Pushing the boundaries of communication in pharma

Shailesh Dudani, Chief Sales Officer, Flock, an enterprise messaging app for teams gives an insight on how pharma companies can adopt better technology to change the way they communicate

As global markets begin to evolve, mediums of communication and collaboration are also evolving at a steady pace. Statistics prove that the Indian pharma industry ranks third in terms of volume, globally. And herein lies an incredible opportunity for pharma companies to adopt better technology to change the way they work and communicate.

It is no longer viable for companies to rely solely on face to face conversations, or to invest their time in lengthy phone calls during work hours. More often than not, emails are not an ideal fit for addressing time sensitive issues. As ‘instant’ is the new norm and everything happens on-the-fly, pharma and healthcare industries are also moving to smarter communication methods. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and adopt collaboration mechanisms that accomplish tasks faster and with  more efficiency.

For an industry that is so immensely indispensable, here are a few tips they could use while adopting better communication methods:

Team communication and collaboration

While addressing the exigent demands of the pharma industry, it is possible that more redundant methods of communication might slip through the cracks. The medical demands of this set of businesses need immediate attention and action. The demand and supply chain of these companies are more ad hoc than other industries, and hence need real time attention. Therefore, team messaging apps serve as a one stop solution that serves the ad hoc needs of this industry. With everyone available on the go on a single platform, all stakeholders are always kept on the same page.

Addressing research and development needs

To sustain in a digital world, the R&D department in a pharma company needs to aim for seamless processes, real time communication and transparency. It is vital for the key members from sales and operations to be aware about drug development pipelines and clinical-trials. Most of the R&D documents are highly confidential, and security is of highest concern for pharma companies. What makes enterprise collaboration tools highly suitable for critical file sharing is that most of the industry players like Teamchat and Flock follow the highest security and encryption standards in the industry today. For instance, Flock has industry standard TLS 1.2 data encryption, and is hosted on secured AWS data centres. If required an on-premise infrastructure can be established as well.

Instant collaboration for sales teams

Medical sales representatives are often required out in the field, as they travel to speak to the key decision makers of the pharma industry. Nevertheless, they need to be in constant touch with their back end office. Hence, accessibility across platforms and on various operating systems is crucial for teams that function on-the-fly. Team messaging tools empower managers to get immediate sales updates, collate timely data and make instantaneous decisions. Endless threads of emails with subject lines like ‘Urgent: Please respond ASAP’, or morning team meetings no longer make the cut. Enterprise communication apps are also beneficial for sales representatives, as unified collaboration and communication apps enable them to be better informed and connected. It also helps them to coordinate with their peers and managers for quick resolutions. Since, in sales it is all about achieving targets, it is highly imperative that the entire team remains unified to take faster decisions.

Staying connected with key stakeholders

Pharma companies are often known to control both creation and propagation of product related information. However, it is important that they adopt capabilities to track progress and performance of drugs. Being connected with important stakeholders like medical specialists or even healthcare centres will enable them to react to issues and avoid misinterpretations of data.

With a plethora of communication options for corporates to adopt, they’re basically spoilt for choice. Skype for business, Team Chat, Hipchat and Flock are just a few of these big names. Flock, an Indian team communication platform, is enriched with amazing features such as video conferencing, to-dos, reminders and screen sharing. Companies across industries are adopting Flock to revolutionise their professional collaboration needs.

1mg (previously known as Healthkart), the e-pharmacy marketplace is one such known name in the industry that has adopted Flock. “I’m one of the power users of Flock here at 1mg. Flock is convenient and real time and is making communication seamless and easy. My entire team today is on Flock,” says Prashant Tandon, CEO and Co-founder of 1mg. Flock also caters to the team collaboration needs of Ziggy and Universal Medicare, in this industry.

Considering the rate at which the business world is adopting apps for their needs, it is only a matter of time before enterprise messaging apps become indispensable for pharma and healthcare companies.