Optimize Performance with an Integrated Strategy
In an evolving healthcare landscape, guaranteeing quality and compliant content can be challenging as there are more and more channels for information sharing. Consider how long a list of these channels might be for a life sciences company—now consider how important it is to maintain every one of those channels for regulatory purposes.
Improved patient outcomes are of the utmost priority for any life sciences company, and while the productivity an organization will gain from prioritizing sales enablement will undoubtedly have an impact on the bottom line, it ultimately impacts so much more.
In this market, a sale is more than just a sale—it’s enhancing, and in some cases saving, people’s lives.
While a life sciences company may be on the same page regarding a focus on patient-centricity, how do they get everyone on the same page with sales enablement?
Integrated Delivery is Key
Nothing shouts “red flag” to Sales than the perception that sales enablement is something Marketing is forcing on them. After all, the disconnect between Marketing and Sales is nothing new.
Imagine a life sciences company as its own Integrated Delivery Network—different sectors may have different responsibilities and objectives, yet at the end of the day they align to work toward the same common goal. A sales enablement strategy should be just as aligned with a cross-functional, collaborative approach to ensure seamless distribution of compliant content to the right person, at the right time.
A team approach to sales enablement will not only bring Sales, Marketing and the C-Suite to the same table, but will require input from the entire organization, especially from IT and Compliance. What’s important to one department will differ from another, therefore, it’s best to make sure all pertinent parties are fairly represented.
An Efficient Solution for an Efficient Industry
With many of the aforementioned departments serving as the face of an organization, delivering a consistent experience across the entire buyer’s journey is crucial to creating long-lasting, delighted customers. The need for such consistency, however, can be challenging for Sales and Marketing.
Preparing the perfect content for each demo or conversation is no easy feat when there are numerous product lines, regions, and pieces of collateral. With a sales enablement platform, value surfaces from the moment Marketing begins creating or updating content; by:
Improving Sales access to content, thus reducing search time and increasing win rates.
Creating a seamless distribution to Sales with content that can be accessed from any mobile device, at any time.
Ensuring that every interaction with hospitals, healthcare providers, and consumers is personalized to engage more intelligently.
Leveraging analytics to understand how content is truly being used to help refine an organization’s message in order to create more hyper-relevant, on-brand messaging.
Sales enablement can ultimately help life sciences companies, large and small, accomplish revenue goals, increase efficiency, and do more with less, all while meeting regulatory requirements.
4 Steps for Sales Enablement Success
Before implementing a sales enablement solution within a life sciences company, there are a few things to consider for a successful deployment:
1. Have a Conversation
Marketing is at the center of the communications hub between all key stakeholders. It drives the content development process and has insight into the 30,000 ft. view of content generation and demand that no other department has. Taking all the players and factors into account, Marketing should start the conversation.
2. Solicit Stakeholder Input from the Beginning
A sales enablement implementation at this scale typically touches the entire commercial enterprise. It involves a variety of constituents with their own responsibilities and objectives. Get the right people in the room and ask a lot of questions. Make sure all relevant parties are consulted upfront to curb avoidable headaches down the line.
3. Implement Pilot Programs
As the adage states: fail to plan, plan to fail. Without an organized process or the ability to show proof of concept with a sales enablement solution, what’s the point? Pilot programs will limit the scope, thereby limiting potential failure. Stakeholders will be able to evaluate the solution’s benefits in real time and ask questions as implementation is further rolled out. Small victories work wonders in bringing other parts of the organization along.
4. Roll Out the Implementation in Stages
Remember being a kid and having no fear—diving into the pool without testing the water’s temperature first? If a large-scale implementation were to work in the same manner, disaster would surely ensue. By rolling out the sales enablement implementation in stages, a life sciences company will be able to manage risk, validate the promised benefits, and evangelize change as needed.
Taking the time to understand the best methods for implementing an effective sales enablement solution will surely reap its rewards and benefits. But, by including a sales enablement strategy that has the entire organization’s buy-in, remaining at the forefront of a competitive market will never be easier.
