The doctor will see you now
What we think doctors want and what they actually value can be two different things.
By on Nov 24, 2009What we think doctors want and what they actually value can be two different things. A small panel session with physicians at eyeforpharmas recent SFE conference in Australia revealed some telling truths that are likely to carry over to other physicians, no matter where on the globe they practice.
The audience at the conference, mostly pharma execs and consultants who serve them, when polled said the top three qualities of a great pharma rep are trustworthiness, product knowledge and experience. And they believe a good sales call is highlighted by clinical study materials, patient materials and samples.
But the physicians themselves see things a bit differently.
On the most basic level
Physician A (well keep identities anonymous for ease of presentation), a GP with 20 years in private practice and an emphasis on womens and mental health, says she appreciates seeing reps during her lunch break, especially if they bring a sandwich that she can enjoy while they chat. Not worrying about how to grab a bite to eat in the 15 minutes she has lets her focus more on the information they have to present, she says.
The time with reps is a good way to refresh my memory on medications that I dont use often and an excellent way to get new information that is often slow to come from the government, she says. But she does not value mail from pharma companies or e-learning opportunities that require her to stay tied to her computer.
Physician C, a GP since 1977 who treats mostly elderly patients, says he and his partner like to visit with reps together over coffee. It saves their time and ours and lets us interact some too, rather than just passing in the hall between patients, he says.
He enjoys mid-week, evening meetings, too. He finds the speakers to be pretty independent and unlikely to simply follow a pharma script. He considers these sessions and weekend seminars sponsored by pharmas to be educational and not dominated by product pushes.
He also finds little value in pharma mailings, but does appreciate web sites, particularly ones that offer a clinical paper retrieval service.
Physician A, a pain specialist and psychiatrist, like the other physicians on the panel, sees reps on an appointment-only basis. He says good discussions often come of his visits with reps. But like his colleagues, he doesnt see value in pharma mailings and, like Physician B, doesnt value spending time on the internet.
More importantly, however
Physician B says she doesnt expect reps to know everything about a product, but does appreciate prompt follow-up with answers to her questions. And she says she treasures patient information and services that reinforce her consultations.
What is discussed with reps must be relevant to you and your practice, says Physician C. He doesnt want to talk about drugs for genital herpes, for instance, when most of his patients are elderly, he says. Instead, he wants reps to focus on conditions hes likely to encounter with his patient pool like shingles.
Physician A says some of the most useful relationships have been with reps hes known over a long period of time. These reps know his interests and the style of his practice. But contrary to what the audience felt represented a good rep visit, Physician A says its not necessary to talk product on every visit. They might just pass the time of day with a discussion of the weather, but when I need to know something or need a paper, I know them well enough that I can call them and get what I need, he says. And thats more than a quality call; thats a quality interaction.
He praises companies who keep reps around long enough to allow those kinds of relationships to build. Those kinds of reps become part of our team part of our practice, he says. Good product knowledge helps, but I think honesty is a much bigger deal. Promptness is important, as is familiarity and maturity all things the audience mapped pretty low.
The bottom line
While experience was pretty important to these physicians, trustworthiness and product knowledge were secondary to things like accessibility and familiarity. And although they said samples were nice, they were not high priority with this group of physicians. Instead, relationships matter more than any other factor. And strong relationships, where reps understand their practices and the patients they serve, the physicians clearly said, take care of their other needs. The take-home message seems to be that keeping reps long enough to let those kinds of relationships build is pharmas biggest challenge.