Pharma needs to harness the power of social media to help their sales reps best meet the needs of their customers. The behavioral shift needs to be a perfect blend of old-school selling and social media listening opportunities. Social media listening is today an integral part of the sales process.
Why should pharma sales reps listen to what their physicians are saying online?
- Online conversations are very useful to understand the needs and concerns of physicians and healthcare professionals
- It helps sales direct marketing efforts towards meeting those needs
- It can help to generate new leads and allow to build deeper relationships with existing ones
Why it is important for sales and marketing to coordinate social media strategy?
- Allows for correct and consistent messaging & branding
- Allows to fine tune or refine strategy
- Allows to keep your message content consistent
- Allows for coordinated effort of the shared customer
Should a pharma sales rep be notified when their lead mentions the company or keywords on social media?
- Yes, a cross-functional social media team needs to be in place that works together and coordinates with sales, marketing, and other departments
- Also, pharma should have in place a social media policy and which defines the rules and regulations and process of notification of mentions
How can marketing help flag sales team to important posts or comments?
- There should be process in place for rapid response and communication
- Outline and plan how your company plans to respond to negative comments or adverse events and respond to criticism
Who is primarily responsible for answering on social media? Or should sales reps respond, comment?
- An organization’s best advocate is its employee – employee advocacy
- Make sure you have clear guidelines, process & policy in place how to respond
- To help sales reps and other employees, have approved content, links, content ready for sharing
- Also, sales reps, as well as all employees, should be trained in social media platforms
