I need to qualify this before I get everyone too excited. This technology is called text analytics, and I have not seen it used before in the pharma industry. So this blog falls short of an experienced recommendation. However, I have seen its application in other industries, and I have dedicated this post to the possibilities, benefits, and risks of applying text analytics in our industry.

First, a simple overview of how text analytics works:

1. Dialogue from agent-customer conversations in the call center are converted to text using recording and translation technology like Angel.com.
2. The text is fed into a text analyzer program like Clarabridge that has been tuned for the pharma industry, so that phrases like “rash is spreading” can be differentiated from “rash is clearing.”
3. Text from other internal (email, surveys, chat) and external (twitter, facebook, blog posts) sources are added to provide more robust data.
4. Dashboard reports, with drill downs to the original source, are delivered online in real-time or in batches.

What are the possibilities

When pharma companies can more quickly identify trends from both written and verbal interactions regarding product inquiries, adverse events, quality complaints, patient engagement, physician behavior, therapy adherence, etc., then companies can take quicker action to resolve problems and better serve customers. Quicker action on good data generates better results.

There are a couple of strong reasons why this technology would be the most beneficial when deployed within the medical information call center:

1. The agent-customer dialogue in the med info call center is the most content rich of any interaction across the pharma company.
2. Medical information organizations have worked tirelessly to find ways to demonstrate the tremendous value the call center brings to the organization and text analytics can be a way to let the previously lost agent-customer dialgoue speak for itself.

What risks should be considered

1. Although the dashboard reports are de-identified, special attention will need to be taken on drill downs and source reports to ensure patient privacy is not compromised.
2. The dashboards will provide an aggregated view of adverse events, product quality complaints, and other insights.  However, this tool is not a replacement for live capture of complete adverse event and product quality complaint reports.
3. There are very few, if any, installations of text analytics in the bio-pharma area. The pharma innovators in this area will take on the additional costs and unforeseen risks of going first, building a template, and likely will endure a few setbacks.

What’s the cost

The licensing and implementation cost for this technology is in the low to mid six figures. That’s not an inexpensive investment for any one brand or call center, but when deployed across therapeutic areas and data sources, the business case becomes more appealing.

I will keep an eye on this technology to see how quickly it makes inroads in pharma. I am very interested to hear comments about how text analytics has been or could be used in your company. Please comment on our blog, call me at 317-797-2244, email me at Pete@center-first.com, or send me a direct message on Twitter @centerfirst.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

At the end of last year, CenterFirst focused our predictions on what we felt would be the top 3 cost savings projects in the bio-pharma contact center area in 2012.

Our top 3 picks for 2012 cost savings were:

1. Cross-functional consolidation. We feel pretty good about this one. Not only bio-pharma call centers, but also call center vendors have gone through a good bit of consolidation (AmerisourceBergen, owners of Lash Group, bought Theracom for $250 million) as vendors look to fuel growth and drive efficiency.

2. Intelligent IVR. Pfizer and AstraZeneca have led the way in adopting this advanced customer-focused technology. Case studies on the cost savings have been remarkably strong. Broader adoption is a sure thing!

3. Re-evaluation of agent qualifications. This trend continues to gain momentum. Placing the properly qualified person in the call center agent role is something that must be continually managed by call center leaders. For call center outsourcers, keeping your client aware of the value balance between agent continuity and the increased cost of seniority and experience is a constant challenge.

Two developing trends:

Access & Reimbursement (A & R) call center operations - Biopharma companies are starting to take a look at the rising costs of access and reimbursement services. Having an effective A & R program is critical to supporting patients, healthcare professional customers, and payers. However, as costs for these services rise, companies are looking for ways to take call center cost saving tactics (low cost providers, technology upgrades, computer telephony integration) learned in other functional areas to the A & R area.

Offshoring - Just when we thought the offshoring movement was slowing, AstraZeneca accelerates the trend by moving a significant component of their call center operations to an outsource partner in the Philippines. AZ presented the pros and cons of their offshoring program at the Drug Information Association Workshop in March 2012.  They commented that they continue to see improvements in their program. Offshoring may not be the best option for certain contacts, but call center offshoring for select services has cost savings potential that can’t be ignored.

We would love to hear your thoughts on our 2012 trends and the two new trends we see emerging. Please call me at 317-797-2244, email at pete@center-first.com, or send me a tweet @centerfirst. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter, The Monthly Caller.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Pete Guillot: What compelled you to write the book?

Richard Shapiro: I realized that “personalized” customer service had basically disappeared when the neighborhood stores were replaced by the large retail malls and e-commerce. However, I discovered that there was a certain type of service provider, who I subsequently named Welcomers, who possessed certain common traits and were great at building relationships with customers. I classified the other providers into three groups: Robots, the Indifferent and Hostiles. The purpose of the book is to change the current paradigm and get managers and owners of businesses to realize that frontline associates are key to repeat business.  Learning the traits of a Welcomer will allow any organization to find the best people to serve their customer base.

Pete Guillot: How has writing the book changed the way you view
service professionals?

Richard Shapiro: Readers of my book, including myself, will never view an encounter with a service or sales provider in the same manner. They will be able to classify every frontline associate into the four classifications I developed, almost instantly. One of the primary messages of the book is that when a consumer finds a Welcomer who appreciates the customer’s business, customers should also extend appreciation to the frontline associate. It’s a two way street.

Pete Guillot: What’s the best way to apply the lessons from the book in the pharma call center environment?

Richard Shapiro: It’s important in any industry, but especially for frontline associates in the pharmaceutical industry to hire more Welcomers and to train Robots to act and think more like Welcomers. The book outlines a process for segmenting all interactions into three components: the Greet, the Assist and the Leave-behind. Employing this methodology will ensure that healthcare professionals and patients who contact your department will realize how much your company cares about them as a person, not just a customer. Welcomers see customers as people first, customers second. Understanding this philosophy will leave the customer with a really good feeling and make the encounter extremely memorable.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Below is a template that we have successfully used at CenterFirst in partnership with several pharmaceutical customers to help develop effective contact center strategy.

The steps are relatively straightforward, and the template provides the basic questions to be answered in each step of the process. Let’s take a quick walk through the template and I will provide some short examples of the outcome from each step.

Step 1 – Analyze – Look to the market for what opportunities exist. Assess which internal capabilities you have that take advantage of these opportunities. Understand what limitations your own organization may place on your ability to take advantage of these opportunities.

Example – Physicians are spending 11 hours per week online. That is three hours more per week than just two years ago. Therefore, should our company start participating in social media engagement?

Step 2 – Decide – Based on the opportunities in the marketplace and your ability to sieze those opportunities, decide where to invest your resources. It’s equally important to decide where not to invest.

Example – We believe physicians will continue to look to the web for answers to their medical and scientific questions, and our physician customers will turn to our contact center as the most preferred source of information on the web. Therefore, we will not invest in consumer engagement via social medial channels.

Step 3 – Design – Implementing the strategy decided upon in Step 2 will require investment in capabilities. Internal organizations may need to be formed, partnerships developed, policies written, and technology updated.

Example – A cross functional team will be formed to develop our internal social media policy with specific physician engagement guidelines.

Step 4 – Act – Strategy decisions made in Step 2 and designed in Step 3 flow down to actions in the form of performance objectives, budgets, and action plans.

Example – Our physician focused point of care access application will be piloted in Q1 and rolled out with modifications in Q2.

I will admit that the examples are quite simplistic, but the process is very sound. Applying this template to even your largest strategic endeavors will help you make good decisions that lead to great strategy.

Tell me how you would improve the template or share one of your own. Please call me directly at (317-797-2244), email (pete@center-first.com), or follow on twitter @centerfirst.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Whether you have been a friend of Richard or you are just being introduced with this book, you will come away from your read knowing him a lot better; and that’s a good thing. This book is personal.  It’s about Richard and the people who have had an influence on him as he developed his expertise in customer service over that past 25+ years. Richard takes us with him as he buys flowers, groceries, clothes, and dinner. We get to meet his wife, sons, friends, and neighbors.

In his book, Richard not only shares his daily encounters with customer service professionals through a series of entertaining events, but takes time to categorize the experiences into teachable traits. Fortunately, these traits can then be recognized in the employees we hire, coach, and promote so as to grow our own businesses.

Richard takes great care in describing each category of service professional. A summary of the four categories is as follows:

• People who create experiences you love over and over again are Welcomers.
• People who create experiences you enjoy but sort of feel are scripted may be Robots.
• People who create experiences that you quickly forget about are Indifferents.
• People who create  experiences that are memorable for all the wrong reasons are Hostiles.

Pick up Richard’s book, and enjoy it cover to cover. Then, take the ideas with you to work and share them with your team. The experiences you create will be loved by your customers.

There are several wonderful reviews of Richard’s book, and I hope you will take a look at them as you make your decision about implementing his ideas. I have added links to other reviews below.

Sharon Leighton Consultancy: Are you employing Welcomers or Robots? http://bit.ly/zFYjNL

Maz Iqbal – CustomerThink http://bit.ly/xOmCnX

Melissa Kovacevic – Do you have “Welcomers”? http://bit.ly/zeJLnc

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Below are three examples of quality monitoring programs with different goals. The programs can be used independently or combined for a more comprehensive approach.  The programs reveal how having even the most experienced professional agents participate in monitoring and coaching benefits agents, the company, and customers.

Outcome #1 – Compliance – Ensuring regulatory compliance is an important baseline goal in pharma today. Compliance monitoring programs help pharma companies gather evidence that demonstrates interactions between agents and customers are being monitored for accuracy and adherence to regulations. All agents are included in compliance monitoring programs and industry standard is only one or two monitored calls per agent per month.

Outcome #2 – Value – The key to creating value from a quality monitoring program is not really the monitoring at all…it’s the coaching that comes after the monitoring. Coaching for value is especially important for HCP agents because, let’s face it, HCPs provide the highest level of value in the center by engaging with HCP customers during in-depth exchanges of medical information.

Value monitoring programs are most often 2+ calls per month per agent and may include a “mystery call” with a specific real-life scenario. Coaching should closely follow the monitoring event so as to gain the greatest benefit from the exchange. The number of monitors per month for value programs usually tapers off as agents become more experienced.

Outcome #3 – Agent Advancement – Promoting employees who have had direct contact with customers is a key responsibility of pharma contact center leaders. The executive ranks of today’s pharma companies are filled with employees who have excelled at one-to-one customer interactions.

The District Manager/Sales Rep connection in pharma represents a highly refined coach and player relationship that has resulted in an untold number of career advancements across the industry. Call center leaders enjoy the same opportunity to develop their professional agents with a structured monitoring and coaching program that will develop tomorrow’s industry leaders.

Please let me know your thoughts about our blog and how you are using monitoring programs to benefit agents, the company, and customers.  Leave a comment here, call at 317-797-2244, email to pete@center-first.com, or tweet @centerfirst.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Pete has led several successful consulting engagements at top-tier pharma, medical device, and service organizations. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and has certifications in public accounting, internal auditing, and regulatory affairs.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

A PhD candidate, he has consulted throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Australia. Cliff has developed expertise in service quality management, quality call monitoring and coaching, leadership development, and employee selection and job-matching. He’s the author of three books and numerous articles.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

While at CenterFirst, Ann led a cross-functional project team in creating and implementing an internal medical information contact center at AstraZeneca. Soon after, the center won the AZ President’s Award for achievement. Ann’s expertise in pharma contact center organizational design and implementation is unmatched in the industry.

Prior to joining CenterFirst, Ann worked as a project manager for Accenture, where she specialized in organizational design, training, and business process redesign. She has also held manager and director level positions at Astra Merck and AstraZeneca within communications, sales, and managed care promotions.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.

Besides being must-see-television, the Jeremy Lin phenomenon of the last two weeks made me wonder if call centers are the Jeremy Lin of pharma companies today. By that I mean, are pharma companies overlooking the call center as a means to increase sales, lower customer service costs, and dramatically improve the company image?

Just as Jeremy Lin was given his chance to show the world he can perform, here are three winning ways to make sure your call center doesn’t get overlooked, and how it can add to your company’s performance

1. Become the social media hub of your company.  Even though the FDA has limited its social media guidance, pharma companies continue to explore emerging channels as a means of serving customers. Train your agents on communicating effectively through social media channels, and promote your expert service to your internal customers.
2. Update your IVR. Chances are your IVR is out of date. It’s not surprising since changing the IVR used to mean hiring a voice talent, coordinating with your equipment vendor, perfecting the script, and then wondering if the new IVR was even worth all that time, money, and planing. Today’s intelligent IVRs can be updated in minutes, iterated until perfect, and measured for customer experience improvement.
3. Engage in shameless self promotion. No other place in the company knows as much about customer interactions as the call center. Get noticed for the value your center adds with a few of these ideas.

• Make a YouTube video and post it on your internal social media site
• Host an open house during the next corporate board meeting and have board members take calls with agents
• Play a recorded customer call at the next company town hall meeting
• Forward customer emails including the problems you have already solved to senior leaders
• Start a blog and ask your agents to keep it fresh with customer experience stories

While we all watch to see how long this magical run of Jeremy Lin’s lasts, get in touch with me if you have some additional ideas on making sure the pharma call center gets its playing time.

Please post your comments, email me at pete@center-first.com, call me at 317-797-2244, or follow on Twitter @centerfirst.

CenterFirst - CenterFirst provides specialized consulting, coaching and quality monitoring for bio-pharma call centers.