Turn on the microphones! Communication during Covid-19

Communication during Covid-19 has changed a lot as the Pandemic has forced many professionals and companies to change the way they interact with their customers. After a period spent hunting for the best platforms, holding endless meetings and above all experiencing a great sense of bewilderment, there was an upsurge in productivity and efficiency that made us realize that, perhaps, even from this dramatic situation, we can learn and improve our way of working.  

What has changed

The most significant change for all of us has been the impossibility of seeing each other. The lack of physical contact has indeed precluded all those gestures that conveyed availability, empathy and security to our interlocutor, and therefore gave us the possibility of transmitting messages in the simplest way, i.e. through our bodies.

Facial expressions, voice, touch, posture, clothing, everything has been replaced by profile pictures, animated backgrounds and microphones that turn on and off as needed.

Let’s face it, who among you hasn’t heard the infamous words “you’re on mute!” during a meeting? Exactly. 

This first phase triggered a run-up to digital media in order to safeguard revenues and keep jobs safe. Inevitably, some sectors were unfortunately affected more than others, but those who eventually found a way to reinvent themselves and communicate with their customers were able to emerge and adapt their business by making digitalization the strong point.

The Reaction

Professionals and companies have taken different directions: some have increased the use of digital channels thanks to e-mail, ADs and so on, while others have introduced or developed specific solutions to be able to make Remote Calls.

It wasn’t easy, as people had to deal with a very rapid change in the way they worked. This was particularly challenging for those working in the pharmaceutical sector, such as medical representatives, who were used to making face-to-face visits and who initially suffered a disastrous impact on the effectiveness of their work.

In order to meet the new digital needs, Trueblue has developed a solution entirely dedicated to Pharma & Life Science markets that allows medical representatives to create points of contact with physicians during lockdown periods.

This allowed them first and foremost to improve communication during Covid-19, while simultaneously increasing productivity by employing a multi-channel strategy.  

AI’s key role in this communication shift

With the aim of facilitating the adoption of this change, some companies have introduced Artificial Intelligence, not only as an accelerator towards digital, but also as the building block of a radical change that includes a new way of doing business that will last over time.

Eighty-eight percent of Executives believe they must leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve their growth objectives, and nearly all of them consider AI to be strategic. The vast majority believe that achieving a positive return on AI investments requires scaling across the organization. However, 76% report they struggle with how to scale. In addition, three out of four managers believe that by not scaling AI in the next five years, they would put their business at risk.

Source: Accenture: AI: Built to scale 

This confirms that Artificial Intelligence cannot and must not represent a temporary solution to face the crisis we are experiencing but, rather, a strategic added value, able to considerably change a series of internal processes that include not only strategy but also operations, with the aim of achieving company objectives.

In this scenario takes place the significant collaboration of Trueblue with Microsoft, which allowed us to create a product fully driven by AI, able to bridge the gap between strategy and execution thanks to a fully multi-channel approach of Smart Customer Engagement where the user experience becomes simple and intuitive.

Digital Transformation combined with innovation in terms of Artificial Intelligence is therefore confirmed as the protagonist of a new normality, both current and future, able to positively revolutionize the way pharmaceutical companies work.

Conclusion

Communication during Covid-19 has been challenging, but not impossible, for many of us.

Digital and technology fans like me will be surely appreciating the potential that comes from this acceleration that allows us to measure and analyze what and how we communicate, but more importantly, to correct our actions quickly, thanks to the support of data.

Of course, it would have been better to come to this change without having to wait for a global pandemic.

A big hug to all those who have had to deal with COVID-19 or lost loved ones in this pandemic. We have always been a fighting people; we will come out of this moment too.

Luca Caucchioli