Customer experience in pharmaceutical and life sciences: PwC

Mathias Elsässer

Principal, Marketing Advisory, PwC Germany

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Steven Zaloga

Principal, Health Industries, PwC US

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Raj Muthuswamy

Principal, US Salesforce Practice, PwC US

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Insights from PwC's Solver Series: Pharma and Life Sciences Roundtable

Hosted at Dreamforce 2023

At Dreamforce 2023, PwC had the opportunity to host a roundtable on the future of customer experience in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector. With the input of industry-leading professionals, the session explored the evolution of customer relationship management (CRM) and customer engagement models in the life sciences sector, discussed the transformation of the healthcare professional (HCP) and customer experience through digital engagement channels, and uncovered insights on harnessing the potential of generative AI in a responsible way to help enhance customer engagement.

This blog contains some of the key insights from this roundtable session

Four trends shaping life sciences customer engagement

The accelerating pace of change in the life sciences macro-environment is driving a need for change in customer engagement. Macro trends — including the evolution of customer needs and complex market ecosystems — are shaping customer engagement in the sector and highlight the need for more nuanced customer engagement models. Data and systems innovation challenges remain, with companies increasingly striving for adaptable, flexible systems that can help bolster customer-centricity. Further, the emergence of AI-powered customer engagement is pointing to a future of differentiation and efficiency beyond anything possible today.

Hybrid customer engagement models for competitive advantage

The discussion raised a vital question: What can be the future model for customer engagement in the life sciences sector? The answer: a hybrid model that can help combine personalized and group approaches, featuring both customer-led collaboration and orchestrated omnichannel engagement through a blend of digital and face-to-face interactions.

Using this model, life sciences companies would focus on developing highly personalized content led by specialized field reps working as trusted collaborators to help solve healthcare challenges. In addition, such a hybrid model often requires modular and relevant content delivered via an orchestrated delivery system to channels that are more convenient to the customer or patient.

Companies that can design a hybrid engagement model and can build the right technology set-up to support it are likely to enjoy a healthy competitive advantage.

AI's potential still unfolding

Generative AI continues to be front and center in companies' customer engagement strategies, with the nascent technology holding immense promise across a range of customer-centric business processes. Many pharmaceutical and life sciences companies are exploring the potential of AI for self-service analytics and reporting, medical information response generation and intelligent patient services. Generative AI can also help provide significant value through content personalization (in support of customer engagement) as well as in the development of promotional content.

What’s next?

Are you ready to explore the power of customer-centric pharmaceutical and life sciences engagement? Our industry-leading professionals are ready to help you explore the potential of AI and other technologies that can help enhance the customer experience and move toward a more patient-centric future for healthcare. Get in touch with us today to see how you can start on your journey toward building the customer experiences of the future.