The good, the bad and the ugly of word of mouth
If you havent already seen some recent numbers from TNS Healthcare Research on the potential impact of word of mouth (WOM) on your brand, its time to sit up and take note.
The group finds that the percent of doctors in the US classified as rebels, who are deeply dissatisfied with the pharmaceutical industry and are actively generating negative WOM, has risen sharply in the past year, from 12% to 19%. The five major European markets the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain also show a high proportion of doctors actively creating negative WOM, ranging from a low of 19% in Italy to a high of 27% in the UK.
TNSs senior global consultant for sales performance optimization, Andrew Brana, says companies should have no more than 15% of their customer base fall into the rebels category. When the percentage rises above that, it becomes increasingly difficult to overcome the negative buzz and promote successfully, he says. While European countries traditionally have had a high proportion of rebels dissatisfied with the industry particularly in France and the UK this is the first time weve seen such a negative pattern in the US.
Brana says it takes three apostles, or satisfied customers generating positive WOM, to overcome each rebel detractor. But in the US, he says there are now just two positive apostles for every negative rebel.
For the first time, US companies are facing a truly negative market environment, Brana says. We call that apostle-to-rebel ratio the Market Resistance Index and it is basically the headwind working against you. The stronger the headwind, the harder it is to make progress with your customer base.
TNS reports that over the past year, the Market Resistance Index in the US increased from 1 to 1.62 (less than 1 is optimal), demonstrating the sharp increase in negative WOM. But the UK has a Market Resistance Index of 3.75, demonstrating a tremendous amount of negative feeling toward pharma, while France logs an index of 3.33, a slight improvement over the previous year.
Overall, the industry is facing a difficult situation in every country, with none of the six countries we measured showing a positive Market Resistance Index of 1 or less, Brana says.
Among the physician customers of 17 companies covered in the TNS survey, 22% are rebels, while just 33% are apostles.
In all countries, a substantial population of rebels is driving negative WOM, making it hard for companies to achieve sales goals and establish strong customer relationships, Brana explains.
Mark Sales, global practice leader for stakeholder management at TNS Healthcare says the group often gets asked the chicken or the egg question about whether corporate brand and reputation make it easier to build customer relationships or if good customer relationships ensure a positive reputation.
The answer is its both the chicken and the egg, Sales says. In fact, each drives the other. Strong relationships and positive sales experiences certainly enhance positive word of mouth and reputations. On the other hand, the investment you make in building a positive reputation can pay off in better relationships and higher sales results.
One way of building a positive reputation is by giving doctors the kinds of resources they want and need to improve their clinical practices and the quality of service they provide to their patients. In our article Gaining doctors trust online content is king," we summarize a talk from our recent eMarketing Europe 2009 conference by Carwyn Jones, head of pharma for Doctors.net.uk, on how to build online community networks that really deliver what doctors want. Jones explains how by understanding and delivering what doctors truly need, we can build a level of trust that nearly guarantees engagement and long-term loyalty.
Be sure to read about what Jones and his colleagues at Doctors.net.uk have learned about meeting doctors needs and consider using some of their well-earned insight as a tool to win over even the most rebellious doctors spreading negative WOM about your company and brands.
Is your company sensing an increase in negative WOM? We'd love to hear about your experiences.