With the world looking forward to India for a significant pharmaceutical miracle, no one can overlook India’s upcoming boom in the global pharma market.
The rise in joint ventures between foreign and Indian pharma companies proves that India can make world-class products at affordable prices.
Along with the development of pharmaceutical companies, Pharmaceutical Machinery manufacturers are also advancing themselves to meet the challenges of pharmaceutical industries.
As per research, the Indian Pharma Machinery Industry is growing at a rate of 15-20% annually and is successfully supplying machines to the pharmaceutical industry in India and worldwide.
A bright future and a steadily growing horizon are in sight for the Indian Pharma Machinery industry.
It has become the need of the hour for Indian pharma machinery manufacturers to quickly prepare for the upcoming change by adapting higher technological systems to match the latest product patent administration and an enhanced ratio of Indian pharmaceutical exports to advanced markets.
And to aid these developments and, as a whole, streamline their sales and marketing systems, the pharma machinery and medical equipment industry should equip itself with the Customer Relationship Management(CRM) technology.
As per a Grand View Research, the global Customer Relationship Management market size was valued at USD 40.2 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 14.2% from 2020 to 2027. CRM is the fastest growing software market today.
It was a $14 billion industry in 2010 and is expected to reach $80 billion by 2025. That’s nearly a 600% increase.
The growth graph of the CRM market is an exceedingly increasing one.
So, why have various sectors started investing in CRM so excessively for the last few years?
Investments in CRM by the Pharma Machinery Industry globally are huge.
Does CRM really pertain to the specific need of this manufacturing industry?
Over my years of experience in studying, analyzing, and developing CRM, I can confidently say that CRM, if strategically used and fully incorporated in your daily dealings, can give you multifold returns.
And to specifically discuss the pharma machinery sector, I have listed out some challenges that this industry faces and how CRM helps in solving them.
Seal the leakages in the longer sales cycle
The Indian pharma machinery industry is trying to be on par with the international standards and hence have started following proper procedures and regulations demanded by international buyers.
This industry is perfectly evolving with the changing times but one of the major challenges it still faces is the long-running sales cycles. The enduring sales timeline leads to missouts of opportunities, leads follow-ups, and service assistance.
A CRM is a closed-loop lead management system that gives you diligent in-depth statistics of the entire business to identify any shortcomings and ease the decision-making process.
The complete visibility of all the teams and their working ensure the business runs on a track and is free of any major or even minor hindrances.
However prolonged the sales pattern is, CRM ensures every single activity is reported and examined. Precise and error-free reports give a very clearer picture of your business standing and its intrinsic working.
Keep a customer database and touch bases in one place
In its need for growth, the pharma machinery industry has been compelled to expand its firms all over the globe. Along with digital presence, you cannot replace the need to have a physical presence across the geographical expanse to create a niche for your brand.
And when your customer base increases, the first thing you require is a centralized data storing and management system to facilitate easy access and streamlining of customers’ information.
This is where the cloud-based CRMs come into the picture.
Cloud CRMs are easy to use, give round-the-clock access, and erase out the complicated installation process. The cloud CRMs also assure a high level of security to which is a concern for the pharma machinery industry.
Cloud-based systems have given rise to Mobile-CRM, a boon for the salespeople.
Research shows that, on average, 65% of salespeople who adopt mobile CRM meet their sales quotas. Only 22% of salespeople who don’t leverage mobile CRM meet their quotas.
Mobile-CRM has enabled easy updates and data access from anywhere and at any time.
Have accurate demand forecasting
Indian pharma equipment manufacturers and their Western counterparts frequently are seizing partnerships and collaborations with each other to innovate or share new technology.
In the future, it will not be unexpected to find a huge upsurge in demand for Indian pharmaceutical machinery. To gain competitive leverage, accurate forecasting of demands is essential to efficiently plan and design your manufacturing processes.
CRM has intelligently designed demand forecasting calculation algorithms that provide you astute forecasting based on your historical sales data and previous trends. This industry can accurately foresee its products’ upcoming sales in the market and plan their processes accordingly.
With a preemptive understanding of upcoming inquiries, sales goals are easily achievable.
This will sever your production costs and make you market-ready.
Improve TAT for customer service
For an upward spiral of your company, along with gaining new customers and opportunities for brand expansion, it is equally essential to retain your present and past customers to build loyalty and induce trust. The same is true and applies to new customers.
Effective handling and a specified Turnaround Time (TAT) should be incorporated to ensure customer satisfaction at every stage of the sales process.
With Indian manufacturers seeking global markets, this is of umpteen importance to match to their standards of punctuality and timeliness.
With CRM, customer communication, interaction, plus query resolution at every level of sales funnel is guaranteed.
As per a market study and customer data research in edge CRM, we have witnessed a 40% increase in response time to prospects and clients.
This is possible when the sales and services are duly aligned, and provisions for timely escalations are provided. A CRM records, collects, and analyzes every customer interaction, and quick follow up ensures no slip in the crack issue.
Improve the quality of the product
Indian machinery industry understands the pharmaceutical industry's stringent requirements and can produce international quality at affordable prices. When we are competing with the global market, improving the quality of our products is critical.
Survey data indicates that 64.2% of companies using a CRM rate the technology as “impactful” or “very impactful” to their ability to produce great results and grow their businesses. (Source: LinkedIn)
A CRM gives you end-to-end visibility of the business. When you get a 360-degree holistic view of your customers, their requirements, their complaints, thorough sales pipeline, and growth statistics, you can pinpoint precisely the improvement areas.
Manufacturing industries have registered high productivity and an increase in their overall understanding of their business standing. All this leads to the enrichment of the product and service standards.
Keep your customer engaged & enrich your relationship
Last but not the least, it all boils down to customer satisfaction.
As surveys indicate, customer experience is set to overtake product and price as the main driver behind consumers’ purchasing decisions. A well-treated customer is a happy one and a loyal one too.
The ultimate aim of any industry is developing and enriching the experience for their customer.
As its name suggests, Customer Relationship Management is a tool that helps you build long-lasting relations with your customer.
Our pharma machinery clients have seen an almost 42% hike in client retention. They say it is the result of their business process being smooth-running and their sales pipelines up-to-date and simplified.
My Final Thoughts
Covid-19 impact
India has a lion’s share in fighting this Covid-19 pandemic.
Investors are fueling fresh investments in the Indian Pharma industry, and subsequently in the Indian Pharma machinery sector.
I would say, a manufacturing revolution is on its way with the Indian machinery industry all set to make its mark on the global scene.
So, these industries should now grab this opportunity. And, adopting a CRM system will revolutionize their businesses.
Hope this article was insightful for you. I would look forward to your thoughts and feedback.
And if you belong to the pharma machinery industry, let me know if I missed any points.
Share your CRM stories with us.
