Currently, the figure of the Carterized Manager in the Healthcare sector is a fundamental piece in the competitive strategy of any manufacturing company or distributor in the pharmacy channel.  Not only because of the profitability and volume of business it generates, but also because of the added value it brings to the client.

At MST Holding we wanted to get to know a little better the day-to-day work of the Carterized Manager and we have conducted a short interview with one of them, which you can read below:

1. The main challenges you face in your day-to-day work.

We have quarterly objectives and every day I try to reach them, and always be positive, you can not slow down the pace of work to avoid surprises and to reach the goal set by the client.

Not to fail the client is my main challenge.

2.            How many clients do you currently manage and what is the volume of business.

That depends on the number of pharmacies we call, but we handle approximately 30 orders a day, and if we are unable to contact them, we make sure we keep calling them so we don’t lose a sale.

I have an agenda to keep track of customers and thus organize the rotation and needs of each customer.

The volume of business depends a lot on the type of order and product we are dealing with, it is not the same an order of exclusive medicines that are very expensive than an order for example of dressings or dermo-aesthetic products where the average order is already lower. But normally we work with a demanding volume of work and the sales amounts are usually approximately 2.200€ of average order (with the exceptions that I have mentioned).

3.            Differences between your current position and your previous sales roles.

The difference now with my previous jobs, is that the previous ones have always been face-to-face and the current job of portfolio manager is that I handle everything by phone in teleworking mode. Another important difference is that now I have a portfolio of clients and in my previous jobs I also had one, but I also had to reach a prospecting quota, that is to say to make new clients every month.

4.            As a sales expert, what do you like most about being a Carterized Manager?

Personally, I love dealing with the public and the figure of the Carterized Manager allows me to have a closer and more informal relationship with customers. I also like challenges and testing myself by always surpassing the objectives set by myself, it is a way to stay motivated. I can manage a large number of pharmacies on a daily basis and this is a great challenge for me. I consider this to be a very important sector and I find it very rewarding to be able to contribute my experience and knowledge.

5.            What personal success story are you most proud of?

In the last laboratory I worked in, it was quite complicated since everything, or almost everything, was prospecting and I opened many pharmacies from the list. One of them was in a center (I can’t say the name due to confidentiality!) where I had already tried several times to create a contact (other colleagues and even my boss) without success. Finally, I was able to place an order with them and thus create customer loyalty by opening a space in their pharmacy. This is a laboratory that is not very well known and I positioned myself alongside the rest of the laboratories with a recognized name. It was a great personal satisfaction.

If you want to know more about Gestor Carterizado you can contact us at: marketing@mstholding.com

Customer care has been changing in recent years. And although we usually believe that these changes are limited to sectors such as the technology industry or telecommunications, the truth is that customer service in the health sector has also been transformed. At Consulting c3, as a consulting area of the MST Group specializing in this sector, we encounter common cases in people who perform customer service functions in healthcare.

The changes are significant and it is good to know them in order to understand the new trends in the field of Customer Experience (CX) in Heathcare. So what do our consultants encounter when they carry out a project in the Healthcare sector? Here they tell us.

In terms of training, Consulting C3 works in 3 areas in the Healthcare sector:

– Training

– Coaching of agents

– Agent mentoring

What problems do we usually encounter?

At first sight, we do not detect specific problems different from other sectors, since we are talking about services that are technically very similar. But we can speak of very specific characteristics inherent to the sector, such as:

Medium-high level clients: both in terms of academic, educational or educational preparation, as well as in terms of economic level or purchasing power.

Criticality: the healthcare sector, in general, is critical, so that customers’ perception of their problems or incidents is that they are a priority.

Specific technical preparation: the agents who deal with incidents from a helpdesk in the healthcare sector must be specialists in the specific subject; that is, they require a higher technical-academic preparation and have this differentiation with respect to the usual Customer Service agents. In other words, they are technical specialists who serve customers.

Most common weaknesses of agents in the Healthcare sector

The most particular weaknesses of these agent profiles are:

a.            Category mindset: they do not see themselves as Customer Service agents, but rather as senior technicians in a specific medical or health-related specialty, which makes it difficult for them, on occasion, to adopt the different communicative styles classically proposed by a Customer Service, for example, making a corporate greeting and closing the call.

b.                           Purely technical mindset: as the people of science that they are, it is very common for their profiles to stand out for their ability and focus on resolving the issue, giving little importance to the need to develop communication skills.

c.            Generation gap: most helpdesk agents are Millenials and there is a certain natural resistance to using politeness formulas that they consider outdated.

How does Consulting C3 manage all this?

– By helping them, first of all, to internalize the need to acquire, develop and improve communication skills in the telephone environment, since this is the means by which they will be able to technically resolve incidents.

– Enhance the necessary communication skills. In order to approach high-level clients, it is important that they always take into account to offer a professional image, through a polite, formal and professional language, which will help them to be more credible and to be at the same technical level. To address criticality, it is important that agents show confidence at all times, even when they are unsure of the resolution, so it is necessary that they consciously avoid any expression of doubt. Contrary to popular belief, consulting or handing over the call to another department is a sign of mastery, not weakness, similar to the referral a doctor may make of a patient to a specialist.

– Regarding the category mindset, it is a matter of orienting agents towards the vision of the value they bring from the telephone environment.

– The generation gap, although not present in all cases, is worked with training, with concrete practical cases, through, for example, the exercise of listening to their own calls, putting themselves in the customer’s place, trying to understand the impact that courtesy and formality, as well as a high level of language, generates in the level of customer satisfaction, and, obviously, with constant accompaniment and constructive feedback from ConsultingC3 Consultants.

People skills do not come naturally to everyone. Some people have high emotional intelligence and others less so. Therefore, training is critical to bridge this gap and provide all employees with the skills they need to deliver excellent customer service.

Customer experience is crucial to any business in the modern world, but this is particularly true in healthcare, where a good experience can mean a huge improvement in a person’s quality of life.When it comes to delivering an excellent customer experience to patients, these are the things that can make a significant difference.

If you would like to learn more about this topic you can contact us at marketing@mstholding.com or at www.mstholding.com.

Omnichannel and personalization have become the two major factors that determine B2B (“business to business” or business-to-business) sales, according to the report “The Global Pulse of B2B Business” by the consulting firm McKinsey& Company. Added to this scenario is the trend that has been consolidated in recent years in B2B relationships and sales: data-driven decision making.

The study dictates that these businesses are in full transformation and customers are changing the way they interact, placing greater importance on flexibility through channel adoption and finding more personalized and seamless buying experiences. “They are better positioned to meet their customers’ expectations, improve business performance and achieve a step change in their growth,” notes McKinsey. This goes hand in hand with a survey by Forrester that revealed that 41% of shoppers believe analog channels have become less important than digital. It should be noted that the pandemic has also caused this process to accelerate.

This means that, today, companies that do not provide their teams with the necessary tools to work more efficiently and productively, such as access to new technology platforms or improved data access, have a clear problem. With respect to omni-channeling, it is worth noting that 72% of B2B companies that sell through seven or more channels increased their market share. This new omni-channel standard translates into the use of ten by more channels in three interaction models.

The Value of Data in B2B Sales

The rise of virtual selling has meant that B2B sales-focused organizations are increasingly willing to use the latest technologies to support their strategic decisions on data.

According to a Gartner study, by 2026, 65% of B2B sales organizations will move from the traditional model of intuition-based decision making to a data-driven plan. The goal is to leverage technologies that are able to bridge workflow, data and analytics. In addition, due to the modernization of virtual sales strategy they will be able to create a support designed to improve customer engagement, support salesperson actions thanks to data and simplify salesperson workflows.

Given the importance of data, Gartner experts recommend that organizations evaluate two types of B2B transactions:

– One based on volume and velocity, in which sales cycles are shorter (less than three months), are related to smaller deals (less than $25,000), with a small buying committee, consisting of fewer than six stakeholders, and generally for products of less complexity.

– Another model of larger businesses running for longer periods, six months or more, with larger deals, which can be over $125,000, have a purchasing committee of between eight and 11 stakeholders, and are typically for complex products.

Simplify workflows

Automating routine tasks that consume a lot of salespeople’s time is essential. This will allow them to focus on more important tasks and thus improve their performance, leaving the more mechanical tasks aside.

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Spending time with each customer is essential to offer a good service and to go deeper into their needs and solve their queries. However, we can find ourselves in the case of calls that are too long and do not solve the customer’s problems.

When we talk about average talk time, we are referring to the amount of time an agent spends talking to customers. In any case, this time should not be confused with the average interaction time, which corresponds to the total time an agent spends completing a call from start to finish.

In general, conversation time alone does not tell much when analyzed on its own. What is important is the percentage of speaking time, as a share of interaction time. Ideally, the majority of interaction time should be spent talking to the customer, not the person waiting or the agent doing back-office tasks.

Average contact center talk time

For example, high interaction time and low speaking time indicates inadequate staff training or inadequate call routing. We cannot keep customers waiting to be served or transferring them from one department to another to resolve their questions or queries.

In addition, a low interaction time and a low talk time indicates that calls are not being handled correctly because the times are too short.

On the other hand, a high interaction time and low talk time could mean that agents are trained but call center technology is not adequate and systems are limited.

How to optimize the average talk time?

The first thing to consider is to decrease the interaction time. This reduction will allow us to handle more calls with the same number of agents. In this case, the most difficult thing is to find the balance between agent productivity and efficiency.

– Call audits to drive improvements

By analyzing all conversations and comparing which ones have the longest talk times and the most frequent problems that arise, essential information can be generated to improve the average talk time.

– Simplifying agent effort with technology

Agents are only as fast as their knowledge allows them to be. It is important that when agents are not proficient in product features or specific problems, there is a knowledge base to guide their responses.

Other metrics in the contact center

Talk time is an interesting metric for trying to find problems in contact center call handling. However, as with any other metric, the goal should not be to have the highest or lowest talk time, but to understand what it means for the customer experience.

It can also be useful to compare interaction time and talk time with competitors. These types of mystery calls allow you to see where a company stands against its competitors and compare key metrics to recognize trends, correct mistakes and uncover opportunities to improve the customer experience.

If you need professional help, at MST HOLDING we offer you our experience and services. Contact us at www.mstholding.com

Brand loyalty is becoming increasingly complicated because it is driven by more than just the product or service it sells. It is a relationship of reciprocity in which the consumer seeks preferential treatment and to feel included in the community to which they want to belong. And the pandemic is largely to blame in this aspect, since it was in the context of confinement that the significant impact on the brand-customer relationship began.

The lack of face-to-face contact meant that many consumers were forced to become less personal and moved from face-to-face to embrace the digital format. But now customers have returned to engaging with brands in a more holistic way and are looking to return to that close contact they missed so much.

Many reports reveal that 53% of Generation Z consumers have started using a company’s services or products specifically because of the diversity of its customer service. Meanwhile, 46% of Gen Z consumers would stop buying from a company because of its corporate stance on social issues, well above the 35% of general consumers.

The contact center as key to the experience

The study results shed light on the challenges faced by companies when trying to engage customers from different demographics and cultures. To show empathy and establish a better relationship, brands not only have to meet the expectations of these different cohorts from a customer experience perspective, but also demonstrate that they are aligned with their environmental and social values.

This is where the role of the contact center comes in, as agents are charged with playing an increasingly important role in promoting a brand’s ethics. And they do so in defense of their brand’s values.

Thus, the contact center has managed to transcend basic customer support and agents have turned their role from answering calls to becoming the trusted advisors who guide customers through their customer journey. In fact, younger consumers are the ones who have become more aware of companies’ policies and actions within a broader social context. In addition, issues such as sustainability are among the top priorities for these younger consumers.

Agents have also become a new concept of brand ambassador. The people in charge of this position will need to understand and proactively respond to consumer needs. And while contact center agents are increasingly important in driving business growth, agent burnout remains a challenge for contact centers.

Faced with this reality, many companies have begun to take steps to better engage and retain agents as their strategic importance to business performance increases. And to keep them, they are investing in new technologies, with 78% of professionals saying that investing in digital tools is a priority for the organization.

Better agent conditions equal better customer experience.

These types of strategies are also done with the goal of boosting the company’s potential and seeing the company’s revenue grow. And it’s not subjective – more than 67% of organizations say their contact center is transforming or has already transformed into a profit center as a result of creating and maintaining more holistic strategies. This paradigm shift will require greater investment and new strategies. But today, the values associated with diversity, equity, sustainability and inclusion are crucial parts of a business strategy that can drive business performance as well as inspire customer loyalty. So creating a culture of transparency and mutual support that nurtures employees and facilitates innovation is one of the best ways to engage your workforce and, in the process, ensure that teams strive to deliver the best possible customer experience, as well as improve their image of your company.

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Sometimes, there is a mistake that many companies make when it comes to customer service training. They think that this is a dispensable factor and that the fact that a customer returns depends merely on the quality of the product. However, this is no longer the case, which is why it is necessary to know the benefits of a good customer experience in order to put it at the forefront and use technology such as artificial intelligence to achieve the highest possible performance.

One study that proves the benefits of customer experience and how well it performs is from Watermark Consulting. The company tracked the 13-year stock market performance of customer experience leaders versus laggards between 2007 and 2019. The best customer-centric companies posted gains of 307%, while the S&P index showed a 199.6% return. These excellent CX companies outperformed the index by more than 50%.

And what about the customer experience lags that were also tracked? Their numbers came in at less than half the S&P, with gains of only 90% over those 13 years. This clearly proves that good customer service triggers customer loyalty.

If the numbers from the top customer experience leaders weren’t enough, there are statistics from ACA’s research on customer service. They surveyed more than 1,000 consumers on the topic and here’s what they said:

– 73% will do everything they can to do business with a company that provides better customer service.

– 79% said they would switch if they knew of another company that offered a better customer experience.

– 52% will pay more if they know they will receive excellent customer service (that number is even higher if the company offers a convenient experience).

The factors for creating a winning CX

The overall experience is the main factor towards creating a winning CX. This means everything related to the entire experience, which can include how easy it is to navigate your website, how easy it is to communicate with the company, the product packaging (if applicable) and anything else the customer experiences while doing business with your company.

Another important aspect is the customer service that the client experiences along the way. It can start in the sales process and continue long after the sale when customers need support, have complaints or need answers and it is tied to each and every interaction they have with the company or brand.

The importance of training

Customer service training is the basis for providing an excellent customer service experience. In fact, you must train employees on how to do this, even if they are inherently pleasant and friendly people. In addition, the biggest mistake companies make in customer service training is that they only train the front line.

That front line usually consists of sales people and the team that provides customer service. Customer service is more than a department. It is more than people on the front line interacting with external customers. The best companies recognize that customer service is embedded in the culture and therefore train everyone in the company.

If you track the interactions a customer has with an organization, you will find that there is a lot going on “behind the scenes” where employees who never interact with a customer are impacting the experience. It may be someone in the warehouse making sure the order goes out on time, that nothing is missing, and that it is packaged in a way that won’t be damaged. That employee is impacting the customer, but never sees or talks to the customer.

You don’t need to train behind-the-scenes employees the same way you train front-line employees. But they still need to be trained properly. Everyone needs to understand what the company’s goals are  and how their role impacts those goals.

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In this article we are going to highlight the difference between two concepts that are often confused with each other. We talk about the differences between conversational bots and Artificial Intelligence.

They are two closely related terms, but in reality they are not at all synonymous. In fact there is a typology of conversational bots that does not rely on AI.

In fact, Artificial Intelligence is a step above, since it is not a tool but an advanced resource to enhance tools and procedures. We will explain this in more detail below.

THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CHATBOTS

To many people it still sounds like something out of science fiction, but Artificial Intelligence is something we all live with much more than we are aware of.

Every time we use something as everyday as an Internet search engine or type any text on our cell phone, we are making use of it in a completely transparent way. Connected devices “learn” from the way we use them, both personally and by extracting usage patterns based on different segments of the population (another very famous concept comes into play here: Big Data).

This, taken to user-machine interaction in the context of eCommerce, has one of its greatest exponents in conversational bots. Thanks to the use of technology, we can achieve advanced systems that provide solutions to increasingly complex queries using natural language and semantically interpreting the intention behind the user’s query.

Moreover, AI enhances an already existing tool, and does so by providing new strategic variants and functions. It directly turns chat into an ally when it comes to converting and closing sales. Undoubtedly, this is the real leap in quality with respect to those versions of bots that do not incorporate the use of Artificial Intelligence.

SO, ARE THERE CHATBOTS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

Yes, and it is something relatively frequent. If we understand as conversational bot a software that is able to interact with a user we can distinguish between the intelligent ones and the ones that use something called ITR (Interactive Text Response).

The latter allows us to configure the tool by setting a series of predefined responses that will be launched by the system according to the user’s questions.

The main difference with those bots operated through the use of Artificial Intelligence is that ITRs base all their effectiveness on what we are able to foresee and define previously. They do not have the ability to learn from the interaction or use the natural language of people, so they are less accurate.

ADVANTAGES OF CONVERSATIONAL BOTS WITHOUT IA

Do not make the mistake of assuming that by using a chatbot that does not incorporate AI, you are dealing with a necessarily basic tool.

On the contrary; if you are working with an advanced solution, the synergies and possibilities are practically endless. In fact, the chatbot does not have this technology, but through its connection via API it allows you to do amazing and really advanced things like tracking orders, displaying a map so that the customer can get directions to your physical store, showing recommendations in the chat co-viewer directly…

The implementation is very fast although it requires a detailed and deep analysis of the circumstances of use in which it is necessary.

This has the enormous advantage of working from the first moment exactly as well as 6 months later. Its effectiveness will always be the same and does not require a “running-in” time to evolve.

They can be somewhat cheaper, although not in all cases, and they do not represent a substantial difference with an AI-supported solution.

ADVANTAGES OF CONVERSATIONAL BOTS WITH IA

They are a living tool, capable of training itself. Thus, their effectiveness increases with the simple passage of time. What’s more, the higher the number of interactions, the better the decision making process.

If we are talking about highly complex technical systems, this is obvious, but one of the best things about these bots is that this is not transferred neither to the implementation nor to the day-to-day management.

The tool is less dependent. It could be used 100% autonomously, but even in cases where Artificial Intelligence is used, the human touch is always advisable for a matter of empathy and the ability to react accurately to new situations.

It also gives us the possibility to attend our public 24 hours a day, which is much more complicated if we need to have staff resources available all day long. We hope we have clarified the differences between conversational bots and Artificial Intelligence.

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We often talk about digital transformation and how its consequences have transformed our daily lives. While this is true, as technological innovations span all fields and offer us new opportunities, first of all, we need to know what this phenomenon truly means and its relationship to data. Thus, digital transformation can be referred to as the application of digital capabilities to processes, products, and assets to improve efficiency, customer experience, manage risk, and uncover new revenue-generating opportunities.

Digital transformation: what it is and its technology

Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of an organization, which comprehensively changes the way it operates and delivers value to customers. On the other hand, it also implies a cultural change in which companies must adapt to the context and to the new needs of consumers.

What does this phenomenon entail? Among other things, the redesign of products, processes and strategies through digital technology. In addition, it affects all areas of an organization: supply chain, workflow, employee skills, customer interactions and the variation of the final value.

This digital transformation at the enterprise level makes it possible for companies to meet the needs of consumers at the pace and with the quality they demand. To this end, the emergence of different technologies make it possible to meet these needs, such as cloudcomputing, information technology, mobile platforms, machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.

In addition, there are other technologies driving digital transformation in forward-looking companies that are interesting to know about: blockchain, augmented reality, virtual reality, social networks and the internet of things (IoT).

The importance of data in the customer experience

Digitization turns processes into data, which allows companies to view their actions and analyze them based on objective facts. Considering that companies are built through processes with the goal of creating efficiency, focus and quality, digital transformation reduces the processes a company does, automates the work to people and turns the process into software.

Data shows that users matter and that customer experience is vital. Thanks to data and the ability to associate it with indicators or problems through analytics, companies can become more efficient and change what they do wrong. In terms of employeexperience, as Up Spain points out, data shows the needs and what is happening with the employee, beyond the organization being able to draw its own opinions.

In addition, data makes companies quick to meet the needs or expectations of customers and employees in an increasingly volatile and competitive market. Therefore, process automation is necessary, transforming processes and making them more reliable, as well as relieving the workload on employees.

From the customer experience, it is not how quickly the organization answers the phone, but how quickly the customer can complete an order. The customer experience and satisfaction lies in the fact that the customer does not need multiple conversations with the organization. The need for a meeting can be done quickly and done once.

Conclusion

The digital transformation brought about by the explosion of data and connected devices is a limitless world of opportunity for organizations, enabling the improvement of the customer experience. Data collection and analysis makes it possible to innovate and generate new ideas to create better products and provide good customer service.

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Identifying the most effective way to build customer loyalty is one of the most intricate tasks for a company. Brands focus their efforts on acquiring new customers, even though this may cost seven times as much effort. A customer who is already familiar with a brand is more likely to buy again if he or she is satisfied.

Therefore, it is important to implement strategies to improve customer loyalty and improve the purchasing process.

Customer retention vs. customer loyalty

Loyalty is one of the most important aspects of a business, there is no doubt about it. To this end, serious efforts are invested in designing attraction strategies (or Inbound Marketing), but unfortunately they are not always rewarded with new buyers.

Regardless of the environment in which you develop your activity (online or offline, or both) it is essential that you maintain a high level of satisfaction, so that your customers never want to leave your side.

The main difference between retention and loyalty is customer engagement. Nuances that “retain” customers are often superficial and less effective. You should not keep customers, they should be the ones who choose to stay. How do you do this? Make sure your products or services meet their needs: sooner or later, satisfied customers will buy from you again.

4 strategies to improve customer loyalty

Building loyalty with existing customers takes time, effort and resources. But when you do, you’ll have many more opportunities to gain your customer’s attention and, ultimately, get more sales.  Here are 4 strategies to improve customer loyalty.

Get to know your customers

People like to be known and to be known. Therefore, customers will be more receptive to organizations that go the extra mile to empathize with them. We need to spend more time strengthening ties with customers to understand their concerns and needs to build a closer, more real relationship that benefits both parties.

Reward their loyalty

There is nothing that serves as a better loyalty weapon than listening to your own customers. A feedback system, such as a satisfaction survey or simply talking to them personally, will help you to know first-hand their opinion about the service you are providing them. This feedback can be the trigger to put into practice brilliant ideas for improvement and innovation that they are throwing at you. Listening has never done so much good.

Surprise them from the first moment

In fact, there are several reasons why these expectations, if met with satisfaction, are crucial to client retention.

– Getting the project to be delivered to the client weeks or even months in advance.

– Eliminating uncertainty. The client will know what to expect and when, which can give them the peace of mind needed to make them feel comfortable doing business with you.

– Having a clear vision from the start can help your company develop key performance indicators (or KPIs) around specific expectations, which will set you up for success.

Be friendly

Combining good service with gratifying gestures to your customers is always recommended. Give a gift or send an email to congratulate your customers on their birthday. People remember when something has surprised us and making that feeling last in time and in your target’s mind is something you can’t pay for with money.

Put these loyalty strategies into practice and start building customer loyalty. The more buyers trust, appreciate and love what you do, the more likely it is that your brand will stand out from the competition.

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