Customer Orientation In The Medical Business

I recently met an ex-colleague and we discussed for a couple of hours several decisions made by the management of a MedTech company that we both felt were not focused on the customer.

We agreed that those decisions were evidence of putting the business needs over what was best for the customer.    

For this reason, after this eye-opening conversation about how far small and medium-sized medical device companies are from being customer-centric, I decided to return to this topic.   

If you follow this blog regularly you should already know that I’m a strong advocate of customer centricity and customer orientation. Read on to find my takes and solution to building a customer-centric medical business. 

What is customer orientation?  

Customer orientation is a business philosophy that puts the needs of the customer at the center of the company’s business. It involves the development of a business model creating dual value. And it’s a way of thinking that aligns your business goals with your customer’s goals.  

Customer-oriented companies understand that the business won’t thrive unless it consistently improves customer focus. And the essence of customer orientation lies in the way of value creation for the customer and the company.   

Why is it important to be customer oriented in the medical business?  

Business literature suggests that customer-oriented companies are more successful and profitable because they produce customer loyalty. 

Basically, keeping customers helps the bottom line. 

According to Harvard Business Review, depending on the industry, acquiring a new customer is between 5 to 25 times more expensive than keeping a current one. 

Although the data of the medical business are not available, why should we expect much difference? 

After all, we can all agree that selling to a new account, convincing a new doctor or winning a new tender implies investing more resources than selling to an already established customer. 

Moreover, Bain and Company, Inc.’s study suggests that in financial services, a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.  

6 Ingredients for developing customer orientation   

1.Establish a customer-oriented culture

Leadership commitment is fundamental for fostering a culture that puts the customer at the center of any company’s initiative.   

The senior management should show a strong engagement in customer relationships and the willingness to invest resources in a deeper understanding of customers.   

For example, Amazon clearly defines in its company leadership principles that “leaders start with the customer and work backwards”. Its first leadership principle is “Customer Obsession”; nothing could be clearer.   

Like Amazon, every medical company should be customer obsessed with any activity concerning the life cycle of the product.  

2.Develop customer orientation skills

In a customer-oriented company, the entire staff is encouraged to develop skills that promote customer service.  

Primarily, any customer-facing person should be required to develop the following qualities amongst others:  

• Empathy  
• Focus on customer needs   
• Understanding of customer data  
• Active listening and effective communication  
• Problem-solving skills  

Sadly, too many times, I’ve seen zero empathy towards the customer, for example, the product user, by the R&D team.

3.Listen to the customer

It is extremely important in medical business to find out what “customers” think of your product or service, so you know what needs to be improved.   

As usual the term “customer” is used in a very broad meaning. The “customer” could be the user, the patient or another stakeholder involved in the process of making the product available.   

A common way to do this is by collecting customer satisfaction surveys, net promoter scores or other metrics.  

Whether you prefer the CSAT, the NPS or any other metric (please refer to my previous post for context), the point is to measure regularly what your customers think about your product or service.  

4.Manage customer complaints

I agree with Bill Gates who once said that your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.    

Customer complaints are a great opportunity for product or service improvement and a possible risk of bad word, for these reasons, it’s critical for MedTech companies to properly manage any negative feedback.   

The company should minimize the effort for the customer to complain, establish quick and effective communication with the customer and solve (if possible) the complaint to customer satisfaction.   

For example, doctors using the product should easily be able to provide feedback on any aspect of the product.   

5.Listen to the sales force

Your sales force is the first customer of your product, for this reason, it is important to collect feedback from the sales force.   

Whether direct or indirect, your sales force will provide important elements regarding your product, like the strong and weak points, possible enhancement, and competitive benchmarking.   

6.Use the customer data to set goals

When you look at the data collected from customers, sales force, etc. you will probably find areas where your performance could be better.  

Once you have analyzed the feedback and identified the areas that need your attention you can start to address them by setting up goals.   

For example, if your CSAT rating is lower than expected in OR (operating room) product support, you may want to monitor how the work of your product specialists is organized and provide extra training to help them to reach a higher standard.   

What if your product shows poor data on reliability because the users find the life span shorter than competitors? In this case, you may want to work on identifying the root causes and develop a prioritized solution plan.  

The value of a customer-oriented culture  

Moving toward a customer-centric or customer-oriented culture in any small MedTech or Pharma company can take a lot of work. I personally think it’s worth the time and the effort.   

This is because focusing on your customers helps your company create better products and services to meet their expectations.   

When you make customer orientation a company-wide priority, customers will get a better experience, making them more likely to be loyal and to tell others. This creates the base for better company results.   

Are you working in a company with a strong customer-oriented culture? Share your thoughts in the section below and if you like the content of this blog don’t forget to subscribe.