More than just video calls: innovative, digital customer conversations at AbbVie

AbbVie works closely with all players in the healthcare sector and has built up a global partner network. However, strong local ties to its hometown of Wiesbaden are just as important to the company as its focus on biotechnologies and a contemporary, open corporate culture. Transparent communication within the teams and with the partners is a mainstay - which is also necessary, since AbbVie's products and therapies are not off-the-shelf products, but highly specialized and innovative. That is why the dynamic developments in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic and the associated contact restrictions were a particular challenge.

New ways of communicating with customers

Classic contact and sales channels, especially meetings with customers, were suddenly only possible to a very limited extent in the wake of the pandemic. "In principle, this was not a problem for our customer consultants," recalls Sebastian Amrosik, project manager at AbbVie, about the initial situation. "After all, video calls and telephone meetings were already taking place regularly beforehand. But we didn't want to use digital technology simply as a substitute medium; we wanted to make the most of its many possibilities and thus take digital sales to a new level."  

For a serious conversation, the setting as well as the way the conversation is conducted are crucial. Ultimately, the customer should feel included and be enthusiastic. This is just as true for virtual sales and consulting meetings as it is for face-to-face ones. In the digital realm, however, other tools are needed to achieve this, while at the same time expanding the presentation palette. The goal of the project was to use digital communication in an innovative and appealing way, so as to not only show a presentation online, but to be able to use the entire range of sales tools: from live product demonstrations and the integration of various formats to the active involvement of the discussion partner. 

Individual coaching instead of conventional training

"It was clear to us that we would not achieve our goal with conventional group training for one tool or another," Sebastian Amrosik explains the approach. "We were much more looking for a coaching concept. With Sycor, we brought competent support and many years of experience in-house." Together with AbbVie's project team, the IT service provider Sycor developed such a coaching concept. In individual coaching sessions, the entire process of a customer meeting was discussed in each case.  

A professional interview environment is an important starting point. The right lighting, the perfect camera position and noise-free sound are just as important as the appropriate links in the invitation depending on the technology used. Building on this, everything to do with the various presentation techniques was discussed. "We wanted to exhaust the range of technical possibilities," says Sebastian Amrosik. "Incorporating live demos, videos and more, letting customers actively join in and try things out for themselves, and even inspiring less tech-savvy customers digitally - our ambition was to turn a digital conversation into a high-quality, virtual experience. At the same time, each of our consultants developed their very own strategy for using which digital tools."

Within three weeks, 150 individual coaching sessions took place. The practical part took up most of the space: The Sycor coaches each acted out the entire customer conversation with the AbbVie employees. In a feedback session, the conversations were evaluated together and individual detailed questions were clarified. "The coaching sessions were therefore meaningful for each of our sales representatives because they were not general application training sessions," summarizes Sebastian Amrosik. "Regardless of whether our customer meetings are analog or digital, our customer service representatives embody a modern, innovative company. In the future, too, a large part of communication will take place digitally. Moreover, thanks to less travel, this is simply more efficient as well as more environmentally friendly and thus corresponds to our self-image as a modern biotech company."