Three times in every calendar year, Veeva launches features and improvements across their varied product suite that are designed to enhance the user experience and provide new capabilities for brand teams. The Veeva 23R1 release hits production environments on 13th April 2023 – here’s the lowdown on the most impactful updates to keep an eye on.
Outlook integration a big step towards centralised data
The most impactful announcement in this April release could easily slip under the radar, however it has the potential to vastly improve the uptake of Veeva among field teams. By introducing the capability for Admins to integrate Microsoft Outlook calendars with the Veeva My Schedule application, reps will be able to view all their appointments in both Outlook calendar and the Veeva My Schedule view.
This breaks down a lot of the boundaries that we have seen around Veeva adoption in field teams, with there often being resistance to moving emails and appointment setting from Outlook into Veeva. With a simple integration doing the work for the reps, they will now start to see the benefit of centralised account information, better data capture and greater territory and account level insights. A win-win scenario for everyone.
Self-guided learning takes off with Flightpath
A big investment area for Veeva is the introduction of Flightpath, a new educational tool designed to supplement existing CRM documentation. Flightpath provides overviews of features and functionality within CRM, and currently offers five courses, with the Approved Email and Engage paths looking most beneficial for CRM, brand and marketing teams. The aim of the new tool is to help individuals who are working in Veeva CRM day-to-day to further their understanding and get the most out of the CRM.
Sunset on Veeva CRM iOS 14 support
Following the 23R1.0 release, Veeva CRM will no longer support iOS 14. This marks a fairly swift change, with iOS 15 only having been rolled out a few months ago. Users will need to stay on top of their updates to ensure they are on iOS 15 or higher, however there is some peace of mind for those administering field team devices as a popup will soon display after signing into Veeva CRM with a message to upgrade where applicable.
Smarter approved email campaigns
A couple of useful iterations to Veeva approved email functionality will help reps organise their accounts and campaigns.
Firstly, to prevent missing any further opportunity to communicate effectively with an HCP, reps will now see an error message displayed so they can fix or verify any email addresses that have previously bounced. This prevents additional attempts to send emails to the incorrect address for the HCP.
The second major enhancement to the email offering is the Recommended Emails feature. This is a significant plus point for campaign managers as it gives them the ability to publish campaign-related email messages to a large number of specified targets. In turn these are turned into drafts or scheduled emails by Veeva CRM and recommended to reps to modify, reschedule or send to their target HCPs.
Still using PowerPoint presentations?
While we would always recommend investing in the development of fully functional digital sales aids, if you’re not quite there yet, then Veeva have made it easier for Mac users to utilise PowerPoint Presentations. CLM on CRM Desktop (Mac) now allows for better presentation animations and transitions, while they are now also easier to identify and select thanks to the Media Library in Tile View on CRM Desktop (Mac).
Making My Schedule work harder for reps
A whole host of smaller UX/ UI changes to the My Schedule section within Veeva CRM for iPad will be welcomed by reps looking to better organise their time. Having a number of different data points displayed against their schedule entries is a particularly useful addition, alongside now being able to drag and drop calls for slicker rescheduling of their calendar.
Unsure of how the latest release might impact you and your team?
As Veeva Full Service Content Partners, we get a headstart on the latest updates in order to make sure that our clients continue to leverage the full capability of Veeva CRM. If you’d like to learn more about how this impressive software suite can be better utilised to empower and enable your fieldforce, get in touch with our expert team.