NoInk Extends Wireless CRM To Pharmaceuticals Arena
02/17/2004 – NoInk Communications, a provider of integrated handheld and Web-based software for the medical device industry, is expanding into the pharmaceutical industry. In the second quarter the company will release Pharma-SalesAccelerator, a new suite of applications specifically designed to “improve productivity and increase performance of pharmaceutical sales organizations.”NoInk partnered with PediaMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company devoted exclusively to the health of children, to assist with the development of the new product line.
“Pharma-SalesAccelerator builds on our leading-edge mobile applications that have proven successful throughout the medical industry,” said Robert Compton, chairman and chief executive officer for NoInk. “We currently have a powerful SFA (sales force automation) solution deployed by medical companies across the country and a long history of solving mobile sales issues. Our experience and expertise, blended with the PediaMed partnership, ensure our ability to address the specialized needs of pharma sales and the FDA regulatory requirements inherent to the process.”
NoInk says Pharma-SalesAccelerator “will help pharmaceutical companies increase efficiency in the sampling process; better manage their ever-growing databases of physician contact information; meet the FDA’s stringent tracking and reporting requirements for product samples and distribution verification; increase sales productivity within large geographic territories; and improve sales performance in an increasingly competitive industry.”
“It’s refreshing to see a company like NoInk spending the time necessary to truly understand what our sales reps and management team deal with on a day-to-day basis. Working side-byside for the last several months has given NoInk an in-depth view of how we, and other pharmaceutical companies, sell and how we can be more productive in the process,” commented Cameron Durrant, MD, president of PediaMed Pharmaceuticals. “While we provided the industry insight, NoInk brought the technical and mobile solutions competency to the relationship. The end result of this partnership will be a cost-effective, leading-edge set of SFA, sampling and marketing applications for pharmaceutical companies.”
Unlike other pharma SFA systems that offer management-driven solutions, notes NoInk, it has engineered its suite of applications from the sales rep’s perspective: “By directly addressing the daily needs of mobile pharmaceutical sales reps while providing for management’s review and analytics, NoInk is confident that its solution will be readily adopted by the industry. The company uses a ‘field-tested’ product development strategy to ‘walk in the shoes’ of its users before developing applications. Keeping with this philosophy, NoInk representatives have shadowed PediaMed’s and other pharmaceutical companies’ sales reps on physician calls to experience, first-hand, the challenges of the industry’s sales process. This direct experience will be reflected and incorporated in NoInk’s new product line. NoInk’s Pharma-SalesAccelerator builds upon the company’s current mobile technology platform, which is being used by more than 3,000 medical sales professionals. Its suite of applications will include Account Manager, Field Communications, Sales Call Planner, Product Manager, Document Manager, Launch Booster, Event Manager and Sample Manager,” NoInk concludes.
