Qualtrics observed ‘for B2B organisations, the customer is often made up of multiple stakeholders, all with different needs when it comes to creating their ultimate customer experience. This can be thought of as the overall account’1. In a previous reflection the role of key account management vs. share of voice was discussed. Qualtrics go on to discuss the critical role that multiple stakeholders play in the buying decision and that the account as a whole needs to be healthy especially if you are looking to expand on the current position. Concluding ‘therefore, your touchpoints will need to be tailored to the experiences and preferences of your customers, rather than liberally applied across the whole buyer journey.

In comparison, B2C customer experiences are often shorter as touchpoints and are tailored to the majority, rather than individuals (as is common with the B2B market). This leads to quick, convenient interactions — a direct contrast with the B2B approach of building long-term relationships’1.

Does this explain the reliance on the use of the company representative, key account manager or other customer facing roles. Having traditionally been the channel of choice for pharmaceutical interactions to have meaningful discussions with customers about medicines and their role within a treatment pathway. This approach is not without its challenges, accessing customers is becoming more difficult with variable access across specialties. The specialties with the lowest access are psychiatry, urology, and neurology. In contrast, the highest access levels are in dermatology, diabetes, and oncology. Add to this the average number of weekly interactions in the UK by company representatives was at 21 in 20222 coupled with a call length of around one to three minutes3, significantly down from 20 to 30 minutes over the last decade. Is it any wonder that digital channels have been deployed!

It will come as no surprise that following the COVID pandemic that digital channel deployment was accelerated. Email volumes grew by 72% between Q4 2019 and Q4 2021, indicating that HCP inboxes have been inundated with digital content pushed out by pharma companies4. This continues to this day with email and postal mailings continuing to be the primary push from pharmaceutical companies. 

Recently, the ABPI published the findings of their reputation study for 2024 amongst healthcare professionals, with the sector viewed favourably compared to industries such as energy, banking and automotive reporting higher levels of engagement with pharmaceutical companies. All forms of direct contact have increased since the last study. HCPs report a higher level of interaction with reps and they are increasingly likely to have met with pharma General Managers5. Is this going to cause a change in accessibility or is it a different profile of company representative participating in the discussion? Looking at the results in full 78% of respondents had face to face or verbal contact with sales representatives and between 40-50% of respondents also had interactions with Medical Science Liasons (MSLs), Market Access and General Managers. This would tend to suggest the interaction model is changing. What was very revealing was the questioning around the reliability of information. Unsurprisingly 67% stated experts, scientists, academics and scientific journals (the science) as the most reliable. Closely followed by pharmaceutical companies themselves (website, press releases, mailings) at 59% and at 49% Pharmaceutical companies employees or representatives. This does make you question the relevance of the digital vs. human touch!

In the same week as this publication the most recent NEXT Pharma Summit was held, customer engagement was a hot topic. One session featured Consultant Cardiologist Andrew Docherty who pointed out the industry responsibility should always strive for better communication with HCPs: It can affect millions of patients. He also underlined that three emails a day are not necessarily helpful for his work with patients6.

If we pull this altogether what is clear is that as an industry we are and will continue to operate in the business-to-business space. Our customers are diverse yet interconnected and work as part of an account, often a decision-making unit. There are fewer relevant customers than there have been historically, a shift away from the mass business to consumer communication campaigns is necessary. Emails are a channel likely to suffer burn out if not used in a more appropriate way. Customer accessibility is challenging and continues to get harder. However, this can be overcome by adding value and utilising the right resources at the right time. A blended approach of personal and digital interactions can take the relationship forward. There needs to be a relationship in place to be able take this to the next level. Customers need to be able to find the information they require in a simple format and easily accessible, a worrying statistic is that over 50% of content created by pharmaceutical companies is never used! The customer doesn’t always know what they need but they know who they can trust and where to source this from, ensure it’s easy to find. 

Balancing the customer push and pull is more relevant today than it has ever been. If we get it right this is where the customer experience will stand-out as the true differentiator in a crowded and fiscally challenged market. This can only be achieved with care and attention to understand customer preferences, needs, wants and desires and where the proposition aligns to solve a problem.

Article sources

1. Qualtrics (Qualtrics.com):  "B2B Customer Experience: The Complete Guide - Qualtrics)"
Accessed October 2024

2. Bean, A. (Pharmaphorum.com): “Shifting HCP access calls for new field tactics globally | pharmaphorum” 

Accessed October 2024

3. P360 (P360.com): “https://www.p360.com/p360-blog/5-ways-to-maximize-pharma-sales-call-effectiveness/”

Accessed October 2024

4. IQVIA (IQVIA.com): “riding-out-the-storm-the-future-of-post-pandemic-customer-engagement.pdf”

Accessed October 2024

5. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (Uk-pharma-reputation-index.org.uk): “Engagement with the sector”

Accessed October 2024

6. Renner, N. (LinkedIn.com): “https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicorenner_nobody-really-cares-about-cx-when-you-have-activity-7255095265857081344-R-LI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop”
Accessed October 2024