Great Oncology Products Don't "Guarantee Physician Satisfaction"

ZS’s recent 2017 Oncology CX Tracker shows that oncologists prescribe 70 percent more products from companies that deliver a positive experience than from companies that deliver a negative experience. Yet despite this success, manufacturers continue to put the physician customer experience on the backburner, ZS reports: Of the 24 companies represented in the study, only six received a positive Net Promoter Score (NPS).   The company’s analysis shows that while a good product is crucial to success, it’s insufficient on its own when it comes to driving a positive customer experience. In fact, a good product accounts for less than one-third (32 percent) of the overall experience, according to the study.   “An industry-leading customer experience can be a critical advantage, and yet many pharmaceutical companies have not invested enough into creating a good experience for their customers,” said ZS Managing Principal Jon Roffman. “With 836 oncology molecules in development, however, the competition for physician attention is about to become even more intense.”   While ZS’s research found strong correlations between healthy product pipelines, strong product launches and customer satisfaction, companies still need to invest in other elements of the customer experience. The study shows that a pharmaceutical company’s “support services” account for 22 percent of the customer experience, and interactions with their “people”-sales reps, medical science liaisons, etc-account for 20 percent.   “Many companies mistakenly believe that product performance alone is sufficient to win a position in a physician’s consideration. In fact, our research indicates areas where some companies that focused solely on developing drugs missed the boat,” said ZS Associate Principal Pranav Srivastava. “Focusing on improvements in patient services, field personnel, reputation and online engagement has an unmistakable impact on customer experience.”   For more information, see ZS’s executive summary of the 2017 Oncology CX Tracker.