The State Of Customer Experience In The Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2024: HCP Interactions
by Dominic Tyer with Tim van Tongeren, Hannah Price, and Eleni Lee
Executive Summary
Global pharma customer experience (CX) looks to be generally stable in 2024, but appearances can be deceptive. The slight dip in our Customer Experience Quotient® (CXQ®) of just one point since 2022 masks much turbulence beneath, and there are wide country and channel-level variations in the experiences individual companies provide. Despite showing signs of some gradual improvements, particularly where there is a focus on bringing medical and commercial together, there’s no hiding from the industry’s ongoing need to improve the experiences it provides to HCPs. The importance of grasping the CX opportunity takes on further levels of urgency with the confirmation of the significant role it plays in driving prescribing decisions.
The Current State of Global Customer Experience in Pharma
Now in seventh year, our regular Customer Experience Quotient® (CXQ®) studies of interactions between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and pharma continue to provide invaluable benchmarks of industry engagement through the lens of CX (customer experience). In this survey, which we conducted in thirteen countries from January to February 2024, 6,100 HCPs rated a total of 12,200 recent experiences with a pharma company. The data provide a global ranking of individual pharma firms in CX, the content they create, and the channels they use to chart the evolving post-COVID HCP engagement environment. Our study shows that:- Global pharma customer experience is stable… As post-COVID engagement adjustments continue, the global level of customer experience that pharma provides to HCPs across all 13 countries and eight therapy areas in our study remains an almost static CXQ® score of 58, dropping by just one point since our previous survey (see Figure 1).[i] After the hit CX scores took from COVID’s disruption this relative stability is welcomed, but it also exposes the challenge that the industry faces if it is to improve—in a consistent and ongoing manner—the customer experiences it provides. Current ways of working are not differentiating, and this is where CX requires more effort.
- …but country-level CX is in a state of flux. The underlying picture of pharma CX around the world is unstable. Despite a gradual lifting of country scores, with just one nation ranked ‘fair’ compared to the three ranking that low in our previous study, seven countries see their CXQ® scores fall in our survey while only four improve their scores (see Figure 2). Driving these shifts is pharma’s failure to make consistent improvements in CX. Just three countries—Brazil, the UK, and Spain—managed to improve the experiences they provide through both non-digital and digital channels. In contrast, nearly half (six) of the 13 countries in our survey could only improve their ranking in one set of channels and four couldn’t improve in either (see Figure 3).
- Key emerging markets offer divergent experiences. China and Brazil are important battlegrounds for pharmaceutical companies but HCPs in these two emerging markets report very different levels of customer experience. Brazil retains its leadership position in our global rankings, with strong increases in non-digital and digital CX levels pushing it to the cusp of an excellent ranking. In sharp contrast China’s CXQ® score falls by six points, weighed down by digital engagement scores that put it in danger of slipping to a fair ranking (see Figure 2).
- Oncologists voice digital dissatisfaction, while diabetologists see a non-digital dip. There is a downward trend to the specialty-level rankings in our survey, with CXQ® scores for half of the eight therapy areas falling, three remaining static, and just one improving—and then only by one point upwards. At-risk areas include digital engagement with oncologists, which is down by five points to a CXQ® score of 54, and non-digital interactions with diabetologists, whose one-point dip to 64 was the only decline in CX levels provided through those offline channels (see Figure 4).
Figure 1: Global customer experience remains average in 2024
Figure 2: Pharma CX in China slips, but Brazil closes on excellence
Figure 3: Consistent CX improvements are rare at the country level
Figure 4: CX trends downward across therapy areas
Customer Experience has a Quantifiable Impact on Prescribing
We already know CX performance has a strong positive impact on business drivers and that excellent customer experiences boost engagement and reach. Furthermore, our previous studies have shown CX is the foundation of customer centricity in the pharmaceutical industry, with positive experiences improving a range of customer-centric metrics, from brand perception to feeling supported to viewing companies as empathetic. Now we see just how much CX matters to HCPs, and that they recognize pharma engagement can assist their prescribing decisions. Our data found:
- Customer experience drives a third of prescription decision-making. The quality of engagement HCPs receive, whether in terms of the level of service or people-related factors such as the helpfulness of company representatives, has an important impact on what medicines are used (see Figure 5). HCPs tell us it is one of the most important factors, accounting for 35% of the prescription decision-making process. Fifty percent of that decision-making is led by product features like safety, efficacy, and dosing. A company’s reputation drives the remaining 15% of decision-making.
- Excellent CX doubles the likelihood a product will be prescribed. HCPs that receive excellent customer experiences from a pharmaceutical company are twice as likely to prescribe their product compared to HCPs whose experiences are poor (see Figure 6). Our survey also finds a sharp increase in the proportion of HCPs who say they would be confident in using a company’s product with their patients, with this rising from 40% for HCPs that have poor experiences to 74% when they are provided with an excellent level of CX.
- CX can increase future engagement with pharma. The best experiences have an immediate positive impact on pharma’s reach, helping industry content to travel further (see Figure 6). HCPs are also more likely to contact a pharmaceutical company for information in the future if today’s experiences are excellent. Furthermore, excellent CX increases the likelihood HCPs will share positive feedback with other HCPs, give a company’s information to their colleagues because they found it useful, and provide a company’s materials to their patients.
Figure 5: CX plays an integral role in HCP prescribing decisions
Figure 6: CX boosts product confidence and prescribing decision-making
UCB Holds Slim Lead Over J&J Innovative Medicine and Lilly
After the post-COVID recovery of CX we saw in our previous global CXQ® study, in 2024 pharma’s performance appears to have hit a glass ceiling and breaking through it will take sustained efforts. In addition to the industry’s failure to make any further improvement on the global level of experiences provided to HCPs, no individual company gets any closer to providing excellent experiences across its full channel mix. But that only tells half the picture and companies should draw some comfort from the study’s underlying picture. Our data shows:
- Competition gets closer as scores trend upwards. In contrast to the apparently static global CXQ® score, performance at a company level reveals an underlying picture of increasing competition amid some gradual improvements. Competition is closer, with the proportion of companies within five points of the ranking’s leader up by six percentage points since our previous report. Additionally, company performance is trending upwards as individual CXQ® scores that increase do so by a higher average amount than those that decrease.
- UCB retains its crown despite strong competition from J&J and Lilly. The top position in our global rankings is once again held by UCB, despite the company’s CXQ® score of 65 dropping by one point since last year’s report (see Figure 7). There are still two companies close behind UCB, but this time the names have changed. Taking joint second place in 2024 with CXQ® scores of 64 are J&J Innovative Medicine and Lilly, moving up from the third and sixth places they respectively held previously to displace Gilead and Novo Nordisk.
- In non-digital channels J&J and Lilly leapfrog the competition. Strong six-point increases in their CXQ® scores for non-digital channels enable J&J Innovative Medicine and Lilly to take first and second place respectively in our ranking, followed by UCB in third place (see Figure 8). We see a flattening of the pack in non-digital, as the leaders pull away and prove harder to challenge. Nevertheless, substantial progress remains possible for those focusing on customer experience—as we see by the company in this year’s ranking that increases its non-digital CXQ® score by 15 points.
- UCB, Takeda, and Pierre Fabre stand out in a competitive digital field. In stark contrast to the CX pharma provides through non-digital channels, when it comes to digital channels there’s heightened competition with UCB, Takeda, and Pierre Fabre holding the first three places to lead the crowded upper reaches of our ranking, even as three other companies experience double-digit drops in their digital CXQ® scores (see Figure 9).
Figure 7: UCB holds onto slim lead in global pharma CX
Figure 8: J&J and Lilly make solid gains in non-digital channels
Figure 9: UCB, Takeda, and Pierre Fabre lead in use of digital
CX Consistency in Channels Continues to Challenge
Pharma’s post-COVID HCP engagement landscape has yet to solidify, and our study continues to map some wide swings in the customer experiences companies provide through different channels, whether they be in-person, hybrid, or virtual options. In particular, digital channels present pharma with a deepening customer experience problem. Engagement that provides the highest levels of CX in our survey is dominated by non-digital channels, while their digital counterparts account for the lion’s share of underperforming channels. Our study shows:- Reps can meet HCP needs but struggle with differentiation. HCPs’ face-to-face meetings with pharma’s medical representatives (MSLs) and their counterparts in sales have risen to the top of our rankings, with medical reps performing slightly better to be number one in the survey. In doing so they overtake the small and large face-to-face company events that provided the best levels of CX in non-digital channels in our previous survey (see Figure 10). However, the high costs associated with field force activities should demand a greater level of differentiation in the CX that they currently provide—whatever the channel used.
- Remote engagement is evolving. The hybrid channel of medical reps contacting HCPs through video calls that provided the highest level of customer experience in our last global report takes a significant hit, dropping 10 points to a CXQ® score of 59. Meanwhile, video calls by sales reps see an eight-point drop to a CXQ® score of 55, illuminating a shifting CX picture that had moved from favoring virtual engagement during COVID before evolving to a hybrid preference as countries emerged from the pandemic. Alongside this, the level of customer experience provided by virtual events—which saw a sustained drop in our first post-COVID study, enjoyed a five-point recovery to take third place with a CXQ® score of 64.
- HCPs need more choice if pharma is to achieve its omnichannel aspirations. Matching channel use to HCP preferences is a key element of the industry’s much-stated ambition to offer omnichannel engagement, but over a third (34%) of respondents to our survey say they want either additional channel options or to be engaged in an entirely different way (see Figure 11). There is also a warning sign for those seeking to blindly apply industry thinking in the real world—a significant minority (14%) of HCPs say they did not think about whether the channel used was the right one. This suggests set expectations for certain types of engagement, notably online channels like websites, apps, and social media, as well as physical and digital newsletters.
- Digital enthusiasts are harder to delight. Just over a quarter of respondents in our survey say they prefer traditional ways of working, such as face-to-face communication, but they cannot ignore digital channels and pharma shouldn’t ignore their digital needs (see Figure 12). Digital channels have a CXQ® score of 54 from these ‘traditionalists’, while the digital ‘enthusiasts’ in our report prove harder to impress in any type of channel. At the same time, we also see over half of the HCPs in our survey—the ‘adopters’—preferring to strike a more cautious balance between non-digital and digital channels, and perfecting the mix for this majority group of HCPs in our study could offer pharma the most room for CX improvements.
Figure 10: Video calls fall from favor as in-person visits rise to the top
Figure 11: A third of HCPs want different options for pharma engagement
Figure 12: HCP digital affinity influences their perceptions in CX
Responding to a New Time of Turmoil
The continual contextual adjustments needed for customer experience success, highlighted in last year’s report, are here to stay as the pre-COVID ‘era of stability’ in pharma engagement increasingly looks to have been displaced by a new time of turmoil. This requires a nimble response that focuses on internal transformation within organizations to deliver a more consistent CX across markets, business units, and functions. To thrive in this environment, pharma firms will need to:
- Acknowledge the primacy of engagement. The customer experiences pharma companies provide to HCPs matter. They can increase physician confidence to use a product, encourage dialog with manufacturers, and encourage HCPs to share relevant information with colleagues and patients. As data in this CXQ® report prove, customer experience also has a tangible impact on pharma’s business outcomes.
- Respond to pharma’s deep digital and non-digital divisions. If companies are to successfully elevate their engagement strategies to an omnichannel level, they must pay much more attention to the ongoing lag in the experiences they provide through digital channels. Digital engagement is now routine, even for the ‘traditionalists’ in our study that prefer face-to-face engagement, and the experiences pharma provides must be brought closer in quality to those delivered by offline interactions.
- Deliver differentiation to accelerate past the competition. Differentiation requires a greater focus on getting personas and targeting right so that pharma can deliver more personalized experiences that better meet HCP needs across all the channels they use. Creating the consistency of experiences this demands has long challenged the industry, but there are opportunities to harness AI to create the content and levels of responsiveness this requires.
- Recognize CX excellence can’t be reached with the same old approaches. Pharma appears to have hit a glass ceiling in the customer experiences it provides HCPs and breaking through it to increase the global level of CX will require more than just repeating yesterday’s tried and trusted techniques. Attention needs to be shifted to capabilities such as customer experience management and CX insights that provide the bedrock for CX success. However, in our digital maturity research, these continue to underperform, demanding new, more innovative ways of doubling-down on them if pharma is to reach CX excellence.[i]
[i] See the January 20, 2022 report “The State Of Digital Excellence In The Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2021”.
Methodology
DT Consulting’s global Customer Experience Quotient® (CXQ®) study of HCP interactions was conducted from January to February 2024. The email-initiated, predominantly online, customer experience survey involved 6,100 HCPs working primarily in cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology/diabetology, gastroenterology, general practice/family medicine, hematology, oncology, and pulmonology/respiratory. Each of the respondents rated two recent experiences with a pharma company on their trust, relevance, and simplicity to produce a CXQ® score that that covers the pharma industry’s key channels and types of content (information or services). Updates to the approach, including adopting quotas for different companies and increasing the proportion of digital interactions in the sample, provided a more representative view of CX in the industry, involving more companies and engagement channels than ever before.
Related Research
- The State Of Customer Experience In The Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2022: HCP Interactions
- The State Of Customer Experience In The European Pharmaceutical Industry, 2022: HCP Interactions
- The State Of Customer Experience In The US Pharmaceutical Industry, 2022: HCP Interactions
- The State Of Customer Experience In The Pharmaceutical Industry, 2022: Patient Interactions
- The State Of Digital Excellence In The Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2021
Companies Researched In This Report
Abbott, AbbVie, Amarin, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biogen, BioNTech, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Grünenthal, J&J Innovative Medicine, Lilly, Menarini, Merck, Merck & Co, Moderna, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Roche, Sanofi, Servier, Takeda, Teva, UCB, Viatris
Authors
Dominic Tyer
Director
Tim van Tongeren
Managing Partner
Hannah Price
Senior Director
Eleni Lee
Manager
Purchasing CXQ® Data
DT Consulting’s full global CXQ® dataset is available for purchase. It provides an extended look at the themes covered in ‘The State Of Customer Experience In The Global Pharmaceutical Industry, 2024: HCP Interactions report’, offering a unique level of insight into the nuances of CX in pharma.The dataset offers:
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