After a year that’s seen us return to both ‘business as usual’ and in-person meetings, how well has pharma done in getting the balance right of face-to-face vs digital engagement?

In another instalment of insights from our So What?Research Survey of Australian Doctors, it seems that pharma is doing a pretty good job.

Around 50% of GPs and 70% of Specialists think that both their face-to-face and digital interactions with pharma are ‘about right’.

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Encouragingly, there’s also a call for getting reps and MSLs to make even more personal calls on customers: 1 in 3 GPs and almost 1 in 5 Specialists want to see an increase in face-to-face engagement. It’s a slightly different story with digital engagement. About 1 in 6 GPs and Specialists think that pharma need to dial it back a bit when it comes to their online communication.

Pharma still has an opportunity to find the ‘sweet spot’ of optimal engagement. GPs and Specialists alike are expecting their engagement with pharma to increase over the next 6 months, particularly face-to-face meetings.

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Furthermore, both GPs and Specialists are predicting a massive hike in face-to-face interactions with Medical Personnel.  To really meet the needs of doctors, medical personnel and pharma reps must increase the quantity of their face-to-face calls and heed the importance of reigniting personal connection.

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It's one thing to get the frequency of visits right, but how well attuned is pharma to the needs of their customers? Again, the industry scores very well but there is room for improvement when it comes to providing personalised information. GPs are more critical of how well pharma has adapted to the ‘new normal’, with almost 1 in 5 (19%) of GPs saying no pharma company is doing this well.

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Overall, there seems to be a group of high-performing pharma companies while the rest could be doing better.

Is your company one of those high-performers, or is it time to up the ante in 2023?‍

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