Contact centers must focus today on how to meet the needs of customers who are increasingly mobile, increasingly connected, and increasingly impatient with slow service. To keep up with competition, companies must investigate new tools they could adopt in the near future to support a growing variety of customer interaction channels. Leading organizations are increasingly modernizing technology and expanding connectivity options to optimize customer relations. This benchmarking research study provides participants with current metrics for call center performance in relation to new technology use. The study also examines future trends for call centers. Best Practices, LLC conducted this benchmarking study to provide participants with critical insights, reliable metrics, and trends data they can use to assess their operations and to help to shape overall strategic direction. This report provides reliable performance and service metrics call center leaders can use to compare themselves to their industry peers. It also looks at: -Budget and staff size -New customer interaction channels -Innovative uses of social media -The role of vendors in call center management -Trends that are driving technology evolution in high-performing contact center organizations. Participating companies represent biopharmaceutical, OTC (over-the-counter drugs), medical device, diagnostics, and consumer packaged goods companies.

1. Creating a World-Class Call Center
in North America’s Current
Healthcare Environment:
Performance Metrics, Operations, Structures and
Trends
Best Practices, LLC
Strategic Benchmarking Research
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BEST PRACTICES,
®
LLC

2. Table of Contents
I.
Executive Summary





Research Project Overview
Participating Companies
Key Insights & Benchmark Findings
Key Performance Metrics at a Glance
Definitions
II.
Call Center Structure & Focus
III.
Operations
IV.
Complaint Management Process
V.
Performance Metrics
VI.
Technology Use & Impact
VII. Future Trends & Issues
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BEST PRACTICES,
®
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3. Research Project Overview
Best Practices, LLC conducted this benchmarking study to identify performance benchmarks
for the size, cost, service delivery efficiency, structure, leadership, processes, technology, and
operations of call center organizations within pharmaceutical and related industries.
Objectives & Methodology
Research Objective:
 Provide participants with current metrics for call center performance in the
pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, diagnostics, consumer health, and
consumer packaged goods industries
Benchmarking Methodology:
 Create and deploy custom benchmarking survey
 Deploy survey tool online to call center leaders across the industry
 Develop key performance metrics and ratios from quantitative survey data
 Develop insights through conducting in-depth executive interviews with selected
participants
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4. Best Practices, LLC Studied Call Centers at 35 Companies
Forty call center leaders from 35 pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, diagnostic, OTC (Over
the Counter), and consumer packaged goods companies participated in this study. Participation
was limited to call centers operating in the United States or Canada.
Participating Companies: Benchmark Class
Participating Companies: Abbott (Molecular & Diabetes Care units), Advanced Sterilization Products, Alcon, Alexion, Amgen, Astellas (US & Canada),
Baxter, Biogen Idec, Biosense Webster, Boehringer Ingelheim, Colgate Palmolive, Cordis, Daiichi Sankyo, Endo Health, Ethicon, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline,
GSK Consumer, Janssen, McKesson, Medtronic, Merck Consumer, Nestle Health Care, Novartis Consumer, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (2 units), Pfizer,
Pfizer Consumer, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Roche, Shionogi, Shire, Sunovion, Takeda, Teva, UCB, United Therapeutics.
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BEST PRACTICES,
®
LLC

5. Participating Call Centers: A Brief Profile
Industry
Nearly half the centers support at least two different industry segments.
The percentage of respondents supporting each industry segment is:
 55% prescription drug business
 40% devices or diagnostics
 35% OTC and consumer packaged goods products
Structure
45% operate as internal corporate functions, 28% are run by vendors, and 28%
are mixed internal/vendor models.
Reporting
35% report into Medical Affairs. Others are widely distributed, reporting into
functions ranging from Marketing to Technical Services to Safety.
Leadership
Leaders most often work in director-level
positions and report up to senior executives.
Focus
Area
Top focus areas are medical inquiries & medical
or technical complaints.
Approach
80% have regional/country specific structures.
Products
Call centers support 160 products on average, with
a range from one to 2,534.
Location
95% are located in the United States and 5% in Canada.
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6. Key Insights - 2
Additional key insights from data and interviews follow.
INVESTMENT: Differing rates of technology adoption across
participating call centers may be driven in part by the extent to
which executive leadership values the call center’s rich pool of
customer data.. Those who will leverage the data to feed other
corporate functions are more likely to invest heavily in
technology acquisition and upgrades.
SELF-SERVICE: Benchmark participants are exploring ways
to increase self-service for customers with common call center
queries. Knowledge bases and artificial intelligence will
expedite this process, increasing consumer access and,
potentially, reducing costs.
GLOBALIZATION: Benchmark participants anticipate
increased globalization of call centers in the next few years to
provide standardized service to a global customer base. Those
who have already begun globalization noted that a common
technology platform and centralized leadership are basic
requirements. Regional variations in regulations, however, will
continue to create globalization challenges.
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7. 80% of Centers Have Regional/Country Specific Structures
The large majority of benchmarked companies use a regional or country specific structure for
call center operations.
Q. What type of structure does your call center reflect? (choose one)
Call Center Structure
Globalized
center
covering
multiple
regions/
countries,
15%
Other model,
5%
Other models:
• Regional model for commercial/
Global for clinical trials
• Regional with global component
Regional/
countryspecific call
centers,
80%
(n = 40)
% of Responses
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®
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8. Call Centers Most Often Report to Medical Affairs
Although 35% of participating call centers report into Medical Affairs, the remainder are widely
distributed throughout the organizations, reporting into functions ranging from Marketing to
Technical Services to Safety.
Q. To what function does the leader of your call center report?
Function to which Call Center Reports
Medical Affairs
30%
Marketing
10%
Technical Services
10%
Medical Information
10%
35%
Sales
8%
Quality
Hybrid with Medical Affairs
8%
5%
Other
(n = 40)
20%
Other:
• Commercial Ops
• Consumer Relations
• Finance
• Medical Operations
• Operations
• Safety
• Sales & Marketing
% of Responses
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®
LLC

9. Median Call Center Budget Is $2.5 Million
Call center budgets for participating companies ranged from a low of $200,000 to a high of $35 million,
with a median average of $2.5 million.
Q. Call center’s operating budget for the current fiscal year ($US). (Exclude large, one-time capital expenses)
Call Center Budget
Top Expenses
:
Interviewed call center
leaders cited their top
expenses categories as:
• Vendor fees,
$ Budget
• Systems costs
• Telecommunications
• Ensuring data quality
• Training
(n = 23)
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®
LLC

10. SERVICE
LEVEL
Call Centers Take Median Average of 5,340 Calls per Month
The average number of monthly inbound calls ranges from a low of 203 to a high of 140,000 across
the benchmark class. Outbound calls are generally a small fraction of the total, although outbound
volume exceeds inbound for 6% of centers. High call volume is directly linked to low budget per call.
Q. What is your average number of inbound and outbound calls per month?
Average Number of Calls per Month
11,500
Average # inbound calls
# Calls
5,340
Average # outbound calls
(n = 31)
Average#
Calls/Month
< 5K
1,550
456
Percentile
Higher average monthly call
volume correlates with lower
budget per call. For example,
companies with more than 5,000
calls per month had an ‘cost per
call’ of $21.68—less than onethird of $72.44 cost at centers
with less than 5,000 calls
Median
233
$
72.44
10
>5K
1,959
* 75th
Volume/Cost Correlation
Average
Budget/Call
$
21.68
10
n=
25th
Percentile
* =Top quartile
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®
LLC

11. Two-Thirds of CRMs Have Capability to Capture All Case Types
While 67% of participants’ CRM systems have the ability to capture all case types, others must link
into separate databases to store different types of records.
Q. Which of the following statements best describes the capability of your CRM? (choose one)
Customer Relationship Management System Capability
CRM needs to
link into separate
databases to
store medical
complaints, technical
complaints, etc.,
33%
(n = 33)
CRM has ability to
capture all case types
including medical and
technical complaints,
medical inquiries,
marketing cases, etc.,
67%
% of Responses
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BEST PRACTICES,
®
LLC

12. About Best Practices, LLC
Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the simple yet
profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying
the best business practices, operating tactics, and winning strategies of world-class companies.
Best Practices, LLC
6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
www.best-in-class.com
919-403-0251
best@best-in-class.com
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BEST PRACTICES,
®
LLC