Getting ROI
from CRM
Continued
A Healthy View
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Schering AG, Germany, is one such example. The pharmaceutical company has more than 250 outside salespeople who visit medical offices and another 100 Siebel CRM users in-house. Salespeople spend their days interacting with and contacting doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. But time is always an issue; the average rep is lucky if he or she gets five minutes for each meeting with a healthcare professional. During that time, they need to talk about the pharmaceuticals they're currently promoting and gain permission to leave samples behind. They also need to make note of any questions or issues their customers may have so they can follow up during the month.
Several years ago, Bayer HealthCare representatives had access to customer data, but they couldn't easily merge it with industry data and they had no easy way to see exactly how many times they met with their key doctors. But when the company upgraded from Siebel CRM 6 to Siebel CRM 8, things changed. "We began to see real ROI from CRM," says Alexei Marcilio, Bayer HealthCare's manager of CRM.
"We have an integrated way in which sales reps can see who their targets are, how many calls they've made against those targets this year, and how they can maximize that interaction," he explains. "We have a view in Siebel that lists the people we call key opinion leaders. Our medical group uses this view so we can target the right people. And we have modified our analysis views, which show IMS [IMS Health, Inc.] sales and prescription data at various levels so salespeople see only the data that is relevant to them."
So what does this mean? Everything is online and accessible quickly, and Bayer HealthCare has also integrated industry data right into the CRM system. Now reps are able to see how many prescriptions of their drugs were prescribed by a healthcare provider in the previous months as well as how many prescriptions for competitor drugs that provider wrote, says Marcilio.
"Because now they can download that data and have that data available to them, it makes the interaction with the doctor more meaningful," he emphasizes. "That and the fact that certain business groups can now profile doctors right in Siebel and that information is available to home office users so they can use it to make sure that our sales representatives are seeing the right doctors."
This type of customer service is what's going to set companies apart from their competition, says Don Tyler, senior director of product marketing, Oracle. "The way we see it is that in most instances, especially in regulated industries, companies can't compete on price anymore," he explains. "Look at the cell phone market. Sprint and Verizon and AT&T all have similar plans and similar phones. They would be slitting their own throats if they tried to have a price war. So if you can't innovate on price or product, the only way you can compete is on the customer relationship."
And even this is a major sea change. Previously, it was all about customer service. But while customer service is still an important and relevant focus, the total relationship becomes even more important, as does having technologies and processes in place that support and empower this burgeoning ideal.
Business processes can change with greater ease and speed when CRM is there to support it. This, in turn, can lead to better productivity, increased revenue, and a better understanding of the needs and behaviors of the customer. "CRM is enabling us to be more proactive," agrees Pombriant. "CRM is changing the landscape again."
For More Information
Web 2.0 Powers CRM for Sales
Oracle Customer Relationship Management
Karen J. Bannan is a business and technology writer based in New York.
