DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SERIES - Good relationships are built on trust and communication

I am passionate about helping pharma field professionals feel confident about using technology to improve the quality of their engagements with healthcare professionals. It's the human side of digital transformation that truly interests me, enabling people to leverage technology effectively.

I am delighted to introduce Rob Koster, Director - CX at Havas Health & You, who helps life science teams develop the customer experience. He is a proud father and a self-proclaimed rubbish musician!

I love interviewing inspiring pharma leaders to learn from them and share their perspectives. I recently connected with Rob online, and I was eager to interview him because I felt he had a refreshing perspective and genuinely cared about humans. He emphasised the need to focus on how technology can benefit people, rather than solely concentrating on the technology itself.

Can you tell us about your career industry and your new role at Havas Health?

My career has been quite diverse. I ran a pub, worked as an ice cream man, and also spent time working for large pharmaceutical companies like IMS (now IQVIA). Throughout my career, I have maintained a consistent human approach, which is especially relevant in today's landscape. I am always striving to bring about change, innovation, and progress. If we are not moving forward, we are essentially moving backward. While I may not have found exactly what I'm looking for personally in my previous roles, I feel like I'm getting closer. My recent move to Havas in the CX space aligns perfectly with my current passion. Havas is a great organisation where I hope to make more of a difference.

There is a lot of talk about omnichannel and multichannel, and sometimes these terms are used interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. What are your views on this?

In my opinion, there are two answers to this question: a practical answer and a strategic, high-level answer. From a practical standpoint, multichannel refers to outreach efforts. If you are a pharma company, you want to utilise the available channels where your customers are, such as in-person interactions, email, social media, or websites. However, it is crucial to create content that suits each channel's purpose. This approach in isolation, leads to a fragmented customer experience. On the other hand, omnichannel pertains to and enables the customer experience. Customers should have a consistent experience across any channel they engage with, be it a website, email, or any other channel. Ensuring consistency is more challenging but necessary.

Looking at it from a strategic mindset perspective, both concepts are similar, but, omnichannel supersedes multichannel. Achieving alignment in terms of quality experience is essential, but adopting an omnichannel customer-first mindset is one of the most challenging obstacles we face in healthcare and pharma, especially translating the talk, to real, tangible activity. not just about talking about it but actually doing it.

How do you believe pharma can improve the customer experience?

This is a massive question, and discussing it thoroughly could take up our entire chat. Echoing my previous point, I think the mindset needs to change. Customer experience, to me, means prioritising the customer's needs and wants above your own. If we can shift our mindset in that direction, it will go a long way.

Who is the customer? Is it the patient or the HCP?

Both. I recently had a conversation with someone who pointed out that pharma tends to adopt a business-to-consumer (B2C) approach to marketing, where the HCP is seen as the customer (the "C" in B2C). However, what doctors/HCPs really want from pharma companies is more support in providing for their patients. We should consider balancing the marketing approach by providing doctors with resources to better support their patients, which is more of a business-to-business (B2B) model. Currently, the industry leans too far toward B2C thinking. Change is inevitable, and although people may fear it and see it as a daunting challenge, it is an evolutionary path. If we adjust our thinking to align with our current situation, it could be easier for us to reach our desired goals. Fear of change is part of the problem.

Who is afraid of change?

All of us! Pharma companies, in particular, tend to be risk-averse due to the nature of the industry. Any change brings a certain level of fear. Doctors are calling for change, but they have limited time and resources. The only ones truly advocating for change are the patients and, potentially, the partners. As agencies and suppliers, you and I are always seeking innovation. We have a responsibility to encourage and push pharmaceutical companies forward, helping them to realise that change can have a positive impact on all of us because, ultimately, we are all patients.

What should we stop doing to focus on change management?

Pharma companies need to be braver. One significant challenge the industry faces is deeply rooted in the overall culture. Over my nearly 20 years in the industry, I have witnessed frequent restructurings and reorganisations within pharma companies, eroding individuals' confidence over time. This leads to fear for job security, resulting in individuals exerting more energy to protect themselves rather than contributing to the company's benefit. This imbalance is detrimental because it leads to solutions being created to safeguard personal interests, obtain promotions, or navigate through restructurings, rather than creating solutions that evolve with us. We all evolve and learn over time, whether consciously or not. It is vital to have solutions that can grow and learn as we do. However, to achieve this, we need to establish new circles of safety that foster an environment built on trust, embracing innovation and making people feel trusted. Until we reach that point, we may only see isolated pockets of people willing to innovate. A significant shift in how we handle trust and relationships internally within the pharma industry is necessary.

Is anyone currently pursuing this approach?

I have noticed the emergence of more innovation labs, and not just at the global company level. It's encouraging to see many countries establishing their own innovation teams. I'm seeing more partnerships with the likes of Havas but not just Havas. I have also witnessed more incredible suppliers like yourselves being put on a stage to share insights on where we should be heading. Ultimately, we are all humans working toward benefiting humanity in some way. I believe there isn't a single person in normal society who genuinely desires to do harm. We are all trying to make a positive difference, so let's do that together.

If you could make one positive change in the industry, which would become your legacy? What would it be?

I would undoubtedly focus on making customer experience truly customer-centric and practical.

I feel strongly about field teams, and I believe pharma companies often fail to treat them as internal customers. How do you think companies can approach this differently and deliver a better customer experience for their internal staff, not just field teams but also marketing and others?

Marketing teams create content for reps to push out, but how many pharma companies truly involve the reps, who hold valuable knowledge, in the content creation process? Engaging reps to would make the content even more relevant. At the grassroots level, I'd love to see more of that.

Currently, reps are often measured by CRM metrics, causing them to rush through 20 slides when meeting with doctors, instead of engaging in meaningful conversations. The differentiator is to double down on what are reps doing for the doctor to actually help them with their problems. Sometimes this is just listening and building a relationship.

This may be controversial, but I would drop  the term "sales rep" with "pharma rep." Reps represent the company, not just the sales targets.

Conclusion

This conversation with Rob did not disappoint. His ideas are incredibly refreshing and I really connected with them.

I agree that relationships (personal and professional) are build on trust and communication. I'd like to end on something else Rob and I touched on. A study by Harvard found that happiness in relationships is directly correlated with health and having positive relationships in your life has been proven to make you live longer. Food for thought!

If you're looking for effective solutions to empower your field team, boost their confidence, and build positive relationships with healthcare professionals in this new omnichannel world, I would love to hear from you. Get in touch, and let's start a conversation.