The Future of Omnichannel Pharma Sales: Moving Beyond NBA to Drive HCP Engagement

Imagine a life sciences team that works with great precision. A sales rep predicts healthcare providers' (HCPs) needs before they express them. Medical science liaisons (MSLs) deliver cutting-edge insights powered by real-time data. A key account manager (KAM) navigates complex payer discussions with flawless agility. This isn't about the future; it's an urgent need in life sciences today. Field roles are evolving beyond their traditional functions.

Physicians demand hyper-personalized engagement, moving away from conventional sales tactics toward true omnichannel excellence. The traditional next best action (NBA) approach fails in this, as it relies on static, channel-specific recommendations. It cannot adapt to real-time shifts in customer sentiment and market dynamics.

Next-generation field transformation calls for “super reps” with omnichannel skills to increase engagement, optimize resources, and share brand insights across field roles.

This article highlights the vision of the super rep—a field force stalwart that goes beyond product knowledge and anticipates field gaps. It also lays out five key themes for omnichannel integration: journey mapping, customer 360, micro-segmentation, dynamic targeting, and intelligent orchestration. True transformation isn't just about predicting what comes next. It's about orchestrating seamless, customer-centric experiences that drive impact.

Sales representatives have been the mainstay of HCP interactions, evolving through distinct eras. Sales 1.0 focused on product expertise, emphasizing features and benefits. Sales 2.0 introduced efficiency through technology and data analytics.

Now, Sales 3.0 prioritizes customer centricity. It empowers reps with practical insights to deliver tailored HCP engagement with stronger agency and accuracy in the field.

For example, a rep can use real-time data to customize a discussion on a new therapy based on an HCP's patient demographics. These super reps leverage AI-driven insights and effective field coordination to develop more personalized relationships, driving omnichannel sales uplift and lasting brand loyalty. However, transitioning to this model presents challenges, as traditional NBA models lack informed and contextual insights needed for true field transformation.

Despite extensive omnichannel investments, life sciences companies have struggled to drive meaningful engagement. The traditional NBA approach is limited, mainly focusing on channel- and content-driven suggestions (based on past interactions) that were modelled predictively. For a super rep transition, NBA's shortcomings are glaring.

• Limited Role Integration: NBA might suggest a rep discuss a drug's efficacy but fail to incorporate an MSL's clinical insights or a KAM's account negotiations.
• Generic Personalization: NBA struggles to tailor recommendations for HCPs with varying specialties or practice settings, reducing engagement effectiveness.
• Lack of Real-Time Coordination: NBA cannot share data across sales, medical, and service channels instantly, missing opportunities for cohesive strategies.

As shown in Table 1 below, an integrated omnichannel approach overcomes these challenges by synthesizing real-time data, personalizing interactions, and aligning field roles for maximum impact.

Table 1: Traditional NBA versus an Integrated Omnichannel Approach

Every interaction, whether a rep visit, webinar, or payer discussion, should connect to the last one in real time. But how do commercial leaders transition from the reliance on rigid NBA rules that delay real-time decisions and prevent true omnichannel integration?

The future of engagement lies in orchestrating Next Best Experiences (NBEs) across every touchpoint, for every stakeholder, in real time. Five key themes will help the Home Office drive a modern, integrated, and customer-focused approach.

1. Journey Mapping:

Convert fragmented touchpoints into cohesive customer stories. Creating this unified narrative of HCP interactions ensures each engagement builds on the last. For example, a rep's in-person visit can align with a recent webinar an HCP attended.

2. Customer 360:

Have a unified view of customer personas to act on live insights. Maintain a comprehensive view of HCP preferences and behaviors to deliver immediate, relevant insights. For instance, knowing an HCP's preferred communication channel informs outreach.

3. Micro-Segmentation:

Map changes across dynamic operations with optimal segmentation. Group HCPs by specific traits, like specialty or patient demographics, to tailor strategies dynamically. This ensures relevant messaging for urban vs. rural practitioners.

4. Dynamic Targeting:

Deploy AI to identify high-value opportunities for prioritized outreach, such as oncologists prescribing a new therapy.

5. Intelligent Orchestration:

Seamlessly align field teams, marketing, and digital channels. For example, a rep's call plan integrates with a KAM's payer strategy for cohesive engagement.

Super reps are more than sales professionals. They need to have the necessary tools to leverage data and insights to make the most of every HCP interaction. And the reps need those tools all in one place.

Enter Axtria's integrated AI Platform. Comprising Axtria CustomerIQ™, Axtria MarketingIQ™, Axtria SalesIQ™, and Field Intelligence, this powerful platform emboldens super reps. Field teams gain access to omnichannel intelligence, AI-driven NBEs, and seamless teamwork, leveraging unique features across each of our field-focused applications.

• AI-Powered Omnichannel Personalization: Axtria CustomerIQ™ ensures reps receive AI-driven Next Best Experiences rather than silo-channel recommendations:
  • Seamless sales and digital alignment: Reps get AI insights on HCP preferences, engagement, and content interests tweaked for their micro-audiences.
  • Dynamic engagement scoring and prioritization: AI-driven scoring ranks HCPs and non-personal promotion (NPP) channels. This helps target effectively and ensures impactful engagement.
  • Rep explainability for field confidence: AI-powered suggestion explainability enhances rep trust in NBEs, making AI-driven guidance actionable and effective.
    
• Intelligent Campaigns Driving Field Execution: Axtria MarketingIQ™ optimizes every field action using integrated budget and impact inputs across campaigns:
  • Integrated Planning: Breaks down call plans into shorter cycles (monthly plans). This helps make quick adjustments based on emerging insights and local changes.
  • Optimized Budgeting: AI analyzes campaign impact online and offline, ensuring optimal budget and field channel allocation for the highest dollar returns.
  • Unified Measurements: Axtria MarketingIQ™ combines long-term market mix modeling with short-term attribution modeling. This approach helps optimize and integrate call and campaign measurement for future actions.
    
• Field Optimization and Sales Enablement: Axtria SalesIQ™ boosts rep performance by optimizing incentive compensation, setting quotas, and aligning territories:
  • AI-Driven Incentive Compensation (IC) Planning: Automated incentive plans keep reps motivated to take the right actions.
  • Territory Optimization and Workload Balancing: AI helps design territories and adjust call plans. This way, reps can engage more with HCPs effectively.
  • Sales Performance Analytics and Coaching: Sales leaders can review rep performance in real time. This helps them coach better and improve execution.
    
• Optimized Rep Execution: The Axtria SalesIQ™ Field Intelligence module offers real-time, AI-driven analytics for reps to gain actionable insights during customer engagement:
  • Pre-Call Planning with Conversational AI: Reps can query "Which personas and targets should I prioritize today?" to receive instant, data-driven recommendations.
  • Dynamic Field Insights and Performance Tracking: Reps receive real-time feedback on engagement effectiveness for continuous improvement.
  • Omnichannel Coordination for Reps and KAMs: Reps can align their efforts with key account managers for a unified HCP engagement strategy.
    

The life sciences industry is at an inflection point. Physicians demand hyper-relevance, payers require real-time access insights, and patients expect seamless support. Here's what leading organizations are doing right now to address this shift:

• Move from standalone NBAs to integrated omnichannel experiences: NBA is reactive, providing generic next-step prompts. An integrated omnichannel platform helps field teams be proactive, deploying AI-driven insights to create personalized engagements.
• Integrate functional silos with commercially coupled omnichannel: Traditional NBA can't sync field roles or leverage cross-channel insights. Unified platforms help align reps, MSLs, and KAMs with real-time customer intelligence.
• Persona-led targeting over generic engagement: NBA applies one-size-fits-all approaches. Help your field teams use dynamic micro-segmentation. This lets them customize strategies based on HCP specialty, practice setting, and preferences.
• Real-time agility versus static playbooks: Passive suggestions rely on historical patterns, missing sudden market shifts. True omnichannel uses AI to adjust messaging and channels based on real-time market changes.
• Closed-loop measurement drives continuous optimization: NBA lacks performance feedback mechanisms. Integrated omnichannel helps field teams use real-time engagement analytics to improve tactics, reallocate resources, and demonstrate results.

The future of life sciences needs insight-led, AI-driven action. Axtria's unified commercial intelligence platform is at the forefront. Axtria's AI-powered ecosystem boosts rep productivity and increases HCP engagement through predictive analytics, omnichannel coordination, and smooth data integration.

Are your reps truly armed to become super reps? Is your omnichannel strategy holding them back? For more, read our Omnichannel Engagement whitepaper or reach out to our experts to design a pilot program that elevates your NBA field operations into a next-generation, AI insights integration.

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