When it comes to the medical device industry, the sales process is much more complex as it deals with highly technical equipment, government regulations, lengthy contracts and business development leaders. Keeping track of all this data and information can be a fairly daunting task and requires a comprehensive and advanced CRM system. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management or Customer Relationship Marketing.
The purpose of a customer relationship management system is to record, track and analyze customer data, while customer relationship marketing focuses on building relationships with your potential customers to generate more leads. Though they are two different things, both are interdependent of each other and are required to grow your medical device business.
Using CRM to Obtain and Maintain Your Customers
The point of both CRM’s is that you can’t build your database of potential leads without interesting and engaging content; and you can’t attract customers to your brand without being able to track and analyze your customer data, and without using the proper tools. In other words, CRM is required to not only grow your business by gaining new customers, but also to retain existing business from customers by creating strong brand awareness. Your brand awareness is critical because this is what ultimately creates business sustainability. It is much more expensive to acquire new customers than it is to retain current ones.
How to Effectively Use and Manage Your Medical Device CRM
It all starts with content. Your content should be relevant and timely to give your target audience exactly what they are looking for when they are searching for it. Great content catches your audience’s attention and leaves them wanting more. It should be informative, persuasive and clear that you are the expert. It’s also important that your content is consistent and available to your target audience in multiple places such as:
- Your website
- Blog
- Social Media
- Online/offline advertising
- Email marketing
- White-papers, E-books, PDF’s
- Events
In the medical device field, well-crafted content requires significant thought and a deep understanding of your target audience in order to have the largest impact. A majority of this is done through your branding which allows you to deliver creative and intentional messaging that speaks directly to your customers no matter where they are in their buying journey. Through strategic messaging you can reach new customers as well as current ones to fill and optimize your sales funnel. This is where the management side of CRM comes into play. An effective CRM allows you to track and analyze where each prospect is in the sales cycle, while measuring the effectiveness of your content. This allows you to establish, nurture and convert more leads in a more productive way.
CRM Elevates Your Sales and Marketing
A CRM system can be vital for medical device manufacturers when it comes to the customer-sales person relationship. With the power of technology and ability to access information with a click of a button, people no longer have to rely on sales reps to learn about new medical devices. Customers are able to control the sales process by doing their own research, until they are farther along in their decision making.
Utilizing an effective CRM for your medical device company can help you gain more insight on your target audience to generate more valuable and relevant content that will convert more leads. Your content should be crafted in a way to nurture and create an ongoing engagement process that builds credibility in your brand and your products. This allows for a smoother and more efficient sales process in which your leads are well-informed about your brand, and your sales reps are equally informed about your potential prospects.
Your CRM software enables you to automate and manage your marketing efforts through capturing data about each lead and their digital interactions with your business. This helps your marketing and sales team understand your prospects’ pain points and desires to increase your opportunity for conversions.
Your Business’s Fate is Dependent on the Relationships You Build with Your Customers
In order for your medical device company to succeed you must have an effective CRM that is built into your sales and marketing process. As the marketplace in this highly competitive field is constantly changing, so are your customers. This is why successful medical device marketing entails harnessing the latest and most relevant strategies to attract your target audience through strong brand reputation that builds trust with your current and potential customers.
At Icovy our expertise in this fast-growing and extremely competitive market, enables us to direct our clients on how to effectively use their CRM to generate the right marketing content and build the right relationship management practices. We help you create and measure purposeful content that is generated to improve your marketing and expand your customer relationships.
