December 17, 2009 » HCP RM: 3 Tips To Ensure Internal Adoption

1. Abandon political silos. Beware the turf battles that may ensue, although this may be easier said than done.  Chances are, a lot of hands will be touching your RM program, and there will be many interested, affected and vested parties—from individuals in multiple internal departments to a network of outside vendors. This is not the time to retreat to political silos. These different teams need to work together and complement each other’s contributions. Pick the core competencies of each group and have them focus on the task at hand. Everyone needs to know how to play well together in order to deliver the best program results.
2. Address sales force fears. No one would argue that the one-to-one, in-person relationships developed by the field force is the number one relationship marketing vehicle available. However, it’s not uncommon for sales reps and their management to view HCP RM programs with resentment. In reality, these programs aren’t intended to replace the sales force—ideally, these programs should serve to assist and augment sales force efforts. A successful RM program must be integrated with all the efforts put forth by the sales group, and be developed with their involvement at all levels. To do so, it is imperative that all parties see the value of the program from the beginning and be allowed to not only participate in the upfront design but also have direct access to all ongoing reporting and results.
3. Measure results. It’s amazing how many companies budgeting for HCP RM programs fail to invest in proper metrics. ROI strategies are key to analyzing which strategies and tactics worked, which didn’t, and which audience segments are worth investing in. It is hard to predict which tactic will work, and which path is most successful for each segment. There are no easy formulas for determining all this. At a minimum, everyone needs to identify and agree to specific measurement criteria before ever launching a single program. Given the pioneering stage of HCP RM programs and the number of variables involved, pre-program ROI analysis is difficult. Many times, a combination of models, formulas, and basic trust among your partners and internal measurement team is all that will suffice.  You take your best collective guess ahead of time, implement a pilot of your program, and then closely measure the results.