Veeva’s 12 most commonly misunderstood CRM/ CLM terms

Demystifying pharma technology jargon

Have you ever found yourself scratching your head trying to understand some of the acronyms and peculiar techie words used in pharma? It can be difficult to stay up-to-date, with technology changing all the time. VAE this, sandbox that; what do they mean and why does no-one ever seem to explain them in simple terms?

For this reason, we have decided to step in and help. In our bitesize series, we’re going to provide you with some helpful tips to support you in navigating the changing landscape of pharma technology. Therefore, using our team of experts here at twentyeightb, we have created our top 12 Veeva terms. Our client services and consultancy teams hear a new buzzword every week, so we’re well placed to provide this ‘cheat sheet’ for you to easily access whenever you need.

For the purpose of creating this guide for you, we asked our team of experts to put forward the Veeva CLM/CRM terms that they frequently use and/or come across in the industry, and asked these questions:

  • What does this mean?
  • What does this stand for?
  • Can you explain it to me in simple terms?

Top 12 Veeva CLM/ CRM terms you may not know

1. Action button

The Action Button is in the top left hand corner of the Veeva CLM (three ellipses). This button allows the rep to:
– Exit the presentation
– Complete a survey
– Send an email
– Send a Medical Inquiry
– Order Products
– Take other customisable actions

This button cannot be disabled.

2. Binder

In Veeva Vault, ‘Binders’ are virtual containers used to organise and manage documents and content related to specific projects, studies, or processes. Think of them as digital folders where documents, files, and information are stored and organised in a structured manner. Users can create binders to categorise and manage content according to their workflow needs, making it easier to locate, access, and collaborate on documents within the Vault platform.

3. Call report

In Veeva, a ‘call report’ typically refers to a record or document that captures essential information about interactions between field sales teams and healthcare professionals (HCPs) or other key stakeholders.

4. Customer reaction buttons

In Veeva, ‘customer reaction buttons’ are interactive elements integrated into the customer-facing applications or interfaces used by sales representatives or other field personnel during interactions with HCPs or other customers. These buttons provide a quick and efficient way for representatives to capture and record the reactions or feedback of customers during meetings, presentations, or discussions.

5. History arrows

In Veeva applications like Veeva CRM or Veeva Vault, ‘history arrows’ typically refer to navigational elements or controls that allow users to traverse through their browsing history within the application. These arrows enable users to easily move backward or forward between previously viewed pages or records, similar to the functionality of browser navigation buttons.

6. Key message

In the context of Veeva, ‘key messages’ refers to the “slides” that make up a CLM presentation. This can be confusing when many in marketing use key messages to refer to the core claims that support the features and benefits of their brand.

7. Metadata

In the context of Veeva or any data management system, ‘metadata’ refers to the descriptive information or properties that provide context and structure to the stored data. It essentially describes the characteristics of the data, making it easier to understand, manage, and use effectively.

8. Production environment

In the context of Veeva, the ‘production environment’ refers to the live or operational system where Veeva applications and solutions are deployed and used for day-to-day business operations. It is the environment where real-time data processing, customer interactions, and other critical business activities take place.

9. Sandbox environment

In the context of Veeva or any software development and testing environment, a ‘sandbox environment’ refers to a controlled, separate instance of the software platform where developers, administrators, and users can safely experiment, test, and validate changes without impacting the live production environment. It serves as a replica of the production environment but is isolated and independent, allowing for risk-free testing and development activities.

10. Shared resource

In the context of Veeva, a ‘shared resource’ typically refers to a centralised asset or tool that is accessible and usable by multiple users or teams within an organisation. These shared resources are often managed and maintained within Veeva applications such as Veeva Vault or Veeva CRM, facilitating collaboration, efficiency, and consistency across the organisation.

11. Veeva Approved Email (VAE)

Veeva Approved Email is an email platform built into Veeva CRM that enables pharma sales teams to send tailored, approved content to HCPs, while remaining compliant. Available on online and mobile CRM platforms, it helps reps connect and facilitate personalised interactions with hard-to-reach customers.

Veeva Approved Emails utilise HTML, can be tailored for specific HCPs and are managed centrally through Veeva Vault to ensure compliance.

A VAE can also be known as an ‘RTE’ – Rep-Triggered Email.

12. Veeva Vault PromoMats (VVPM)

Often abbreviated to ‘VVPM’, Veeva Vault PromoMats is a component of the Veeva Vault platform specifically designed for managing promotional materials within the life sciences industry. VVPM enables organisations to create, review, approve, and distribute compliant promotional content across various channels.

Is all this endless jargon still not quite making sense? Why not check out our library of Veeva resources, or if you have a burning question then get in touch with our expert team.

The anatomy of a Veeva Approved Email

In the dynamic landscape of pharmaceutical marketing, Veeva Approved Emails enable and empower your field sales teams to communicate effectively and compliantly with Healthcare Professionals (HCPs). To harness its full potential, understanding the intricate anatomy of a Veeva Approved Email is crucial.

As we navigate the anatomy of Veeva Approved Emails, we’ll uncover the significance of Template Fragments, Auto Citations/Footnotes, and the content elements that contribute to an impactful email.

What are the components of a Veeva Approved Email?

There are two main types of Approved Email document types, which are both created in the same way and utilise the same functionalities, however the content should be considered in different ways. The two main types are: email templates and email fragments.

Email Template

In the realm of digital communication, email templates take centre stage as HTML files securely stored in Veeva Vault. They serve as the foundation of a Veeva Approved Email. It’s crucial to note that a minimum of one template is vital for ensuring the seamless operation of your communication strategy.

To ensure compliance, the content of an email template is static, meaning end users cannot make edits themselves. These templates can be dispatched independently or tailored to accommodate one or more email fragments, offering enhanced flexibility and a more personalised touch.

It is beneficial to consider whether you can employ a standard email template or templates that have utility across multiple use cases, for example:

  • Standard logo placement
  • Standard salutation & close (consider the tone of voice and utilising free text – e.g. Hi John vs. Dear Dr John Smith and Kind regards/Cheers vs. Yours sincerely)
  • Veeva content/functionality tokens or any fields pulled from CRM/free text fields
  • Any links to Vault PromoMats documents
  • Unsubscribe, legal and privacy statements/links
  • Date of prep and job code placeholder
  • PI and AE reporting (could also be incorporated within Template fragment – see below)
  • Company address (could also be incorporated within Template fragment – see below)

Email Fragments

This section explores the vital role of email fragments – compact snippets of HTML housing distinct messages and optional hyperlinks to content stored in Vault or external websites. The unique feature of fragments lies in the user-driven aspect, empowering end users to incorporate multiple fragments into a single template and arrange them in any preferred order.

Fragments give users the power to add a personal touch to each email, allowing them to fine-tune messages for stronger connections in every relationship. What’s more, they provide an easy way to share the latest updates or content without the hassle of creating more email templates.

One or more email fragments can be selected by the user to add to the associated email template. This offers the rep a degree of flexibility and customisation, enabling them to send more targeted content.

Like templates, fragments can include text, images, link to a Vault PromoMats document/third party website as well as including a range of Veeva tokens. It is important to consider how many fragments are expected to be used at any given time, as this can determine how some of them are made/optimised for rep usage.

Auto citations/footnotes

Fragments containing references can be numbered/annotated automatically (based on the fragments selected by the rep for inclusion in the email).

Template fragment

Consider whether you can employ a template fragment that has utility across multiple email templates (e.g. prescribing information, legal, company address and AE reporting). The template fragment is associated with the email and cannot be selected by/edited by the rep.

Content

Pre-header text (email preview text)

Pre-header text is a line of text that appears after the subject line in the recipient’s email inbox. The aim is to give the recipient a summary of the email content.

Pre-header/preview text example next to subject line.

If you don’t specify the pre-header text, the first line of text within the email will be displayed – e.g. This is a promotional email for UK healthcare professionals only.

So it’s worth thinking about providing a snippet that will encourage the recipient to open and read the email.

Subject line

It is worth determining the required subject line(s) early, so that you can include this on any test emails that re sent for review.

In Veeva you can utilise a number of different options in the subject field; including custom text fields, personalising the email subject line or employing a pick-list of different subject lines to choose from.

Please note, some pharma companies have specific subject line requirements (e.g. if it’s a company event, they may require that the subject line has the company name in), to avoid delays it is recommended to have an understanding of these requirements in advance.

Alt text (alternative text)

This is a short written description of a digital image, which conveys the meaning of the image when/if it cannot be viewed, or if a person is using a screen reader.

If you alt text isn’t specified, it is common practice to use the file name of the image provided.

Email tokens (non-Veeva)

Make sure you have listed your email tokens and the required format of these tokens for the chosen platform.

If someone else is developing your emails, it is also helpful to send over a list of all tokens that are used on these platforms and any documentation for these as well (if the platform in question actually has this available of course), to help prevent errors and reduce build time.

What’s next

Well, now you know the anatomy of the Veeva Approved Email but wouldn’t you like to know how to make them more presentable, avoid delays, and improve communication? Check out our previous article ‘The four ingredients you’re missing from a successful rep-triggered email brief‘. We’d love to received the perfect brief from you, so don’t forget to find out more about our Veeva Approved Email development services as well.

Veeva CRM 23R3 release – what’s new?

Veeva CRM releases three major updates each year to address user issues through updates, and provide new functionality. The improvements and added functionality will hit all Veeva instances on 7th December 2023. Alongside our other key takeaways, we are excited to share with you one particular improvement that will be well-received – the reduction of sync times!

Enhanced sync timing

The most impactful announcement in the latest round of enhancements is the improvement of sync times. This is very exciting news. By introducing enhanced sync timing and error notifications, wait times when using Veeva CRM will be significantly reduced. An improvement we are pleased to see and one that will be very well received by pretty much anyone working in Veeva CRM on even a semi-regular basis.

For field-teams, this means less time waiting to ensure the latest media and calls are synced, reducing the amount of fear pressing that sync button puts into the heart of the rep. For CRM admins, CLM content reviewers and MyInsights producers this will speed up the workflow to bring materials to market.

Better ways of working within teams

For improved collaboration, Veeva Vault will be integrating with Office 365, allowing multiple users to concurrently edit documents for a smoother user experience. Notifications outlining workflow steps are sent to the owner upon any action initiation, providing an efficient means to track changes and foster collaborative work on shared documents. Admins can also configure notification steps in workflows that will send a summary notification to the Workflow Owner whenever one of these actions is initiated through a workflow or state change.

Housing your data with MyInsights and Dashboards

This year, we’ve been inducted onto the brand new Veeva MyInsights partner program, cementing twentyeightb’s place as a thought leader and producer of field-enablement workflow tools. Veeva CRM MyInsights is an innovative data visualisation module that delivers the right information exactly when and where your teams need it. As a partner on this program, this enables us to demonstrate our expertise in developing tailored dashboards to fit your unique requirements.

In 23R3, there are going to be notable updates to MyInsights Studio navigation actions. The introduction of the ‘View Section’ navigation action empowers content creators to designate multiple tabs within the same group of entry points for user navigation. Upon deployment, users can choose different tabs to access new information within the same account or territory. This feature enables users to move seamlessly from a MyInsights page to a non-default Account page.

Dashboards are also set to receive an update in formatting. Users gain the ability to freely drag and resize charts on a canvas background, choosing the width of the dashboard component. Before this release, dashboards were limited to two sizes and interfaces, with fixed-width charts based on columns. This enhancement provides greater flexibility, enabling users to expand multiple charts for better metric highlighting, or wider charts for a comprehensive view of data.

If you would like more information on how we can help you harness the power of your data through Veeva MyInsights, get in touch with our expert team today.

Account Management

Users can now access their account’s affiliations, even if those affiliations belong to other organisations. This feature offers visibility into the relationships their accounts have, empowering users to make more informed decisions when planning outreach to Healthcare Professionals (HCPs).

Approved Email

We have long been advocates of arming reps with more flexible and human-oriented content, and believe that there are some types of content that we simply shouldn’t need to bother compliance with. Content such as the likes of holiday greetings or logistical documents may not need medical, regulatory, or legal review in PromoMats or MedComms. Business Admins and Content Creators can now streamline this content by directly uploading it to CRM, bypassing Veeva Vault. End users can then easily include this content as fragments when creating Approved Email messages.

Content alignment, through the use of content groups, enables customers to efficiently grant specific users access to designated content. Admins can effectively manage Approved Email and CLM content for large user groups by organising users into content groups. This feature enhances transparency, allowing customers to discern available content for different user types. Integration with Align and/or Vault further streamlines the process, enabling customers to create dashboards and reports for a comprehensive understanding of user access to specific content.

CLM – Using the HCP content player

The HCP Content Player is a dedicated browser experience enabling accounts to view content sent to them from various features of Veeva CRM. Interactions with content viewed via the HCP Content Player are tracked and saved in Veeva CRM, enabling admins to report and audit on activity of sent content. The HCP Content Player is hosted by Veeva and cannot be embedded in customer-owned pages. The HCP Content Player supports various content types, including HTML, images, PDFs, and videos.

Engage HCP with address book contacts

HCPs can now allow Veeva Engage to access their device’s address book contacts to quickly invite and share valuable resources with other HCPs. Also, HCPs will be able to send brand profile resources to new and existing connections via chat, allowing them to quickly and easily share useful information with their connections, including HCPs and CRM users.

Self-led learning with Flightpath

As highlighted in our last two Veeva Release write-ups, there is a continued focus on Flightpath – a learning tool offering overviews and examples to guide you in leveraging CRM features. The latest additions to their learning tool are on hot button topics;

  • Using Sync
  • Updates to Using Microsoft Teams
  • Creating Custom Presentations in CLM

For more information about Flightpath, you can explore our earlier article here.

As Veeva Full Service Content Partners, we stay updated to ensure our clients leverage Veeva CRM’s full capability. To learn more about how this software can empower your fieldforce, contact our expert team.

Veeva CRM – what’s coming in the 23R2 release?

The second instalment of Veeva’s 2023 CRM release roadmap sees a handful of helpful changes hitting production environments on the 10th August, including a great on-the-go feature improvement for iPhone users in the field.

This particular release builds on a couple of the key enhancements from the 23R1 updates and continues the journey towards the device agnostic experience for CRM users, which has become a notable mission for Veeva since our write up in early 2022.

Approved Email on-the-go

While modern day field team representatives may spend less time ‘out and about’ on territory than before, the convenience of being able to perform your duties using a mobile device cannot be overstated. A big step forward in this regard is an upgrade to the Veeva Approved Email functionality available natively to iPhone users.

They will now find that they can perform all the same actions that are available on Desktop, including creating, editing, sending and scheduling Approved Emails. This flexibility makes sending that quick follow up email – that can so easily be forgotten – after a call, even simpler.

Cleaning up your Call Reports

Ensuring that your CLM presentations only write accurate and useful data to the CRM is an area of best practice that we often find ourselves consulting on at twentyeightb. That may be the holy grail, however sometimes datasets such as product details can be incorrectly recorded to the Call Report. This latest release has made those errors easy to adjust, with users now able to deselect any product details that were automatically added from their CLM presentations, if they deem them not to be correct.

Protecting the scale of CLM presentations

From our experience, we often see brand and field teams testing and accessing digital sales aids using a wide range of device types and sizes. After all, that is reflective of the platform agnostic vision that Veeva is working towards.

Inevitably though, this can cause inconsistencies in how the content presents and performs. While we generally make recommendations to clients to combat this, as a fall-back Veeva have now allowed admins to lock CLM content to 1024 pixels by 768 pixels.

This upgrade has the benefit of preventing content that was developed primarily for iPad devices from becoming distorted on other, larger screens.

Outlook integration moves to real-time

Back in March, we waxed lyrical about the significance of the introduction of an integration between Microsoft Outlook calendars and the Veeva My Schedule application. In a small, but impactful update, Veeva have now shifted their sync between these two calendars from hourly to real-time. While iPad users will need to sync their devices to see the changes, they at least now know that by doing so they will see a 100% accurate representation of their calendar.

Self-led learning continues to thrive

In the last Veeva release, their self-guided learning platform, Flightpath, very much stole the headlines. It has not been left to sit dormant, either, with a number of new modules having been added. Having recently earned Veeva CRM MyInsights Partnership status, we’re particularly pleased to see modules cropping up to further industry understanding of MyInsights Studio and the benefits it can bring to reps in search of territory and account-level insights. Here are some of the new paths that have been added:

  • Using Microsoft Outlook with My Schedule
  • Using Microsoft Teams for Remote Meetings
  • Introduction to Recommended Email
  • Introduction to Stakeholder Navigator
  • Using MyInsights Studio Templates

Keen to leverage the latest Veeva updates?

As Veeva Full Service Content and CRM MyInsights partners, we stay abreast of all the latest features that can be integrated into your ways of working to maximise the value of your investment in Veeva CRM. If you have any questions about how Veeva enhancements impact you or your team/s, then just reach out – we’d be happy to share our knowledge.

New features take flight in Veeva 23R1 release

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.

Veeva 22R3 Release – What’s new?

The final Veeva update of 2022 hits production environments on 8th December, but if you’re in marketing, CRM, commercial or sales roles, what should you expect to see change?

Hot off the heels of the EU Veeva Summit in Madrid – at which we were delighted to be among a small number of agency partner exhibitors – comes the Veeva 22R3 release. While the Summit of course focused on the bigger picture around Veeva’s role in the life sciences industry, this latest release hones in on smaller, practical updates designed to enhance rep to HCP engagement. Here’s our pick of the updates:

Favourite fragments

A neat, user friendly addition that will further improve uptake of rep triggered email functionality is the addition of a ‘favourite’ button. Taking the form of a heart icon, this function allows reps to create their own personalised list of favourite templates and fragments, making quick composition of emails even speedier.

More opportunities to trigger your emails

We are great advocates of in-call emails, launched directly from sales aids so are pleased to see this latest update. With the launch of Approved Email and queryRecord functions now being supported on the CRM Desktop (Mac) platform, integrated approved emails are supported on another platform which offers further opportunity to engage HCPs beyond the call.

A whole host of Engage enhancements

This particular release has seen a string of updates to the Engage platform, a handful of which are sure to have a positive impact on both HCP and rep in-call experience.

  • Sending websites and auto-published CLM content via Web Link or QR Code on iPhone
  • Quick sharing CLM content in Engage Meeting
  • Blocking out unavailable time slots on the Engage scheduling site
  • Allowing chat between HCPs in Engage and Engage Connect

CLM content comes to iPhone

Content being more accessible across a range of devices is a stated aim for Veeva and they deliver in this release, with iPhone users now able to view CLM in the CRM for iPhone app. While there is some VMOC configuration required, this is a useful update for on-the-go field teams looking to review and share content from their media libraries with HCPs.

CRM embraces Android

The further step in the Veeva journey to a platform agnostic experience for reps sees CRM for Android arrive in beta. This will enable users to perform standard daily CRM tasks from their Android phones.

With so many beneficial updates packed into this release, it remains to be seen how Veeva will continue their progress against the Summit theme of ‘the race to high value engagement’ in their first release of the New Year, 23R1. If you or your colleagues are keen to learn more about how you could harness these updates to optimise the experience of your reps and their customers, why not book a free workshop with our team?

As Veeva Full Service Content Partners, we’re well placed to advise you on any upcoming Veeva Approved Email, digital sales aid development, or MyInsights dashboard project you may be considering.

Veeva 22R2 Release – Making HCP engagement even smoother

As Veeva moves ever closer to the platform agnostic experience promised in the materials surrounding the Veeva 22R1 release, the second iteration of 2022 has seen some subtle but high impact improvements to efficient, personalised HCP engagement.

Personalised is the key word here. No amount of head office marketing emails can replace the context and experience that Pharma reps and KAMs can provide when provided with the right tools. Call-to-action driven, customisable and easy-to-access Veeva Approved Email (VAE) templates can, however, provide the best of both worlds.

To reap the benefits of VAEs, you may be wondering how Veeva is progressing to make it easier for the end user; here are our key takeaways from the Veeva 22R2 release. 

Email Tab – centralising your email efforts

Resisting the urge to default to the familiar comfort of Outlook can be a challenge for field teams – so Veeva knew they needed to make the administration of Veeva Approved Emails more accessible. The new Email Tab is a notable step towards that.

With the advanced tracking capabilities of a VAE, far greater insight into customer behaviours and preferences can be brought in-house to drive data-driven decision making. By housing these in a centralised location within the CRM menu, Veeva should see VAE adoption increase as users seek to take advantage of approved messaging, tracking and personalisation that well-configured VAEs can bring. With folders for draft, scheduled and sent emails, the Email Tab makes templating easier – saving time and keeping all the related information stored and secured in the CRM for useful customer insights further down the line.

Related to this new tab is the ability to save an email as draft and navigate to other areas of the application without losing your work – particularly handy if you need to check some details elsewhere in the CRM before sending.

Search experience enhancements making accounts easier to find

As a new rep on territory, navigating your accounts can be a daunting first hurdle. As you start to learn more about the individuals on your territory, you may find that while not all the names have stuck in your head just yet, some other characteristics or attributes will have. This is where Veeva’s improved account picker comes into its own.

With a large number of fields now included in the search functionality, forgetting the Doctor’s name after a call should no longer stop you from recording it against their CRM record. Even just knowing a little bit about that HCP should be enough, with all the below fields available to search:

  • Account
    • Formatted_Name_vod__c
    • Account_Identifier_vod__c
    • Furigana_vod__c
    • NPI_vod__c
    • Account_Search_FirstLast_vod__c
    • Account_Search_LastFirst_vod__c
  • Address_vod (searches across all addresses)
    • Name
    • Address_Line_2_vod__c
    • City_vod__c
    • State_vod__c
    • Zip_vod__c
    • Phone_vod__c
    • License_vod__c

Forgot the name of Dr. Smith, but know he is a Dermatologist at a specific centre? The address object search has now got you covered. What’s more, if you’re preparing for a call and having to rack your brains on which CLM presentation is most appropriate,  you can now search in-slide content to find the key message that you know will resonate best with that HCP. If your media repository has become large and unwieldy, this is a really handy feature.

A more comfortable in-person presenting experience

Coming slightly later than the main release (11th August 2022), the Remote CLM update is a timely one as we see face-to-face meetings tentatively increasing post-pandemic.

Remote CLM gives the HCP a friction-free way of viewing the content that is being presented by the rep on their own device – meaning no leaning across the table to share an iPad screen. This is a great way to ensure personal space is maintained and that the HCP can effectively keep up with the content that is being presented. What’s more, the calls don’t need to be in Veeva Engage and there is no need for the HCP to install any applications as they can access the content through a link shared using social messaging apps, verbally, or with a QR code.

If you’re keen to learn more about Veeva’s capabilities as a selling effectiveness tool, why not book a free Veeva workshop for your team? As Veeva Full Service Content Partners, we’re well placed to advise you on any upcoming Veeva Approved Email, digital sales aid development, or MyInsights dashboard project you may be considering.

Veeva 22R1 Release – Platform agnostic experience close to becoming a reality

The first 2022 update in Veeva’s cycle of annual releases was rolled out to production environments on 14th April 2022, accompanied by a big splash around the array of platforms and operating systems that are supported by Veeva CRM. It’s a big year for Veeva’s technology, with the goal of making Veeva CRM accessible and effective across Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android before 2022 draws to a close. 

Veeva CRM no longer ‘just’ an iPad tool

With the launch of a Windows desktop version being the headline of the 22R1 release, Veeva CRM begins the journey of providing choice and flexibility to the pharmaceutical field force who since March 2020 have found themselves largely in front of a computer rather than ‘out in the field’. Windows CRM Desktop for Windows is an automatic upgrade on the previous CRM Engage app and intends to provide users with access to media libraries whenever they need it. The new upgrade will be included in all existing Veeva licences. 

With the iPad no longer being the de facto tool of choice given the paucity of in-person sales call opportunities, the evolution of the Windows application can reduce device switching and lead to a better user experience for both reps and their customers on territory. This is just the first step of a clear vision to make everything currently available to users on their iPad, available across all devices and platforms with no increase in licence fees.

Veeva are moving towards a true centralised ‘content repository’ – create/approve once, deliver across multiple channels. It makes complete sense: it affords a consistent user experience, it’s flexible, and it gives reps further opportunity to adapt to the needs of the HCP – it turns “sorry, I don’t have time” into “send me the link and I’ll take a look”.

The primary consideration, then, is for both brand teams and content partners to understand the complete context around what this means for their CLM materials. In order to make the most of these new features we’re no longer talking about a ‘digitised’ version of a paper sales aid, but instead creating a living content delivery application that adapts to its environment to give the rep fingertip access to the right information and features at exactly the right time – whether they’re in the office with a laptop, or on the move with a tablet or mobile phone.

This update from Veeva represents a huge step forward in how reps can use and share approved content. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of engaging with not only seasoned web content experts capable of designing and developing truly responsive content, but also Veeva platform experts to provide context and valuable insights on how best to leverage these responsive features.

Paul Cryer, CTO – 28b

Veeva 22R1 release highlights

So, what else stood out from the 14th April release? Using our in-depth knowledge of CLM best practice for field teams, we’ve highlighted our pick of the highest impact updates.

Standard metrics

In pursuit of richer and more consistent data, both for the pharma companies and (on an aggregated level) Veeva themselves, a number of new standard metrics have been introduced against the call report record. Call channel, user type and user country will become required fields on every call report, making useful fields available for analysis and benchmarking. This is a welcome update for marketing and commercial teams struggling to leverage field force call preference information from Veeva CRM. 

More compliant control of call channels

As CRM, legal and compliance teams continue to drive for rep to HCP engagements that are code compliant, Veeva’s move to include admin controlled restrictions on channel options will be most welcome. This update now means that call channel options for Browser (Classic) users can be better controlled by the admins, who can omit non-compliant call channel options from the call report picklists.

Dynamic in-call website sharing

Objection handling and presenting information to genuinely meet the needs of the HCP on-the-fly has always been a challenge in our highly regulated industry. By enabling website content housed within the Veeva CRM media library to be shared during calls and Engage Meetings, Veeva have made a positive step towards providing reps with the content tools to present more effectively and naturally. All content is previously approved and easy to navigate to, making for a smooth segway from the CLM presentation.

Further to this, reps will now be given the tools to send web links from the media library directly to HCPs using social messaging apps. Admins can add tracking tokens to website links to track visitor engagement with specific websites and identify where and when the link was shared – a rich and valuable source of engagement data when it comes to identifying high and low performing content.

Providing useful links for a rep to dynamically use in-call is fantastic. This reduces the compliance burden that the rep may feel in-call, where in the face of an objection, is split on what information they can or can’t share… And conversely, for the compliance teams, this system helps ensure that the links that can be shared in-call are surrounded by the appropriate disclaimers – For example, ‘This is a promotional website for UK HCPs only’. With built-in tracking, this reduces the digital/brand teams burden of manually assigning UTM links and ensuring that the use is actually evaluated.

Ben Keppie, Pharmaceutical Consultant – 28b

Easy to schedule meetings

After two years of increased video meetings and toing and froing to schedule in video calls with remote team members or customers, anything that cuts down on the back and forth will be well received! The Engage Scheduling site can now be linked to in an Approved Email to customer, allowing them to provide their availability and contact preferences – crucial information for a rep or KAM looking to plan their engagements with the HCPs on their territory. With turning up at a hospital in the hope of getting a meeting with an HCP having become very much a no-go since COVID-19, getting a better understanding of your customers preferences for meeting can go a long way to building a more meaningful connection with them.

Sending Web Links for Website Content

To allow users to send websites with approved content to HCPs through non-email channels, users can send web links from the media library directly to HCPs using social messaging apps. Admins can add tracking tokens to website links to track visitor engagement with specific websites and identify where and when the link was shared.

New iPads or a desktop field force?

This latest Veeva release has seen further iOS versions join the ‘no longer supported’ list. Veeva CRM now requires iPadOS/iOS devices to be running iOS14 or greater, which in our experience of developing iPad tools for field teams, could mean a lot of devices ceasing to be useful. It will be interesting to see whether pharma companies take the plunge to invest in shiny new iPads or with Veeva promising a platform agnostic experience by the end of 2022, whether the iPad starts to give way in favour of a desktop-first way of working for reps.

If you’re interested to find out more about the latest changes in Veeva CRM/CLM and how they could be leveraged for greater sales effectiveness, or advice on how to make best use of any of the new features in order to better optimise your use of Veeva, then please get in touch with our expert team.

How Dashboards Can Drive Deeper Insights

‘Insights’ runs the risk of becoming a massively overused word in the pharma space, having become one of the go-to expressions around any consultancy, marketing, advertising or in fact any businesses boardroom table. An insight can only be drawn if the data from which it was gleaned is accurate, specific, sufficient in volume and digestible. In the pharma industry this has typically been a challenge – which is why the power of the ‘dashboard’ is an important topic.

What do we know about dashboards?

We’re all familiar with dashboards – but in most cases will take their usefulness for granted. Even the most basic of automotive dashboards pulls together data from a number of different sources, such as the fuel tank gauge, mechanical speedometer, radio etc. This dashboard automatically generates insights for the driver such as how many miles we are likely to be able to continue driving until needing to refuel. 

This combination of two accurate metrics to create an ‘insight’ is a simple, but powerful example of how we are all able to make smarter, more informed decisions on a daily basis as a result of a dashboard.

Regardless of the sector, space, input or output, ultimately that is what we are all looking to achieve. In pharma, the technology exists, the next step is the education as to how they can be utilised to drive purposeful, data-led business decisions.

Dashboards in Veeva

There are any number of dashboard providers and solutions out there which all do a pretty good job, the real challenge, and value comes in how well you integrate them with your data sources and ideally your CRM and CLM solutions. In pharma that really only means one thing these days…Veeva. The good news is Veeva already offers a simple, effective and highly customisable dashboard solution, Veeva CRM MyInsights. You can read our guide to getting more from Veeva CRM MyInsights here.

Like any dashboard, the outputs are only as strong as the inputs. In our previous guide, we focused primarily on how medical sales reps out in the field could benefit from having a customisable dashboard of information to hand during a presentation. Opening up data that would previously have been trapped in hefty business intelligence tools or (God forbid) spreadsheets and enabling a sales rep to have present this in person to HCPS through a digital sales aid (DSA) has undeniable benefits when it comes to objection handling and the overall sales process.

However, equally as powerful, is the opportunity to reflect on field data that has been gathered once you’re back at the office. What fresh insights are these sales appointments generating about the motivators and habits of HCPs and how can these insights be used to increase salesforce effectiveness? Also, where dynamic and interactive edetailing solutions have been employed – can the interactions recorded within the appointments be used to better inform design and development decisions?

Essentially it’s a rhetorical question as the answer is ‘absolutely’, however only if content is created in a way that harnesses the power of Veeva analytics.

The power of customised dashboards in Veeva CRM

The ‘out the box’ dashboards in Veeva CRM can be extremely useful. You can view a number of examples in our guide to MyInsights.

Even these pre-existing dashboards can be leveraged to create additional custom insights by working with Veeva Content Partners such as the team here at twentyeightb. However, that’s just where the possibilities start, as with highly customised and interactive edetailing content, comes the opportunity to create additional custom visualizations.

  • Measure the reaction of the HCP to various messages. Test different messaging for different HCPs and gauge the aggregate reaction through a dashboard to implement a test and learn approach.
  • Gather data on the potential use of a drug. Interactive tables and charts allow for data to be collected on the needs of the HCP, that can then be fed through into data visualisations and dashboards.
  • Blended data. There is massive scope to combine data points and ensure that a visualisation is even more striking.

Wondering whether the dashboard in your mind’s eye is possible in Veeva CRM? Get in touch with our team who can provide expert consultancy, combined with Veeva-approved development skills to bring your data visualisation to life. 

 

Veeva CRM & Vault 21R1 Release – What’s New?

The latest release (21R1) of updates to Veeva CRM and Veeva Vault rolled out for general availability on 8th & 16th April 2021 respectively. As with most releases from Veeva, 21R1 contains a vast number of feature enhancements, adjustments and fixes, which on this occasion centre predominantly around Veeva Vault & Promomats, although there are a few key enhancements to the CRM.

To save you time, we’ve picked out the highest impact updates for CRM/CLM optimisation and effectiveness.

Key DSA Effectiveness Updates From 21R1

CRM Users Attending an Engage Meeting

With face-to-face meetings having made way for remote presentations, it has become more challenging for field team managers to observe meetings or deliver training. Joining virtual meetings on Veeva CRM Engage Meeting had been a hassle and required a workaround, so Veeva’s update to allow meeting hosts to invite any CRM users to join remote meetings will be very welcome.

Video Playback Speed Controller

As a result of the huge shift to remote presentations, video has become a more effective sales tool than ever before. However, rich media without sufficient control for the viewer can cause UX friction and frustration.

Fortunately, this latest update – when enabled – gives the HCP greater control over the presentation they are viewing, by being able to speed up or slow down video that plays within Vault. The handy +/- buttons within the player make it easy to toggle all the way from 0.25x normal speed right up to 2x. It is worth noting that this functionality isn’t currently supported on Android devices.

MyInsights Studio

Generating actionable insights from data gathered in the field is a huge area of opportunity for brand and sales team leaders, so Veeva’s move to open up MyInsights dashboard creation to non-developers could be a significant step forwards. Access to the new MyInsights studio can be requested by a support ticket and will mean that companies can begin to create their own interactive visualisations and custom pages for direct deployment to Veeva CRM. This is a chance to ‘dip a toe in the water’ of the huge opportunities that exist within MyInsights, which may well in turn encourage greater interest in the more powerful selling effectiveness dashboards that we have seen prove so valuable to some of our clients.

Modular Content: Create & Approve Modules

A term that we at twentyeightb champion as being at the heart of efficiency creation within content management, ‘modular content’ continues to evolve as a concept within the Veeva ecosystem. This latest release is a further step in the right direction; providing users with the framework to create and approve content modules, which can then in turn be reused in multiple material pieces.

This centralised control over Claims Library items, image documents, and data assets and the rulesets that can be applied to them promises significant time-savings if effectively adopted. We believe there’s a lot more to come from Veeva around modular content, so sign up to our newsletter to get key updates throughout the year ahead.

What Else Changed In 21R1?

For those more involved in compliance, CRM and asset management there were a handful of other updates of real note.

Rich Text Fields for Vault Objects

While formatting options are commonly known and used within Veeva, the 21R1 update sees these options made available to format the content of field values. The configurability of formats including text alignment, font size and font family can now be used by Admins across text fields to configure Rich Text, such as:

  • Object list pages
  • Object detail pages
  • Reporting
  • Workflows
  • VQL
  • Vault Loader
  • Exports
  • APIs

Auditing and compliance may determine that information needs to be captured in a specific format, so the above change provides additional opportunity for you to ensure that content entered in text fields is stored in the exact format required – saving on admin and compliance headaches.

Video Review: Bringing Forward Annotations

The video approvals process has also been made a little bit easier with this release. Annotations of amends or updates can now be brought forward on video documents to the most recent version of the document. This removes some friction around version management in a format whereby amends can be costly and time consuming to make, so carefully tracking changes can really make a difference.

Multi-Document Workflow: Edit Document Fields

Another positive move towards streamlining the content production process, this UI update makes it easier for users to make changes to document fields within the multi-document workflow viewer. With the process of selecting/ deselecting various files within a batch having been simplified, users should experience efficiencies while also reducing the risk of manual errors.

Web Tab URL Tokens

This update brings with it the ability to integrate an external web application with Vault, through some basic cross-interaction via query string. This provides the benefit of being able to convey content that sits outside of Vault in a controlled and regulated manner, that also doesn’t inhibit the user journey.

If you’re interested in reading the full list of updates included within the 21R1 release, you can find the CRM release notes here and the Vault release notes here. As ever, if you’d like advice on how to make best use of any of the new features in order to better optimise your use of Veeva, then please get in touch with our expert team.