CRM, the Strategic Ally for Measuring Success

Q: Alliancesfa offers sales force solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. What are your main products?

A: We are focused exclusively on the pharmaceutical industry in Mexico and Latin America. Our main product is a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) with and without real-time geolocation but we also offer e-learning programs, visual aids, business intelligence and data validation. We are working on replicating in veterinary care, oral health and medical devices what we have done in pharma.

Q: What benefits does CRM provide the Mexican and Latin American pharmaceutical industry?

A: An adequate program will make operations more formal and efficient. Companies should know the doctors who are prescribing their products, where those doctors are located and everything that must be considered in direct marketing. If pharmaceutical companies know this, they can develop better communication and management of their sales because a company cannot control what it does not measure.

Q: How can Kangaroo, your CRM software, make a difference for clients?

A: Kangaroo is the current generation of our software. Its objective is to help companies advance in a faster and simpler way. The product was developed in Mexico and is updated along with Android and iOS and we are also evaluating the possibility of making it available for Windows. Kangaroo is operating version 2.5, but version 3.0 will be launched by the end of 2017. We apply the same international standards as any other provider in terms of data centers, development and management and we use Structure Query Language (SQL) to manage our database and Microsoft for software development. However, unlike other software, our applications are specially designed for Latin America. In Mexico, sales representatives are assigned a territory or a route and a list of physicians they have to visit. Our system eliminates the applications that are not useful for a developing market and adds those that help simplify the local model’s operation and make it faster. Our integrated audit information and geolocation applications enable a company to know where representatives are and to keep track of who is working and who is not.

Q: How would you evaluate the current state of the Mexican pharmaceutical market?

A: Every market is linked to the population. The Mexican market is covered in terms of product necessity and common diseases. However, there is an increase in the number of players. Demand is also dispersed because pharma companies sell similar products. We could generate more savings and improve profitability through more precise software and a better recruiting process. As a country and as an industry we should recognize that digital transformation is not optional, it is a requirement.

Q: What added value does Alliancesfa bring to the pharmaceutical industry?

A: We provide customized solutions. We are inviting our clients to integrate their sales force to the evaluation process and, besides providing the software, we are involved in the whole process. We act as consultants to orient our clients on how to achieve better practices and policies for the medical visit and we perform frequent updates to the system based on client needs. Client requests are evaluated by a committee and accepted changes are offered to all clients. We are a trustworthy provider and we are committed to working with those customers who resist change to make sure they easily adapt to the CRM. We assure our clients that we will help them reach their objectives.

Q: What are Alliancesfa’s growth expectations, both in the short and long terms?

A: By 2018 we want to double the number of users we administer today and by 2020 double that number again. From 2020 onward, we want to grow in the sectors we are integrating this year, veterinary care, medical devices and oral health, and replicate the value we have provided to the pharmaceutical industry.