Think You Know Everything About CRM for Medtech? Think Again

­­The medtech industry has consistently been on the cutting edge of healthcare, deploying robotics, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to create life-saving devices. Now, more than ever, medtech companies are under pressure to find creative ways to connect and advise everyone they serve faster and more efficiently – and through multiple channels during the age of COVID-19.

The pandemic strengthened existing trends, such as the necessity for commercial teams to drive efficiency, prove device efficacy, and deliver a strong return on investment (ROI). Now they are confronting new demands to work with healthcare providers (HCPs) in a hybrid environment — part virtual, part face-to-face. Medtechs are also adopting new patient engagement models to support HCPs before, during, and after treatment. To meet the fast-changing needs and expectations, organizations need to be flexible. They also need a complete view of data, cross-team collaboration, and the right digital tools.

That’s where an integrated customer relationship management (CRM) platform comes into play. More than forecasting and managing customer contacts, a CRM platform securely connects all sources of data from existing systems to deliver a unified provider, patient, and partner experience on preferred channels. This allows medtech businesses to connect teams, integrate disparate data sources across legacy systems, and surface intelligent insights.

Let’s explore how a CRM helps medtech companies drive commercial excellence, streamline technology, deliver personalized experiences, provide value, and drive efficiency.

Selling models were changing even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the pace of change has accelerated. For example, consolidation among hospitals, already rampant, prompted many systems to adopt enterprise-wide and subscription-buying models. Purchasing decisions are moving more and more from technology committees to a handful of C-suite executives. And safety protocols mean sales reps are connecting with decision makers virtually. On top of that, tighter capital budgets mean providers expect the devices they purchase to deliver better patient outcomes at a lower cost.

To get ahead, medtech companies must have a complete view of their customers – provider systems, operations teams, distributors, internal sales and marketing teams, and patients – to better understand their needs and deliver proactive engagement and service.

A CRM platform acts as a knowledge-sharing center, allowing reps to drive commercial excellence by leveraging a 360-degree view of the customer and working off the same platform. For example:

• When an HCP needs recommendations for a new heart rate monitor for patients, sales teams can respond in a timely, personalized manner. That’s because they have access to service history and actionable insights based on the customer profile.
• When a doctor researches remote monitoring devices for diabetic patients, marketing teams can use the search data to put the doctors on a personalized marketing journey that delivers the right message at the right point in the customer lifecycle.
• Once patients have their devices, customer-facing teams can instantly share data with commercial groups. Likewise, commercial groups can share feedback with R&D, including product and feature requests.

Many medtech companies rely on multiple technology systems that aren’t designed to work with each other or engage customers. Standardizing data from homegrown systems on a smaller set of platforms helps because information becomes easier to manage.

A CRM alleviates the burden of multiple systems and consolidates data by layering on top of existing solutions. Salesforce Customer 360 connects all points in the customer lifecycle — clinical, manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, sales, and service. With a single view of data, organizations gain visibility and maintain connections across the entire business. It also delivers consistent, personalized experiences.

A flexible and scalable platform accelerates business, encourages collaboration, and empowers developers. Medtech companies can also build on top of the platform with new features, including apps, for internal employees or customer service. This allows them to:

• Leverage out-of-the-box enterprise services. Drag-and-drop tools make it easy for anyone on your team to build apps without ever writing code.
• Focus on innovation. Developers stay focused on high-value initiatives with available operations and tools.
• Ensure governance and compliance. Out-of-the-box functionalities like integration and identity services guarantee app development follows proper protocol.

The micro-moments matter the most. That’s when the right information is critical – whether you’re a doctor in an operating room, a rep that needs to transfer trunk stock, or a patient beginning their journey with a heart rate monitor. With a CRM, reps can access valuable, actionable data and insights from a single platform to best serve customers in a connected and intelligent manner. That lets medtech companies act at speed and scale.

To do this, the first step is to aggregate data. The CRM platform pulls in information from across the ecosystem so that everyone has a line of sight into:

• Real-time sales data that informs production, marketing, and service team needs
• Research and development (R&D) processes that may affect manufacturing, quality assurance, and licensing
• Patient and clinician feedback that helps evolve devices and services

Most important, artificial intelligence (AI) embedded into the platform analyzes and learns from this data. Resulting insights include predicted outcomes, recommended next best actions, and automated workflows. From a single console, sales reps, customer service, marketing, and clinical teams can deliver simpler, smarter interactions.

In the fast-moving medtech industry, companies must meet rising customer expectations for improved patient outcomes and strong ROI quickly and efficiently. Digital tools speed up the sales cycle and deliver necessary insights faster, even in virtual and hybrid selling environments.

With a CRM platform that delivers an intelligent, 360-degree view of each customer, teams gain deeper insights into customer behavior and learn how to drive value. AI-generated intelligence predicts sales activity, projects growth, and unearths areas of opportunity. When reps can personalize outreach and sell proactively, organizations can deepen relationships and build customer trust.

With Salesforce Customer 360 you can:

• Discover next best actions. Teams can access each customer’s detailed account history for accurate forecasting along with recommended next best actions. AI can prioritize sales activities and spot new opportunities to help close deals faster.
• Stay close to current and prospective customers. Reps can increase the reach and frequency of selling activities, thereby improving account and territory performance and later assessing effectiveness based on insights from flexible dashboards.
• Gain real-time insights into market conditions. Reps can compare territory performance with forecast and industry data in a real-time view.
• Quickly onboard new team members. New reps can train in a centralized location for sales and enablement.

A CRM platform speeds up the purchasing cycle and helps reps stay close to current customers while prospecting new ones.

Medtech businesses were already becoming more involved in the patient journey by providing services that helped patients use devices properly. But in 2020, the ability to engage virtually became even more valuable as HCPs adapted to remote patient monitoring during the pandemic. In addition to telemedicine and hybrid treatment models, digital tools that engage patients before, during, and after care are poised to become the norm.

A CRM can help medtech companies securely capture patient information and enable virtual, hybrid, and in-person treatment. For example, patients can request data to stay better informed about their health and actively involved in care decisions. Patients can also access product details and device data on companion mobile apps and community portals and connect with other people with similar health conditions. This creates one-to-one personalized experiences at every touchpoint.

In one example, a remote monitoring sticker helped medical professionals track the symptoms of sick patients recovering at home. With Salesforce their agents could answer questions about the device from patients who were reaching out to the company directly. The 360-degree view enabled agents to create a case and provide streamlined services.

Salesforce Customer 360 captures contact information and communication preferences to keep everyone up to date on new products and solutions. This also allows medtech businesses to nurture prospective patients by guiding prospects to the right products.

Numotion, a leading U.S. provider of complex rehab technology, has helped more than 250,000 people stay mobile. With the Salesforce platform, Numotion is able to present a complicated 42-step ordering process in just five steps that include an easy-to-follow visual representation tracking each order.

Streamlined technology: Numotion built the myNumotion app to provide online visibility to ordering. Customers get complete transparency with their order 24/7 with a simple visual representation for tracking.

Customer engagement: Customers stay informed with email or text alerts as their order progresses. They can live chat with myNumotion representatives, who instantly see the order information and other helpful details. Customers are also notified of any problems with their orders and can advocate for themselves, solve problems, and get the devices they need much faster.

Boston Scientific enables the treatment of 30 million patients each year in nearly 130 countries with devices for interventional medical specialties.

Before they piloted the Boston Scientific app in Brazil with Salesforce, managing a network of sales relationships across the world was a challenge. Price-adjustment requests took up to three weeks to route through multiple steps, teams, and systems. The app reduced this to just minutes.

Maximized efficiency: The Lightning app facilitates automatic requests and notifications in place of manual processes, trimming multi-week approvals into minutes. The app powers sales teams to better serve customers and respond to market pressures.

Smarter sales: New prices, whether based on competitive matching or valuable customer relationships, are easily tracked so management is always in the know. Whatever their region, salespeople can quickly provide competitive pricing offers and close deals faster. Since the size of the discount necessitates different approval levels, the app routes each request to the appropriate manager.

Future vision: Plans are in place to roll out the app to Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other countries across Latin America.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed how medtech companies engage with providers and patients, but customer-centricity is still at the heart of everything they do. Salesforce Customer 360 is far from your traditional CRM: You can connect teams and integrate data on one flexible, secure platform and deliver a unified experience for providers and patients alike.

Salesforce can help you go digital fast, accelerate value, and transform your business. With greater across the value chain, you can manage commercial processes, build provider relationships, and engage with patients in the most intelligent, efficient, and personalized way. This all leads to better outcomes for your business, your customers, and their patients.