The paperless office. It’s something many people have envisioned ever since computers began sitting on virtually every desk. Some industries are closer to achieving a paperless—or at least paper-limited—state than others. The life sciences industry is not one of them yet. In fact many of these companies find themselves buried by more paper rather than less these days.
One major paper generator is the industry’s need for the promotional review committee (PRC) to approve marketing content. While some companies have shifted to a more effective, electronic PRC process, many are still burdened by a paper-based, manual method that consumes countless hours of staff time and reams of paper. Companies that opt for an automated tool to streamline the PRC’s work save both substantial time and money when it comes to content preparation, review, and post-approval activities.
Preparation of Content
Take an example of a two-page promotional piece that has six references at 10 pages each. This turns into a 62-page packet that has to be printed, organized, and distributed once the paperwork is completed, of course. The packet then generally passes manually from one reviewer to the next; typically, a PRC may include five or six people.
Now imagine there are 500 pieces of content to review per year—very realistic for a mid-sized, global company. At 62 pages per packet, that’s 31,000 pages. Think of the forest that gave its life, not to mention the cost of those materials.
With an electronic marketing content review process, companies reap cost savings by:
- Reducing the staff time required to prepare content for PRC approval
- Eliminating the paper and folders used to create the packets
Content Review
Paper-based organizations are hindered by the need for PRC members to work in close proximity—so they can handoff review packets from one person to the next—or resort to time-consuming scanning and printing to keep things moving. Either way, the manual process can take weeks or months to complete.
With the shift to an electronic marketing content review process, companies realize a huge return on their investment by significantly reducing review times. Content gets approved faster and with a higher degree of accuracy. We know one company that reduced its total review cycle time from fifty days down to fives. Yes, the new cycle time was 10 times faster.
Cost savings come from reductions in:
- Manual clerical errors (typos, inaccurate dates, etc.), which result in the need for reprinting and re-signing documents
- Delay-to-market connected with lengthy review processes
- Administrative costs associated with paper-based method.
Post-Approval Activities
Content is not a done deal once approved—it lives on and, therefore, the review process must be accessible. Questions come up routinely. When was an asset approved? Who approved it? How can I find all European content within a particular date range for an internal audit? Do I have the latest version?
Finding the answer to these and many other questions is quick any easy with an automated PRC tool. With a paper-based manual process, it’s neither quick nor easy.
An electronic PRC process delivers cost savings by:
- Reducing or eliminating document retrieval time
- Reducing or eliminating the need for physical document storage (remember the 31,000 pages per year that have to be archived for up to 15 years)
- Pushing approved marketing content automatically to appropriate sales team members.
Adopting an electronic PRC process will not magically give you a totally paperless environment, but it can dramatically cut down on your paper consumption and add up to significant savings of time and money before, during, and after content review.
If you’d like to learn how Pepper Flow can boost the effectiveness of your PRC process, contact us at hello@vodori.com.