Consumer Experience in Pharmaceutical Industry

A wholesome view of the brand shapes a customer’s experience (CX). CX is created and molded by every second of interaction that is created by the brand.

The objective of CX is to develop and improve customer-brand encounters and meet or exceed their expectations. This strengthens the perception of the brand or firm, builds customer loyalty, increases brand advocacy, and produces a sustainable profit.

However, there is still a huge gap between the established theory of measuring CX and how it is measured in practice, as far as the pharmaceutical industry is concerned. Brand plans are developed where mostly brand awareness, recall of campaign messages, and prescription rates of the doctors are measured. There is absolutely minimal or no weightage given to measuring customer engagement, satisfaction, loyalty, or sharing of great experiences.

While the traditional model of sales and marketing has been well equipped in the industry, why then, is it really important to measure CX?

It is imperative to measure CX to understand what are the touch points that develop a positive experience for the doctor as well as the patients to the services provided by the pharmaceutical company. Besides, customers are empowered now. Digitization and easy access to information has given control to the consumer. Now, they have control over the methods, platforms, and timing of information access. They decide how to obtain the information they need.

Another development is the definition of “customer”. This has changed from “exclusive prescribers” to “patients, prescribers, payers, and providers.” Decision-making used to be the responsibility of doctors, but as more patients are empowered, it is less clear who is in charge of their interactions with pharmaceutical companies.

Therefore, it becomes essential for best-in-class pharmaceutical companies to design experiences instead of simply focusing on products. Clinical efficacy and safety are no longer sufficient in a crowded market to distinguish a product from its rivals.

The standard for customer experience is being established outside of pharma by top-tier firms like Amazon and Apple. Pharma companies can start modeling other industries by focusing on the experience they give to their clients—both patients and prescribers—as a strategy to stand out from the competition.

It is time that pharma begins to focus on a positive CX. While pharma is ‘customer-centric’, the clear difference between customer-centricity and designing a superlative customer experience needs to be appreciated. If pharma marketers deem it important to retain customers and appreciate their loyalty, CX should become the prime focus.