Our client historically relied on regular in-person meetings with HCPs to share information about the value of their treatment, including clinical and supportive data.

With the pandemic, their sales force was unable to meet in-person and emails were blocked. Yet the highly competitive treatment space that they operated in required continued engagement.

Access to HCPs had already become increasingly complex and difficult for sales and marketing professionals. Then the pandemic brought restrictions that abruptly eliminated nearly all in-person access to HCPs.

• The life sciences industry responded en masse by rapidly switching to digital channels, primarily virtual meetings and emails
• This in turn caused a sharp increase in communications that flooded inboxes, and HCPs and healthcare institutions responded by blocking access to email systems
• A new sales engagement model was crucial to address these challenges

ENTRADA applied our design thinking methodologies to the challenge. By fusing together our deep-seated expertise in marketing and sales force effectiveness with our tech-forward innovation, we were able to identify potential opportunities to engage customers:

Sprint

Through a design thinking sprint, we determined the industry lacked a viable text-messaging solution that could support sales professionals. However, the life sciences has a longstanding aversion to using text messaging. Concerns ranged from channel abuse and HCP consent to visibility into overall performance.

Prototype

Despite industry concerns, we began a rapid prototyping experiment. After numerous iterations, we developed a viable solution — one that eliminated the known friction points associated with this approach.

We delivered a proprietary pharma-compliant, permission-based text-messaging platform called RepReach.

We incorporated 3 important features into our platform to achieve our end goal.

1. Accommodated different user experiences

We provided 3 distinct ways to secure consent and engage customers via text messaging.

In person: Representatives who are having an in-person call can get the HCP signature right on the rep’s device

Virtual: Representatives who are having an online call can get the HCP signature through a QR code and user validation loop

Phone: Representatives who are engaging with an HCP on the phone can get the HCP consent through a text message request and validation loop

2. Delivered effective “in the moment” content

We eased the burden of sales professionals by allowing them to easily select a resource that will best enhance their call. In this instance, we integrated directly with Veeva to make this seamless for the user. This capability provided the user with the reassurance that the HCP, who requested the information, was able to access the materials while it was still top of mind.

3. Used real-time tracking to gauge impact

Through the platform and its sophisticated analytics portal, the client was able to track HCP engagement, sales professional activity, and consent management in a “real-time” manner. HCP content consumption is especially important in evaluating the effectiveness of the assets being deployed. Even more critically, it affords marketers the ability to rethink their content strategy for the Brand and this channel.

As a result, RepReach gives sales professionals the ability to easily send a text message that immediately shares access to pre-approved digital brand assets such as podcasts, clinical data, invitations to exclusive events, brand support materials, and access to patient tools.

RepReach created real-time customer engagement for our client’s digitally enabled reps:

• 99% Open/Delivery Rate
• 80% of resources sent were opened by HCPs
• >74% Click-through Rate (CTR)
• >55% of Reps consistently use RepReach

Sales rep feedback was resoundingly positive:

“This is such a GREAT resource! Love the immediate customized follow-up to a conversation.”