How Ottobock is modernising the user experience with its “Life Lounge”

Ottobock operates in 60 countries and runs more than 390 patient care centres. Its products are also stocked in thousands of medical supply stores across the world that sell directly to users. Over the years, the business has captured a goldmine of data. As part of its digitalisation strategy, Ottobock is harnessing the power of that data to fuel direct, end-to-end engagements with product users.

“People use our products every day, but the transaction to buy a new one only happens every five to seven years. When it comes to engaging with those potential customers, it makes sense to think long-term user relationships and journeys,” explains Böhm.

The company rolled out preconfigured journeys in Marketing Cloud to automate communications with prospective and existing product users. Leads are captured from any digital channel - whether through social media or search engine - and contacted online or by phone. During this conversation, they’re given comprehensive information about the product they’re interested in and can make an appointment to try it on at one of Ottobock’s patient care centres or with a partner, such as a medical supply store.

After the purchase, the refitting journey is triggered. Product users are sent reminders before the warranty expires or when their prosthetic or orthotic is due to be refitted or replaced. “Automated journeys benefit everyone. Many users don’t know they’re eligible for replacements, which are often reimbursed by their insurer,” Böhm comments. “We close more sales, users get better mobility thanks to advances in technology, and there’s less demand to supply older products.”

Ottobock implemented Health Cloud to ensure that product users receive high quality, personalised care under its patient care service. Salesforce developed preconfigured treatment journeys in Health Cloud based on research it undertook with hundreds of its customers. These out-of-the-box journeys map every step of a care or treatment plan in line with its predefined parameters and any integrated data. This gives treatment centres and orthopaedic technicians a 360-degree view of product users and enables them to provide targeted, individual support at every stage.

This data is particularly relevant for the Visual Remote Assistant team. People who need support with their Ottobock product can get step-by-step instructions via video chat to solve the issue themselves, so they don’t have to visit a technician in person. Visibility of the user’s history in Health Cloud is essential for the team providing the support, but in turn, insights captured from service cases are routed to the product development team to eliminate common pain points and optimise their designs.

Today, only the company’s internal operations team is connected to Health Cloud, in line with data protection regulations. However, the company is considering connecting external partners such as medical supply stores – which are Ottobock’s B2B customers – to involve them more closely with the user journey.