Matt Wallach, Veeva’s co-founder and president, delivers keynote speech
European pharmaceutical companies moving to meet the growing demand for multichannel engagement are being held back by a lack of access to up-to-date data, according to a new poll.
Veeva’s annual European Customer Data Survey found that only 40% of firms in the EU have access to the real-time data it says they need to form a complete picture of their customers from both a commercial and R&D perspective.
“Customer data is the bedrock of business activity in life sciences,” Guillaume Roussel, director of strategy for Veeva OpenData, told PMLiVE. “Without consistent and high quality data, multichannel programmes will likely fail.”
Speaking at the Veeva European Commercial Summit in Madrid this week, he added: “As customers’ needs evolve, so does the data, and so data is becoming a valuable asset for pharmaceutical companies.”
This is a view shared by 73% of the survey’s respondents who ranked access to comprehensive customer data as a top priority for investment, with over three-quarters of European firms due to initiate a new data quality programme within the next two years.
The survey, which is in its second year, collected responses from over 80 life sciences decision-makers across Europe, with the majority hailing from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Currently, 87% are reporting challenges such as outdated technology, complex and fragmentary processes and insufficient data cultivation as barriers to making multichannel strategies work.
It takes pharma an average of 10 days to access existing information on healthcare professionals in order to prepare tailored interactions, and while 79% would prefer a three-day processing period, a third of participants said they need this data within one business day to fully meet consumer expectations.
Roussel added: “A major shift is underway as European life science companies focus on improving data quality and timeliness as a way to increase commercial effectiveness.
“We are seeing an urgency to close the gap between how customer data is currently sourced and managed and the new business imperative for greater speed, productivity, and orchestration of customer experiences, especially across communication channels.”
