Enhancing the CRM User Experience at Bausch Health

Field reps are integral to biopharma success, so ensuring they’re empowered to do their job efficiently is crucial. At Bausch, our field teams were struggling with disconnected systems. Essential information, like sales and diagnostic data, were scattered across separate platforms and documents, requiring extensive searching and time-consuming downloads.

We conducted in-depth focus groups with sales reps to better understand our field’s needs. What we found was a clear and consistent theme: reps wanted a simplified user experience. They needed a single, accessible location for all their analytics to improve decision-making. We realized that a tailored CRM user experience could streamline reps’ days and help them enhance customer engagement.

Based on its history of success and built-in integration with Veeva Commercial Cloud, we implemented Veeva CRM MyInsights to enable our field teams with the real-time insights they need. MyInsights worked well for the home office and met the fields’ request for a solution to improve customer engagement. Here’s how we secured buy-in from our stakeholders and achieved a 90% user satisfaction rating with the changes we made.

Optimizing the rep experience

While the field was very receptive to the process and eager to learn more about what would be available to them, the home office teams wanted more information before they would commit to a new strategic field model. Once we shared the field’s feedback and involved them in defining the enhancements, they were more engaged, and our cross-collaborative team began working cohesively.

We started by adding our reps’ flagship brand to a pre-call planning page. This consolidates all the critical pieces of information our field reps previously had to research across multiple systems and replicates it on a single screen, drastically reducing the time between identifying and actioning useful insights. As a result, our reps can focus on their sales calls and not where to find their files.

The page’s design was based on feedback from our cross-collaborative team, which focused on five items the home office and the field prioritized as the most valuable: sales summary data, past activity data, formulary and managed care access, claims data, and gainers and decliners.

Another part of our initial implementation was a feature that allows our reps to view patient and claims data for their entire territory. To keep a clean user interface while maintaining functionality, we gave reps the ability to view claims data and drill down into plan data if they choose. So far, they have found it very helpful and easy to use.

When it came to implementing the changes in the field, the process was relatively seamless because of the work we had done ahead of time with our reps. The individuals who participated in the in-depth interviews acted as a sounding board to inform our planning and execution. Beyond providing valuable insights, these reps also became our change champions, serving as positive and vocal advocates. Their leadership helped ensure that the entire field adapted to MyInsights smoothly and effectively.

Achieving 90% field satisfaction

To better understand how MyInsights impacted the day-to-day of our field post-implementation, we conducted a survey of nearly 230 reps. Respondents reported a 90%+ satisfaction rate, noting heightened productivity, faster identification of doctors and their habits, and more confidence in their pre-call plans. They also shared that they can now dedicate more time to high-value tasks, such as decision making.

The survey results also led to three new capabilities we’re working on now:

• Identifying tailored content for customers’ market access coverage
• Expanding MyInsights for use as the primary pre-call interface
• Highlighting segmentation for more personalized messaging

MyInsights lets us quickly incorporate the fields’ feedback into their CRM user experience. As a result, our reps feel heard, we can do our jobs better, and our home office is happy because reps are enabled and effective.

Keeping the end in mind

For anyone looking to embark on this sort of project, here are my key pieces of advice: First, have a clear objective to work towards. Your goals don’t need to be complex; they just need to be complete and meet field expectations. We wanted to streamline reps’ days, and a pre-call planning page instantly helped.

Second, build a cross-collaborative team. We brought together our business sales operations team, commercial operations field enablement team, and the internal IT support team. Even though at Bausch none of these teams roll up to the same leadership, we were all aligned on the goals of the business and walked in lockstep to achieve our results.

Finally, get buy-in from the field. Our reps embraced change because we worked closely with them to ensure what we were building made sense—that it would help create efficiencies in the field and improve their day-to-day.

Want to learn more about MyInsights? Find out how GSK’s reps save 30 minutes a day in their pre-call planning.

Michelle Perugini has 13+ years of experience as a frontline field manager. As the Director of Field Enablement for Commercial Operations at Bausch Health, she enhances the CRM and CLM experience to address field teams’ needs.