The Challenge:
Novartis wanted to find a way to allow their sales reps to be more innovative in how they engaged with their customers (healthcare providers, or HCPs). The pandemic drove some changes in the marketplace that called for innovation. One was that the sales reps didn't have access to those doctors’ offices – they couldn't get into them for months if not years.
There was also a proliferation of digital tools, a dramatic increase in digital communications going to these HCPs. On one level the adoption of new tools was good, but on another level it meant that these HCPs were inundated with digital messages, and a lot of them were getting overwhelmed and not responding.
So Novartis wanted to find a way to do two things:
Establish and build relationships in a more efficient way.
Find a way to rise above the noise in these digital communications.
They used the Storyvine platform to create some video agility and allow their reps to use video to reach out to those doctors.
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The Solution
From a tactical standpoint, reps would film the video, embed it into an email template, and email the doctor.
There were three phases:
Phase 1: The Rules of the Road. What are the rules of engagement? How do we take the way reps have communicated in the past and translate that into a video-forward solution? What are the kinds of messages that can be shared? What are the approval processes? We worked with them in a collaborative fashion, with their compliance teams, with the brand teams, and with the sales organization, to develop the rules of the road for the program.
Phase 2: Design. Now that we know the kinds of content that we want reps to be able to create and share with HCPs, we've got to build those templates, and figure out the branding. So we created the actual program. Concurrently, we created training materials to be able to train those reps on how to use the app, compliance rules, etc.
Phase 3: Roll-out. We started with a small pilot group that we expanded to about 150 reps and then over the course of six months we trained over 700 reps rolled the program out.
We worked very tightly with the different stakeholders within Novartis to come up with the best way to roll this out across the sales organization for the oncology division within Novartis.
Results
The results were exciting! In the initial 6 months of the program:
Reps produced more than 5,000 videos, all on their own, and emailed them to HCPs.
5x the number of appointments booked.
One rep told us that a year ago he sent out 40 text-only emails in one month and he booked two appointments. A month later he was part of the Storyvine pilot, and he sent out 40 emails with personalized videos for each of the doctors, and he booked ten appointments.
100 doctors, 1 day.
Another rep sent an email to his manager and said, “I ‘met’ 100 doctors today!” He’d recorded 100 videos using Storyvine – he recorded one all the way through and then he just personalized the beginning of the videos for each doctor – and in a single day he was able to generate that much content and send it out to HCPs.
Video allowed reps to innovate the nature and quality of their approach.
One rep in a manufacturing division filmed her video standing in front of a large wall with LED lights on it. After introducing herself, she said, “I'm standing in front of what we call The Wall of Hope in our manufacturing division. Every one of these LED lights that you see represents a life that was saved from this medicine. I'd love to come talk to you about it.”
That is the kind of passionate message and communication that can’t be communicated in text-only email. You could sense her pride and the emotional impact of every one of those lights representing a life saved.
That’s how video can make a difference. You can establish relationships, build on current relationships, do follow-up messages, and rise above the noise.
INTERESTED?
If you want to learn more about how Novartis used Storyvine for Sales Innovation or to explore other use cases for your organization, please reach out to Sales Manager Rich Ryan: rich@storyvine.com or 720-449-7077 x111.