Expanding Sample Accountability Program Keeps Getting Better

Summary

While experiencing sustained growth in sales, both organically and through acquisition, a pharmaceutical company featuring a portfolio of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription products found itself with multiple hand carry compliance programs and multiple telemarketing and direct mail prescriber sampling programs. Compliance became a burden due to inconsistent oversight and direction. Business rules and PDMA regulations were disparately managed in different places within the organization, and there were no opportunities for sample optimization or consolidated analytics. RxS was selected to unify sample accountability and sample management programs, providing a compliance program for all channels. During the three-year study period, there was a 35% growth in the number of sales representatives, yet the implemented solution reduced the percentage of reps initially out of variance by 30%.

Background

A pharmaceutical organization employed several vendors to provide sample management and messaging in support of hand carry and Direct-to-Practitioner (DTP) sampling channels which included telemarketing and direct mail. After a period of sustained growth, both organically and through acquisition, the organization held a varied portfolio of prescription and OTC pharmaceutical products. New products, company acquisitions, additional sales reps, and expanding channel initiatives added complexity. The manufacturer had multiple Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, multiple logistics vendors, and multiple samples management organizations working across its several brands. Sample compliance became a burden with little central oversight or direction. As a result, business rules and PDMA regulations were disparately managed and there were no opportunities for sample optimization or consolidated analytics. RxS was selected to provide the tools and know-how to control and consolidate transactions across the sales operations network and to provide ongoing sample accountability/sample management services.

Analysis

The transition team, consisting of members of both organizations, supported as needed by subject matter experts from other involved process participants, performed a full review of the entire process, measuring process effectiveness and transparency across existing channels and platforms. The team confirmed the need for vendor consolidation to reduce cost, process complexity, and regulatory risk. The RxS team was assigned overall project management, transition, and integration responsibilities.

Program Objectives

Once the current state was defined for control reporting purposes, the transition team set the following objectives for the project:

Mitigate current compliance risk and reduce non-compliance risk going forward, with consolidated sample management services.
Maintain or, ideally, improve sales representatives in-variance performance during quarterly sample reconciliations and independent annual field audits.
Consolidate logistics to one vendor.
Consolidate sales force automation toolsets to one platform.
Consolidate sample management/sample accountability to RxS.
Provide single source of sample information utilizing LinkedRx, the RxS sampling hub.

Solution

As the client worked with the CRM vendor to consolidate their salesforces onto one platform, RxS configured its existing API integrations and business rules within the LinkedRx system to apply the requisite targeting and allocation logic. The third-party logistics vendor selected had existing integrations with RxS on the direct to practitioner side, but not on the hand carry side. Existing transaction exchange logic was quickly assessed and configured to suit that vendor’s WMS requirements. At the same time, RxS unified the sample accountability/sample management process under one set of rules and reporting. Consolidated solution features included:

Enhanced sample risk management leveraging RxS sample management solution suite (LinkedRx & TeletargetRx).
Standardized compliance oversight across all channels.
Documented business rules and SOPs.
Comprehensive training programs for internal client teams and sales forces at all levels.
Consultative partnership, weekly status calls and quarterly business reviews.
Proactive monitoring of key PDMA sampling events.
Compliance enforcement.
Rep, manager, and home office accountability through comprehensive reporting and proactive notifications.
Significant Loss Threshold consulting.
Reporting and analytics.

Results

The resulting process provided analytics for sample optimization, minimized representatives time out of field, and reduced sales operations administrative oversight. During the implementation period, the number of representatives covered in the program increased by 35%.

Initial percentage out of variance declined from 72% to 10.38%
Percentage of reps closed out of variance declined from 48% to 1.09%
Final percentage in variance increased from 52% to 98.91%

Conclusion

RxS leveraged its expertise project-managing complex multi-platform solutions and technology to provide valuable assistance to this client. Existing RxS technology connected hand carry and direct-to-practitioner channels, allowing the various brands to effectively introduce, distribute, and monitor their samples.

Long-time technology partnerships with CRM providers like Veeva produced robust integration and roadmap alignments that reduced risk and time to market. In addition to the CRM supplier, RxS leveraged existing partnerships with the audit management and third-party logistics supplier to create a transparent, compliant, and coordinated sampling value network. Comprehensive APIs, system and process knowledge, and access to transactional details, enabled this efficient implementation.