Yes! And, because the novelty has worn off, the attention is focused right back where it should be: on content presented and the know-how of the individual pharma rep. iPads are still more convenient than lugging a laptop, and mDetailing still holds advantages like remote viewing, analytics and other perks that are unavailable with PowerPoint alone. When used properly, digital tools like these will cut cost per contact immensely, and will grow in favor with healthcare practitioners. Over the next decade, digital sales tools will become a must-have for all pharma reps. The tools alone will not provide the “ooh” or “aah” that makes a sale. But, the skilled representative can still find a leg-up by giving strict attention to three factors: time, content, and data.

1. Time

Pharma reps of today suffer from severely reduced access to physicians, chiefly because healthcare practitioners have an increasingly large workload. Digital sales tools can help pharma reps to get their message in front of healthcare practitioners again. Many physicians are unlikely to book an mDetailing or iPad presentation session with a representative if they believe that their time will not be respected. Effective pharma reps must respect the serious time constraints of physicians. Pharma reps ought to set a start time and an end time for presentations, and then stick to it.

2. Content

Uploading a weak PDF to your mDetailing application it is not going to cut it. The real benefit of digital sales enablement is having the ability to load an expansive amount of flexible content that can be tailored to the viewer. This is where a pharma rep’s discretion comes into play. Would this physician prefer a traditional PowerPoint style presentation, or will a video be more compelling? Does this iPad presentation contain enough rich, deep information for this inquisitive physician to explore thoroughly? Pharma reps must have a wealth of content available, and know how to use it.

Data

A simple PowerPoint presentation can be mined for powerful data when it’s shared via a digital selling application. Even with remote mDetailing, the sales rep can gauge who viewed the presentation, how long he or she viewed it, which slides were viewed the longest, and what was shared with colleagues. Digital selling applications with data and analytics can coach a pharma representative to find the sweet spot with every healthcare professional. Pharma reps must engage with data and analytics to guide the sales cycle.