While Customer Experience (CX) is essential for any company today, few have as much to gain from it as the pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the few that has the power to make a genuine, tangible effect on its consumers’ lives. However, even with the industry’s embrace of digital technology opening new doors to improved communication with both patients and health care professionals (HCPs), customers all over the globe believe the pharma industry only offers “average” CX. ¹

With nearly 30% of pharma CEOs expressing concerns about their companies’ future, it is time for businesses to begin forging long-term relationships with their consumers to increase sales and build a far more resilient organization in the wake of an uncertain future. ²

What is CX in Pharma?

Before discussing the benefits proper CX can offer the pharma industry, it is important to define what it means, as it is often confused with market research and customer engagement.

Put simply, pharma CX involves tracking and gathering data at critical touchpoints throughout the customer journey to gauge and improve satisfaction. While it does factor into how companies market to and engage with their customers, CX is a continuous practice that lets companies truly understand what their consumers think of their products and services. Companies use these insights to improve their products and services and their delivery.

How Can CX Positively Impact the Pharma Industry?

Many of the pharmaceutical industry’s issues stem from little investment in CX programs. This means that companies are not only stuck in testing longer than they should be but are also turning away valuable insights from patients and HCPs using their products.

However, once companies institute a proper CX program, they can begin receiving benefits like:

Improved Adverse Event Reporting

Staying on top of adverse events is critical, and a proper CX program can deliver feedback from patients in real-time, allowing organizations to ensure that any comments are properly reported and not lost in the fold.

Greater Organizational Transparency

With the immense amount of data coming from all kinds of different sources, pharma companies often fall victim to siloing data, resulting in other departments not receiving a full-picture view of how products are faring. CX programs can help remove this issue, giving everyone across the organization the information they need to make the most educated decisions across the entire company, from testing to marketing to sales.

Better Regulation Compliance

Government regulations and policies are ever-changing, making it difficult for a pharmaceutical company to know what kind of information it can or cannot have. However, due to CX improvements, data is less siloed, allowing companies to access and disclose necessary information to ensure all operations remain ethical and legal.

Enhanced Clinical Testing Results

Perhaps the most promising benefit of a proper CX program is getting better results directly from physicians and patients regarding clinical tests. With production and testing times increasing dramatically over the last few years, gaining better insights early on can be the deciding factor in beating a potential competitor to market and reaping the results.

Let eClerx Help Your Brand Understand Its Customers

CX programs and digital transformations take time, and making sense of the data you receive from them is also easier said than done.

To help our pharmaceutical clients start their journey to superior experiences, eClerx offers in-depth CX consulting and award-winning generative AI tools. Recently we helped one of the leading global pharmaceutical brands adjust their customer service approach for today’s virtual world, improving their NPS by 13 points in only six months.

Contact us today and see how we can develop a better experience for your customers.

References

1. Tyer, Dominic, et al. “The State of Customer Experience in the Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2022: HCP Interactions.” DT Consulting, 10 Jan. 2023.
2. Boswell, Libby, and Tom Fleming. “PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey.” PwC, 15 Jan. 2024.