A good deal as has been written, discussed, and postulated over the last five years about the trust deficit that exists in the pharmaceutical space (see Jane Parker’s article). Although many of the ideas suggested have been implemented, we still have a long way to go. Much of that has to do with the intrinsic nature of trust. All of us know that trust is earned. This means it’s a process in which we must participate in order to build it.
Trust is built between two parties when the mutually approved values and behaviors of each are evidenced over time. In the pharmaceutical communications industry, we have to decide what we really value first before we can begin to build trust. The foundations of trust are our values, communicated to those with whom we interact.
But real trust goes way beyond the communication of values. Trust is based also on the experiential evidence of our actions toward one another over time, our behaviors. Once values have been clarified, behaviors need to change—and the sooner the better. Nothing is worse than someone communicating a new value and not backing it up with the appropriate behavior. This in fact breaks the trust bond even further and does more damage than if we never acted in the first place.
In regard to building advocates for our products, this means that physicians need to feel comfortable with the messages they are asked to communicate to their colleagues and patients. It means that they need to feel secure in the fact that they will not be put in compromising positions with their patients; equally, they will not jeopardize the respect they’ve earned from their peers. If we want physicians to carry our messages to both the medical and patient communities, building trust between pharma and physician needs to be Job One.
The bottom line is that trust is built through open and honest dialogue between the two parties. As I facilitate various types of medical meetings (ad boards, training sessions, investigator meetings, etc.) I find that, to the extent that I am able to open up dialogue, trust develops. When physicians and pharmas come together with the common value of providing the best healthcare solution to the patient, successful outcomes result in this atmosphere of mutual trust.
At a recent series of ad boards that I led, one comment was common in the feedback we received: “You listened to us.” That sentiment was evident throughout the meeting as trust was building. The attendees felt validated and not used; the pharma felt that they had gotten some valuable input and dramatically changed their marketing efforts going forward. The interesting thing was that when I asked for pilot study volunteers to gather data regarding those changes, almost all responded affirmatively. Why? Because they were part of a dialogue, not a pitch. They were part of a process and, having played a part, they wanted to take the next step and participate further in partnership with the company.
Building trust is the process of sharing values and exhibiting behavior consistent with those values over time. Honest communication is the primary tool used to get that process going in the right direction.
