\/p>\n IK:<\/strong> What were the key criteria for solving this challenge?<\/p>\n RO:<\/strong> In addition to a single source of truth across the entire company and across the entire customer journey, we needed a seamless and streamlined solution. We wanted it to be easy to use. And we wanted something innovative that gave us a foundation to build on \u2013 incorporating social listening into our analytics<\/a> is a good example of this.<\/p>\n Lastly, but importantly, we didn\u2019t want our users going into multiple different platforms to find all the information on the HCP that they\u2019re going to visit, we wanted that information to be streamlined together in our CRM.<\/p>\n IK:<\/strong> Once you established your vision, what steps did you take to get started?<\/p>\n RO:<\/strong> A cross-functional approach was key. First, we needed awareness of the tools the various teams were using. Then, we had to understand all the different challenges the various teams needed to solve. Cost savings were a significant factor, as well \u2013 who wants to pay for eight different solutions when you can pay for one?<\/p>\n We brought a small team together to document and prioritize our requirements. No solution is perfect, but we thought, \u2018If we can solve 80-90% of our challenges, it\u2019s a great place to start.\u2019 And by getting rid of other point solutions, we can invest more in other digital capabilities.<\/p>\n IK:<\/strong> Where are you now on this transformation, and what kind of change management had to take place?<\/p>\n