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Era
of relationship marketing
People
do business with people and hence relationship pharma marketing
is essential in today’s pharma marketing process, writes Sunil
S Chiplunkar
THERE
was a time in pharma marketing when quality alone was an important
factor. If a company offered quality products it was sure to gain
an adequate share in the prescription market. However, the honeymoon
with quality did not last long. Quality soon became a qualifier
in the rat race to gain market share.
Next
was the era of brand equity (brand image) and corporate image. One
could influence prescription habits based on brand and corporate
image.
Today,
brand equity and product quality have become qualifiers in the race
for prescription and mind share. Welcome, today to the Era of Relationship
marketing. Relationship marketing has always been the foundation
of pharma marketing. However, the accent on relationship marketing
has increased thanks to fierce competitive marketing practices in
the field of pharma marketing.
Consumer
Bonds
The
fulcrum of relationship marketing is building customer bonds, the
focus in relationship marketing is building a bond between the target
doctor/ chemist and pharma company. The emphasis in relationship
marketing goes beyond promotion of products and services. It includes
product promotion, value added services and customer bond building.
Relationship
marketing is a communication process. There is a dialogue between
the customer and the company. Relationship marketing is also about
discovering customer needs and servicing them. Indian pharma companies
have traditionally excelled in relationship marketing. However,
innovator Indian pharma companies like DRL, today excel both on
the product front and relationship marketing. In fact, the magazine
Housecalls from DRL and its S team is a force of professionals who
sell concepts to prospects and soften the ground for its main field
force to enter the arena and promote.
Himalaya
too, with its capsules and other magazines has leveraged highly
on relationship marketing. So the key in relationship marketing
is two-way communication.
Relationship
Marketing Works
Pharma
markets in India are cruelly competitive. Building differentiation
in products and service is becoming difficult. Competitive practice
are similar. Pharma companies look and sound the same to the doctor(s).
There is in fact, promotional clutter. This is where relationship
marketing works on the pharmaceutical field.
Relationship
marketing treats not as ‘prescription generators’. Relationship
marketing is emotional builds feelings of trust, goodwill and mutual
respect.
Relationship
marketing is effective because it is based on the fact that 70 per
cent of purchase (prescribing) decisions are made emotionally.
How
to make relationship
marketing work?
Relationship
marketing will work if two vital questions are asked:
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Who are the right target doctors/ chemists for the business?
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Why do these target doctors/ chemists want a relationship with
our pharma companies?
After
answering the above questions, the next step is chalking out the
doctor/ chemist list.
Now
to these target doctors/ chemists a taut communication plan is crucial.
The communication should be attractive. And persistent. Regular
calls are a key to pharma success and along with it goes trust.
Trust develops when the pharma marketer has the doctors/ chemists
best interests at heart for mutual benefits.
Relationship
pharma marketing is essential in today’s pharma marketing process.
Bottomline: people do business with people.
The
writer is M Pharma PGDMM, Senior Product and Training Manager, Juggat
Pharma, Bangalore
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