Traditional field force alignments can be complex, highly manual, and rigid, putting your field team at a disadvantage. Whether due to inflexible annual planning cycles and point-in-time data, vendor-created silos or cookie-cutter plans, finding ways to streamline the process is crucial—especially when considering 50% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) limit access to three or fewer companies.
An agile approach to field force planning can transform alignments from a major hassle to a competitive differentiator. Whether you keep things in-house or engage with a trusted partner, here are three ways to improve field outcomes.
1. Focus on the right targets with precision
Understanding, at scale, whether target HCPs are reachable or not is a fundamental component of field force planning. However, as more novel therapies address the needs of smaller and smaller patient populations, precision targeting is increasingly critical.
Keeping target lists small and specific can help your reps reach the right customers faster. Large target lists, on the other hand, may contain a high number of low-value targets or worse, incorrect targets. It’s important to further refine target lists with insights from your field team.
Many organizations are already doing this; recently, a top 10 global biopharma was able to eliminate 90% of its targets by incorporating feedback from the field into customer data. After reducing the size of their engagement plans, field teams were able to focus on the HCPs with the greatest potential and reduce alignment planning time by nearly 70%.
2. Leverage technology to speed execution
While traditional alignments can be resource-intensive and slow-moving, biopharmas armed with dynamic data and the right tools can quickly adjust to market fluctuations and evolving HCP engagement preferences.
Here are a few technical considerations to make sure your alignments are agile enough to keep up:
- Ingest and utilize a wide variety of data sources. Outdated or incomplete prescriber data will do more harm than good, so ensure your data is comprehensive, up-to-date, and accurate. Use caution if outsourcing this process, it will likely take longer to make changes and the data will be less specific to your business.
- Consider both customer preferences and your field team’s strengths. An HCP who prefers to engage via digital channels should be assigned a rep who is experienced and effective in communicating that way. Digitally enabled reps can enhance the HCP experience remotely with technological abilities such as personalized emails, compliant chat, and relevant content. Targeting is not only about knowing the customer and adapting to their preferences but also about precisely allocating resources.
- Harness the knowledge of your field team. Even the best plans can’t replace your reps’ intimate knowledge of their customer’s preferences, needs, and behaviors. Make sure that your CRM solution can account for real-time field feedback so you can adjust alignments when the plan doesn’t match the reality on the ground.
3. Gain an edge with integrated software and data
Consistent, accurate, and actionable data is the foundation of your customer engagement strategy. Without the latest and greatest data in your CRM, field planning can be hampered by siloed or outdated information. Outsourcing your alignments can create added complexity. They also need to be working from the most recent data sets and keep up with time-sensitive demands as new data emerges.
Whether you are outsourcing or completing alignments in-house, the safest and most effective approach is to make sure your alignment solution is integrated with your CRM. This enables a number of benefits, including:
- Automation of low-value, monotonous tasks. Pre-built connectors can reduce manual handoffs between the two systems, allowing field teams to focus on more strategic and high-value activities.
- Adaptive and unique cycle plans. When emerging CRM data is integrated with your alignment solution, re-alignments happen faster, and engagement can be more personalized.
- Increased collaboration and visibility. Solutions designed to work together ensure your teams are working from the same data and can share insights seamlessly.
CRM integration ensures that your alignments are working off the latest information, from critical insights about HCP interactions to changes in territory alignments. This allows you to leverage your unique data to gain a competitive advantage. And it gives your team the right engagement strategy to build successful customer relationships.
Does your field planning process need fine-tuning? Find out how an agile field force alignment solution can help.