If you work in the pharmaceutical industry and especially in the commercial team, you are likely familiar with the term Digital Sales Aid. However many of other industries are increasingly using this term to describe a broad class of tools. We've seen more than a dozen questions on how Crescendo compares to Salesforce DSA and if it is in fact a Digital Sales Aids.
The short answer is yes, Crescendo replaced SFDC DSA for couple of our clients and it perfectly matches the common definition of DSA tool. Like always, devil is in the details and Crescendo may not always match the expectations, especially for clients who require more of a e-Detailing tool than a DSA solution. Let's dive into more details.
What is the Digital Sales Aid?
Digital Sales Aid typically refers to the tool enabling the digital content designed to support the dialogue between sales or medical representatives and potential customers, like doctors or pharmacists. The content created for Digital Sales Aid typically includes the information required to familiarize the audience with a given product or brand on various level of detail.
This content is not strictly related to the actual pharmaceutical product, but very often also promotes knowledge of the types of potential patients, appropriate treatment regimens and all other related topics that are in line with the brand strategy.
Digital Sales Aid content can take a variety of forms. DSA may include static and interactive materials, videos, surveys, presentations and newsletters. The content may be straightforward or complex, depending on the company's strategy for the product and its related material. Most importantly, it should be easily accessible and ready to be used in the relationship with the audience.
Digital Sales Aid tools stimulate increased engagement and interest in key topics. Such content can include visual elements like animations and short videos that explain and illustrate the benefits of the product or treatment.
Digital Sales Aid tools are often tightly integrated with CRM solutions and allows for real-time tracking certain aspects of the interaction.
However the more we get into the in-depth insights of customer behaviour, measurements and metrics of the content effectiveness, the more the tool falls into the related class – eDetailing solutions. That term is typically used to describe solutions focused on tailoring promotional content for the recipient, measuring it's effectiveness during the interaction and then promoting improvements to its effectiveness.
Most commonly, the Digital Sales Aid refers to a native tablet application that allows a salesperson to present content to existing or potential customers in a compelling way compellingly. This content is stored and managed centrally, is delivered to rep's tablet and becomes easily accessible at all times. Digital sales aid solutions are specifically designed to work offline, making them an invaluable tool for working on the move.
How can Digital Sales Aid determine the success of your brand?
Implementation of a digital sales aid solution, whether as part of a company's channel and content strategy or as a way to unify the processes involved in selling products, should focus on how to use technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of sales reps' work in the easiest way possible. It is also a method of building engagement between the representative and the HCPs or other types of potential buyers.
It does not rely on an automated presentation with a passive presenter, but on supporting the representatives in driving a multi-level and compelling conversation that explains the product, address questions and delivers requested materials on the spot.
As a good illustration of the impact of digital sales aid on the life of a medical rep, let's look at the daily schedule as an example. Each working day for medical reps have a particular structure.
It starts with preparing for doctor conversations. Typically a medical rep meets 3 to 4 doctors in 2 different practices with various questions about the product on offer. Finally the rep is expected to interpret sales reports, exchange e-mails with colleagues, report on action items and create an action plan for the next working day. How will digital sales aid help in all this?
Digital sales aid software facilitates and speeds up each of the duties of a pharmaceutical representative. It enables the employee to prepare for meetings from anywhere, support answers to the questions by easily finding the necessary information, references, product inserts or leaflets.
Is Crescendo a Digital Sales Aid tool?
The Crescendo App is a tool that can quickly and easily improve convenience and efficiency in the commercial operations field. As such it is used by several pharma and biotech companies, both large and small. Let's explore the key features of Crescendo that can improve performance and efficiency in rolling out new products and have positive impact on your field force performance.
Knowledge within reach
Digital sales aid software allows field force to access the product information they need 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It ensures that drug references, product inserts, studies, legal documents and other key information is delivered in a seamless and visually appealing way. Medical rep can sort, browse and find all documents with ease.
Crescendo downloads relevant content directly to the phone or tablet, so all documents can be accesses and searched from anywhere with or without active internet connection. Crescendo becomes rep's single source for all content.
Never let reps use outdated documents again
Crescendo ensures that all new or updated versions of the documents that are placed in the repository will immediately replace outdated versions and appear on reps' devices. When a document is deleted from your repository, this change is synchronized back to the devices and outdated document can no longer be used. The synchronization happens automatically in the background and never disrupts the app's performance or workflow.
Attractive, professional interactions
Crescendo allows field force team to communicate with HCPs in an engaging and modern way. Within the app, you may access and present materials in almost every file format type in a unified and attractive manner that corresponds with your brand aesthetic.
Visual customization of your materials is extremely easy, quick and can be easily done by the content curator without a tech background. If necessary, a white label version of Crescendo can provide a fully customized version of Crescendo with your own app name and app icon, as well as custom workflows and integrations to other corporate systems.
Monitoring content and app usage
As a digital sales aid tool Crescendo allows access to monitoring reports and analytics, thus providing better insight into what content is effective and what needs improvement. Analytics features will allow content curators to keep their finger on the pulse, examine the effectiveness of activities and promotional materials, and then make data-driven marketing decisions.
Content is stored in your existing cloud storage systems
Crescendo connects directly to your trusted corporate content source, such as Sharepoint, Salesforce or other cloud storage provider. You never need to upload or migrate your documents to the external backend 3rd party systems. This greatly simplifies the system landscape and is important from corporate security standpoint.
Quick rollout
Crescendo is designed with commercial ops in mind. As long as the content is organized in your corporate cloud storage system, like Sharepoint, Salesforce or Google, Crescendo rollout is as easy as creating licenses, deciding which folders and files should be visible to whom and uploading visual, branding assets.
Users can them download Crescendo, log in with their existing credentials and are ready to go. Because Crescendo relies on the vetted security system of your cloud storage provider, any IT audit and approval is much easier and quicker. We had clients who rolled out Crescendo in just 1 day!
Easy GxP Validation
If you use Crescendo with a validated tenant on a cloud storage system (like your CSV-approved Sharepoint or SFDC), taking Crescendo trough the validation process is relatively easy. It has no own backend, it doesn't store or transfer any of your data outside of where they resides and access your cloud storage on behalf of the logged users thus greatly limiting access to your internal cloud storage system.
What about eDetailing?
As much as Crescendo is very good choice as a DSA tool, it does not match the definition of an eDetailing solution. Crescendo is not a tool to create content, it also doesn't measure any individual behaviours or reactions. It doesn't record the interactions. It does not provide any type of detailed analysis of a particular content structure or form. We focus on providing easy to rollout and use, robust content delivery and presentation tool, also knows under Digital Sales Aid term.
Digital Sales Aid in Pharma Industry
Digital sales aids such as the Crescendo are a veritable must-have in the modern pharma & biotech industry. The specific nature of the reps' work and their constant movement forces them to use such solutions to stay productive. With digital sales aid software, daily tasks of the field force become quicker and more efficient. Digital sales aid software is genuine salvation and a necessity in the modern pharma commercial operations.
