Engaging your representatives in the development of the business case to implement Rep Triggered Emails, [RTE] or as sometimes referred to as ‘Approved Emails’, and ensuring there is a sound value proposition, alleviates any fear of failure of adding this channel to the existing representative tool kit.
Make it a ‘no brainer’ for representatives to participate and HCPs to opt-in.
We will share a recent implementation case study to demonstrate the difference between a customer-centric and a company-centric implementation. As you will see, one of these methods had more success than the other.
The Importance of the Value Proposition
In a first pilot of Rep Triggered eMails, this company ran an e-consent campaign, with the objective to secure as many HCP email addresses and consent to email as possible. The incentive for the representative was a cash bonus. An incentive for the HCP to provide consent was overlooked. The results were less than expected, with representatives first motivated to achieve the objective but eventually losing all confidence in the campaign.
In this second pilot, the pharma company chose Rep Triggered eMails to follow-up on an educational meeting. During the meeting, the company solicited indications of customer interest in similar events and online educational programs. Participation in such programs would contribute to the annual Continuous Medical Education [CME] points.
Key reasons the second pilot had a high potential for success:
Cross-Functional Teamwork
Three small cross-functional teams were formed, agreeing to meet at regular intervals:
The team made a strong recommendation is to keep their first email template and the potential flexible components simple, referred to as ‘low design’. They just included mandatory information, and only the company brand, meaning no product branding.
Transparency & Confidence
A key learning shared from the case study, was the need for the representatives to be confident they understand how the process worked and to be able to answer any questions from the HCPs to alleviate any fears of spam, difficulties of opting out, or misuse of their personal details.
The pilot included a test account in the CRM for the representatives to play with and send emails to, to opt-in and opt-out, and to know exactly what the HCP would receive. An opt-out option was not only required by local law but was key to gaining the representative and HCP confidence that this was truly customer-centric.
A second key learning shared was when implementing this channel, to provide a call flow script for the representatives – or rather, several call flow options, for gaining e-consent from the HCPs.
Other takeaways from the representatives involved in the pilot were distinct between 2 user groups:
The result of the pilot was a 65% eMail open rate!
Key learnings from the pilot will inform the development of a full enterprise operational model. The local customer journey will be expanded to include additional touch points and the Representatives will be empowered to follow up directly via their CRM, to help close the loop.
Potential RTE opportunities can include, but are not limited to:
If you want to know more about implementing RTE, contact Actando for an initial discussion.
Article Contributor: Melanie Brown, Managing Partner
If you are interested in our mobile learning solutions on digital channels, contact Actando.
The Actando Consulting Team