In the new era of new technologies, web, SMS, etc. it seems that telemarketing was a little bit put aside. Some marketers even look at it as an old tool.
Today, that pharmaceutical companies need to decrease budgets, sales force is the heaviest cost that has to be reduced, so it becomes the main target. In this cases, telemarketing can definitely support the sales efforts. There are many pharmaceutical companies that forget this is a very effective tool. No doubt when it comes to new launches, I see it as a must!!
Developing an effective telemarketing campaign, you get immediate feedback on your launch messages, can do segmentation of your costumers, and you can finally do a fine tuning of your whole campaign.
Big company have sometimes their own call center, but outsourcing can be a good solution for companies who cannot afford it.
Telemarketing in the pharmaceutical field need more qualified persons, who actually need to deliver medical information. Therefore, there is a need to look for telemarketing companies who have experienced and well trained people in the medical area. As a marketer, you need to verify and control the quality of the calls.
You also need to work with telemarketing services who own an updated and high quality database of the costumers. And again, quality assurance of the calls is critical.
No doubt telemarketing is a key tool in pharmaceutical marketing mix, and I personally do believe in the success of this tool.
