Customers don't get respect

Mar/11/2007 05:28 Filed in: DTC Environment
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When I first arrived at Lilly to begin my DTC career one of the Directors said to me that we should always act like one of our patients/customers is sitting with us in our cube. I have tried to carry that forward with me in everything I do, but mostly on websites. I learned via research with customers that they want information they can understand and "don't want to be sold" with product expectations that the brand may not be able to deliver to them.


I now work with a target audience consisting mostly of Type-1 diabetics. We uncovered some great information such as..

-Don't try and "sell us" give us the good and bad about your product.

-Physicians know a lot about diabetes but not about the different treatment options.

-Don't compare us with Type-2 diabetics. We can't control whether we get this disease through diet and exercise.

They told us in simple terms "don't sell me", give me the good the bad and let me decide if your product is right for me. It all comes down to a simple concept: respect for your customers. You see in this wired information age people talk to each other via consumer generated media (BLOGS, VLOGS, Chat Rooms, Message Boards) and have a wealth of websites to get information on health choices. Most DTC marketers haven't learned this. They would rather use their websites to over promise and sell rather than treat customers with respect and acknowledge that they have choices and a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.

This is a major problem with pharma product websites. It seems that in order to do anything online marketers have to justify their dollars via an ROI and if they can't then they don't get the money. That's too bad because that mentality negates corporate slogans like "answers that matter". It should read "answers that matter if you can cut through our promotional messages".

I got into DTC because I believe it empowers people to make better health care choices. I want to treat my customers wit respect because I know they have choices. You only get one chance to make a first impression unfortunately too may DTC marketers are business people first and patient advocates second.
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