Call centers bring added value	February 2008

Med Ad News spoke with MaryAnn Capritti, strategic partner, Flaum Partners (flaumpartners.com), about the advantages of using call centers to more effectively reach the physician audience. Ms. Capritti was VP of cardiovascular marketing at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. before moving to Johnson & Johnson to manage primary care sales and marketing for several franchises including gastrointestinal, pain, mycology, and allergy products. Before joining as a strategic partner at Flaum Partners she worked as executive VP and managing partner for the Adient division of CommonHealth and as CEO of RSCG Life Chelsea.

Med Ad News: Are call centers an effective alternative for reaching the growing number of no-see physicians?

MaryAnn Capritti: I think they certainly are. They’re not only of value with no-sees, but with the reduction in number of reps in general, it’s a great way to augment share of voice and also to pulse your selling effort.

I think it’s important for companies to keep in mind the reason why docs are no-see in many cases to begin with. It’s not just because they have a busy schedule or because they’re in no-access facilities, but because they don’t value what the sales rep is bringing to them. So, as you look to reaching no-see docs, you also have to think about simultaneously raising the bar in terms of the types of information that you’re providing to them. Really high quality product updates, medical information, medical education. Because even if you can reach them through an alternative vehicle, you’re not going to keep their attention.

Med Ad News: In terms of adding extra value, are there any advantages to a call center rep?

MaryAnn Capritti: I think there are because in many cases it will be that they’re difficult to see. But when you do engage them, it’s not a canned detail that they’re looking for. It’s got to be a highly skilled person that’s responding to the call who really knows how to integrate a lot of the science and a lot of the more compelling medical information that’s also available to products and services that are also available and not just have the expectation that they’re going to walk them through a canned detail.

Med Ad News: Could telesales be added to an e-detail to add some extra value as well?

MaryAnn Capritti: I think that that’s an area where there’s a lot of success happening, and that way not only are you providing the e-detail, but you’re providing all the other range of products and services that you have to offer these customers. Some of the video e-detailing that’s going on allows particularly higher flexibility in terms of what you’re communicating while you’re engaged with the doctor.

Med Ad News: How can doctors be drawn in to use the call center?

MaryAnn Capritti: There’s the typical ways of reaching them, in terms of any non-promotional ways where you can make the service known to them, in the case where it’s a scheduling issue and they just can’t get access during the day. But there are also opportunities to intercept physicians when they’re visiting other medically oriented Websites. And there are companies like Aptilon. They provide access to, they partner with a network of Websites where physicians are already visiting them seeking other medical related content, so that’s a great way to engage them with your brand. And they’ve had tremendous success. Especially with launch brands or brands where there’s some type of new medical information to get those docs to call and schedule some time with the call center.

Med Ad News: How can they effectively integrate their call efforts with the field force?

MaryAnn Capritti: I think this is the most critical issue and the highest priority when you go this route because you’re looking to build relationships, not switch them out. And there can be docs who are getting called on by reps who are also calling in and gaining contact with the company this way. So, ideally there should be an IT infrastructure in place that allows for data input no matter where the customer is having contact with the company and sharing of that data back so that you’re constantly building a database that’s increasing your customer knowledge base and that people can tap into. It’s also critically important because it’s a great lead generator.

The only way I’ve ever seen it done effectively is when there’s an IT infrastructure in place that allows for that level of sharing.

The other critical point here where there’s so much fragmentation in the promotional efforts going on, the No. 1 priority is providing an integrated brand experience. This is another way where you can create a disconnect, if you don’t have a system that’s allowing for that sharing. A real disruption in the brand experience.

Med Ad News: You want to avoid duplicating efforts and mixed messages.

MaryAnn Capritti: Exactly, and it can happen very easily. You’ve seen companies spend a lot of money on multiple vehicles and just get fragmentation that ultimately destroys a brand. So, it’s not just a matter of touch points, it’s a matter of building on a common message and theme. From that perspective, the sales force still should be the primary source of contact in most cases. They’re the most expensive point of contact, so it’s critical they have access to the information that’s being collected.

Med Ad News: Is specialized training required for call center reps?

MaryAnn Capritti: I think there’s a common core skill set in terms of training skills or product knowledge, but obviously there’s no visual cues for the reps to feed off of, so there is a different skill set in terms of managing it just verbally. So, the whole skill set about telephone interviews or engagement, usually that’s totally absent in any pharmaceutical sales training initiative. But then also, to make the centers cost effective, you can leverage what these reps are doing across other company needs. Like for training purposes to be a resource for reps in the field to have access to different types of information. Maybe to help field the calls that come in that could be viable for clinical trial information or other places of sending company information that helps to amortize your investment.

Med Ad News: Do you think this will be a growing trend in general?

MaryAnn Capritti: I really do. I think it’s interesting that the companies you see doing it the most are Merck and Pfizer, and it’s partly that they have the money to invest in the infrastructure, but the smaller company can gain such leverage from it where they might not otherwise have the scale to be competitive. I think it has broad application in companies that are not utilizing it yet.

Every single company we work with has the exact same issue. What can we add to our promotional planning to compensate for the fact that we have less reps? It’s the same question everywhere. And when it gets right down to it, there are not that many creative options. How many times are you going to put direct mail or these kinds of things down on a tactical plan? And most of the non-personal things don’t even work if you don’t have rep time anyway. So, it gets to be a very short list of incremental tools that you have access to when you’re losing share of voice. And because most, 80%, of docs are online now, they’re using it to seek medical information, they continue to consider it to be a valuable tool for their practice. That changes everything. Especially the call centers incorporating the e-detailing, where they’re online together but also connected by phone. That, I think, is another thing that makes this all the more viable because it’s so much more interactive than it was in the past.

I really do think that it’s under recognized as an opportunity. And the infrastructure hurdles are getting lower and lower, as they usually do with technology. And also, from a political perspective, when pharma gets hit with the size of their sales force, it kind of works politically, too, because it is physicians seeking information. It’s not just about the detail. You can offer them access to med ed, samples, patient tools, so many other things. There’s something that works politically about it.