Veeva, a cloud software company focused on pharmaceutical and life sciences industry applications, has launched a new product that it says will revolutionise how sales teams and healthcare professionals collaborate to drive better patient outcomes.
Unveiled at the Veeva European Commercial Summit, an annual life sciences event held in Madrid, the new cloud product - called CRM Engage Meeting - will "open up an important digital channel between life sciences companies and healthcare professionals without the risk".
Speaking on stage at the firm's opening keynote on Wednesday, Veeva co-founder and president, Matt Wallach, said:
"Available today, Engage Meeting is a separate device from product[s] using OEMs and technology to make it work, and [with it] we're going to make video calling or video meetings as easy as sending an email."
He continued: "It will be accessible for the physicians because it's just one app. So what I think we are going to do here is not only enable the small video-detailing team in the basement, but we are going to enable every customer-facing person and make them hybrid workers.
"Sometimes they'll be face-to-face, sometimes they'll in their car, in their office or home doing virtual meetings, and I think we can dramatically impact the efficiency and effectiveness of those teams."
According to Wallach, the launch of CRM Engage Meeting will mean the industry will have a single, integrated solution for more compliant online meetings, for the first time.
Traditionally, limitations in technology and challenges in regulations have made digital engagement in the pharmaceutical industry difficult, but the rise of digital channels is giving the industry a more convenient way to get accurate information to the right people, and create more valuable interactions. Veeva's announcements support its push into this "smart digital engagement", which the firm thinks can improve collaboration with healthcare professionals and help life sciences companies to deliver more relevant, tailored information to physicians.
The launch of the new product will also mean healthcare professionals can interact with field reps through the online channels and mobile devices, Veeva said, while at the same time, enabling companies to connect with healthcare professionals through a much more efficient and easier to use video and web conferencing for online meetings.
"It's easy for the rep to use, as it's right within Veeva CRM, it's just another button, it's going to be complaint because it uses all of your CLM content, as you don't have to create any new content and in fact, as you cant use any other content while you're in one of these sessions," added Wallach.
The Veeva CRM Engage software includes a family of products, namely: Veeva CRM Engage Meeting; Veeva CRM Engage Webinar (availability in July 2017) to simplify virtual events; and Veeva CRM Engage for Portals to provide healthcare professionals self-directed online access from any device.
As part of the announcement, Veeva also revealed some new research that it says proves customer data quality in the life sciences industry is a top priority for companies looking to drive better commercial effectiveness.
The figures, published in the Veeva 2016 European Customer Data Survey, shows that 73 percent of companies surveyed "need a complete and real-time view of the customer", while 40 percent "have the data needed to achieve it".
Respondents also cited "increased sales and marketing efficiency" and "improved analysis and decision-making" as their top needs of customer data. However, only half of those surveyed said they are currently satisfied with the quality of their data. As a result, three-quarters of respondents reported that they now have customer data quality initiatives in place or will within two years. Veeva said this is happening as their organisations try to close the gap between what is needed to operate effectively in a multichannel commercial environment and the current quality of their customer data.
"A major shift is underway as European life sciences companies focus on improving data quality and timeliness as a way to increase commercial effectiveness," explained Guillaume Roussel, director of strategy, Veeva OpenData, Europe.
"We are seeing an urgency to close the gap between how customer data is currently sourced and managed and the new business imperative for greater speed, productivity, and orchestration of customer experiences, especially across communication channels."
