WHY DO DOCTORS MEET MRs?

SEASONS GREETINGS! It is a question that haunts many pharma marketers since no answer is absolutely complete. Even with decades of experience this question does not provide a complete and absolute answer to many pharma professionals. However, given below is a list of reasons – NOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE ANSWERS TO ADD to the question: WHY DO DOCTORS MEET MRs?

• MRs provide information about the product profile, product benefits, any promotional offers, latest updates and results of various clinical reports including post marketing clinical study results.
• The product oriented or therapy oriented presentations from MRs play a major role in information recall & information updates of doctors; since doctors in actual life are busy balancing a professional, social and domestic life with little spare time for continuous revision and study.
• MRs are a great psychological break from the routine humdrum of sick patients. A MR is smart, a great communicator on social aspects & medico marketing aspects and this gives a fantastic experience to the doctor.
• MRs provide through their sales pitches, ego massage to doctors & lots of positive strokes (that the doctor is OK, ie in terms of transactional analysis). This creates happiness in the doctor.
• MRs can organize for business sponsorships to luncheon meets, clinical conferences, stall participation in conferences with interesting ‘in stall activities’ etc.
• MRs can organize for personalized sponsorships such as stays, sponsored rooms, air tickets, taxi services etc.
• The MR through interactive corporate mailers and newsletters helps create a community; and this informal or formal community membership satisfies the affiliation needs of the doctors.
• The smaller freebies provided to the doctor by the MR, like samples, paperweights, pens, stationary items, patient education literature, posters etc, and clinically oriented gifts like knee hammer are very useful in routine clinical or surgical practice.