CASE STUDY
Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
Business-to-Business Portal Improves
Customer Service and Reduces Costs
Challenge
Increasing competition in the consumer products market led Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (Pfizer PCH), a division of Pfizer, Inc., to look for innovative ways to build closer relationships with its customers.
“Clarkston Consulting is a clientfocused organization. They delivered
on all requirements—and then some.
They are a trusted partner and great
Solution
fit for our project.”
Created a business-to-business portal to better serve customers and lower
expenses by enabling customers to perform many self-service functions over
the web so that customer service agents can focus on more complex isssues.
Pfizer PCH chose Clarkston Consulting to refine its vision and implement the
e-commerce and portal solution.
Joe Wisdo, Sr. Director B2B
Customer eCommerce,
Pfizer, Inc.
Benefits
With all of the objectives of the portal fulfilled:
• Customers can place and track orders online and access product
information, pricing, product promotions, and other customer service information over the web 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Pfizer PCH has a cost-efficient vehicle for reaching out to customers
• The company realizes lowered operating costs while increasing customer service
Copyright © 2003 Clarkston Consulting. All rights reserved.
Challenge
their customers.
As the consumer products market has become more competitive, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (Pfizer PCH), a division of Pfizer Inc., has responded with innovative ways
to build closer relations with its customers. One proactive
step Pfizer PCH has taken is an initiative to create a business-to-business portal to better serve customers while
lowering expenses.
This comprehensive and sophisticated solution provided
customers with more accurate, real-time product and account information. Unique features included:
• Online catalog. Before the portal was created, only
CASE STUDY | Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
Pfizer PCH saw the portal as a solution to:
•
• Improve customer service. Using the web at their
•
•
convenience, customers could place and track orders, obtain product and order status information,
and access sales information that is normally distributed through a sales call. The portal is very intuitive for the end-user, and it is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
Reduce operating costs. A self-service portal
would be more cost-efficient than handling all transactions through a customer service representative,
and would allow Pfizer PCH customer service representatives to focus on providing more value-added
assistance to customers. Shipments would also be
more accurate due to order processing based on direct entries from customers.
Gain an edge on competitors and build brand
loyalty. Few consumer products companies have
business-to-business portals, so it would help differentiate the company from its competitors.
•
•
•
Solution
Because Clarkston Consulting has experience implementing business-to-business portals for other major companies, Pfizer PCH chose Clarkston to help the company
refine its vision and implement the solution.
Training was also a critical component of the project because Pfizer PCH planned to continue its development of
the portal with the addition of new retail partners and portal functionality. Clarkston trained 20 customer service
and sales team employees on the system. The consultants
used a “train the trainer” approach so that the company
can continue to pass the knowledge on to others.
Clarkston’s mission was to help Pfizer PCH realize its vision by tailoring portal and e-Commerce software to the
specific needs of Pfizer PCH and its customers. Workshops were held with key managers to identify specific
needs in order to help the team customize the software
and determine the business processes and infrastructure
requirements. The new portal was also designed to reflect
Pfizer PCH’s brand identity and specific requirements of
Copyright © 2003 Clarkston Consulting. All rights reserved.
customer service representatives could access an
electronic product catalog, but with the portal, customers can access a wide range of product information anytime.
Personalization and online statistics. Retailers are able to access information specific to their
needs and personalized to their role within the
company.
User-friendly content. The material that Pfizer
PCH wanted to make available to customers online
had previously been available only to customer service representatives who were trained to interpret the
complex data. Working collaboratively with Pfizer’s
customer account teams, Clarkston reformatted the
information to simplify it and make it user-friendly
for customers’ eyes.
Anytime order management. By connecting directly with Pfizer PCH’s internal order management
systems, the portal allows customers, at their convenience, to place orders directly and get updated
status information on orders already placed.
Content control. A workflow process was put in
place that designates who maintains what content
and who must approve that content before it is published. The system has built-in safeguards to ensure
that information goes through the proper channels
before it is posted.
Benefits
Clarkston helped Pfizer PCH fulfill all the objectives of
the portal.
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• Continuing to be the pacesetter for the consumer
Customers benefit since they can:
products industry by providing the latest technology-based services for its customers.
• Place and track orders online and access product
•
•
information, pricing, product promotions, and other
customer specific information over the web—whenever they want.
Do their jobs more effectively without relying on the
availability of Pfizer PCH representatives.
Make more informed purchases and take advantage
of special offers.
This added channel for conducting business enhances
Pfizer PCH’s image with customers as a company that
provides the best, most personalized service available.
CASE STUDY | Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
Company Profile
Pfizer PCH benefits by:
Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (Pfizer PCH), a division
of Pfizer Inc., markets leading consumer brands such as
Listerine, Benadryl, Visine, Sudafed and a host of others. Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and
markets leading prescription medicines for humans and
animals and many of the world’s best-known over-thecounter brands. Its products are available in more than
150 countries.
• Lowering operating costs while improving customer
•
•
service.
Consuming less customer service time on basic queries and customer transaction support. Representatives can focus on more complex customer issues.
Providing a cost-efficient vehicle for reaching out to
customers.
Clarkston Consulting is a leading management and technology consulting firm that provides strategic business solutions for clients
within the life sciences and consumer products industries worldwide. These market leaders turn to Clarkston to help them bridge
the gap between strategy and execution to sustain a competitive advantage. Clarkston is a sought-after business partner because
of its recognized industry thought-leadership and superior client relationships, as measured by The Conference Board’s survey on
client satisfaction. For more information, visit www.clarkstonconsulting.com.
Copyright © 2003 Clarkston Consulting. All rights reserved.
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