I talk to clients, potential clients and partners a LOT. On the phone, in person, in pitches, speeches and via social media and interviews. In all this talk I spout a lot of statistics and facts (and tell a few good stories) – trying to spread the word about health care professionals and mobile.

And some days I truly wonder, am I talking to myself?? Sure, everyone at One Eleven has drunk the kool-aid, but does pharma buy it? Lately, I’ve been wondering.

Today my friends, a miracle happened! A potential client called about mobile optimizing web sites – and said, “You know, Janet, 65% of physicians are accessing information via smart phones*, so we need to be there.” I’ve repeated that statistic until I was hoarse and my fingers nearly fell off from writing, blogging and emailing – but apparently, the word has gotten around.

When I was a sales rep, my district manager used to say, “it takes at least 10 visits to a doctor to convince her of ONE point you are trying to make” – well, I have come to realize that it takes at least that many exposures to pharma folks to make a point.

Well, stubborn is good for something – so, now that I have made THAT point,  on to the next one…

*My thanks to Mark Bard of Manhattan Research, who kindly provides the latest statistics for HCPs and their use of mobile.

by Steven Niles and Joshua Slatko

On-demand technologies are beginning to proliferate in the world of sampling. Pharmaceutical marketing and interactive agency One Eleven Interactive Inc. has developed a product called SampleServer, an esampling tool designed to deliver samples, vouchers, coupons, and patient information to physicians who otherwise do not have access to a rep.

SampleServer can target physicians very specifically with customized offerings that factor in the needs of their practice and even the doctor’s individual preferences. “Clients love that we are agnostic regarding finding the targeted physicians,” says Janet Carlson, founder and CEO, One Eleven Interactive (111interactive.com). “We are tapping into online and mobile spaces where physicians congregate to make them aware of client programs – you’re not limited to some list of docs we hold.”

SampleServer can function as a completely paperless solution, integrating the physician’s mobile phone to provide more choices in how, when, and where the physician wants to interact with pharma. “In the existing e-sampling programs, half of the time it’s the staff the program is actually talking to, not the doctor,” Ms. Carlson told Med Ad News. “We took SampleServer mobile, because it introduces a way for pharma to talk directly to the decision maker who has their iPhone on their hip [at all times].”

Looking ahead to 2015, Ms. Carlson believes that sampling, be it mobile or through smart
technology, will still exist; however, the mix will be different, emphasizing more vouchers with less physical samples in the doctor’s office. Cost savings will drive this change, as the waste in sample packaging will no longer be deemed acceptable. “Only companies who adopt tools that can navigate these details with a high degree of precision will succeed in marketing to healthcare providers in the future,” Ms. Carlson says. “These are the tools we currently have and that we continue to innovate and improve upon.”

Posted with permission from Med Ad News, August, 2009

You may be the best CEO, President, King/Queen of All You Survey, but if your team isn’t with you, you’re screwed. I sat in a doctor’s office recently. This guy has a stellar education and is extremely well known in his profession – his waiting room is PACKED…with really angry people, that is. His staff is the pits – they let him down every day. They dreadfully overbook him and lose charts and run the office so poorly, it’s a miracle that he hasn’t been beaten by the mob. As I took this all in (in the hour and a half I had to contemplate it) – it dawned on me that while he has all the credentials and all the patients (now) his team will be his downfall – his business is doomed.

I hotfooted back to my office and checked in with my team – I had to know where we were, team-wise. David, the captain of our ship, reported that we are clicking as a team at nearly 100% – and confirmed that we are all on the same page.

Whew – I knew it, but it was a relief to confirm it.

Point is, you can be the best at what you do but if you don’t have a support system to guide your customers and yourself through a sucessful project (doctor’s appointment, whatever) you’re screwed.

One Eleven’s Founder & CEO, Janet Carlson, was interviewed for an article in PharmaVoice (September, 2009) on the role Twitter should play in pharma marketing.

See Janet’s comments: My take? Pharma should “tweet on” – http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/b1ee9b7d#/b1ee9b7d/20