We know already that people buy emotionally and try to justify it rationally, why other we would have 4 pair of trainers when I am sure we are all capable to do the 2km morning run with just one pair, even if God forbid does not match with the rest of the outfit. If you are like me, you know you do not need another pair of trainers and yet you buy it and try to convince yourselves that you need it for whatever reason.

So why do we buy it?

When I fresh started in business, I had no clue about anything as medical school does not prep you for this world. With my luck I was given a chance by people that actually knew what they were doing and they were willing to invest in me.

That was the first time I have heard about SPACED concept. I do not remember where it came from, I just remembered it suddenly added a strong/science based justification to my n^th pair of shoes.

• S – safety – yes, I need another pair of trainers so it can support my ankles and reduce any accidents
• P – performance – with no doubt the new Nike running shoes of 300$ will make me faster than Noah Lyles and that was what I was missing to get to that level, the shoes
• A – appearance – they do go marvelous with the colors of my leggings and top and I look flawless
• C – comfort – my feet feel like they are in haven, no blisters, no hurting
• E – efficiency – I will definitely achieve my goal with this new pair
• D – durability – they will last 10 years

I know we do not like to talk about selling and buying in pharma, but we can extrapolate the above to pharma: why do HCPs and patients choose one product over another in the same class, some times with marginal differences? Because that respective product ticks one or more of the boxes above that are of paramount importance for them.

One of my first visit as a medical rep was to an absolutely lovely HCP, who was passionate about his job and had all the patience in the world with novices like me. He was eager to discuss science no matter how junior was the person in front of him. So after we have deep dived into the scientific discussion of the disease I started to tell him why the product in my portfolio will benefit his patients and paddled for about 10 min on the added safety. I was sure I had crushed it. He politely listened to me and afterward told me that efficacy was the most important thing on his list, the most important benefit he was looking for in a product. Yes, he was worried about safety but if a product does not offer the efficacy he seeks for his patients, the safety profile alone will not make him add that product in his tool box.

And that was my first lesson of customer engagement and experience. I had a really good product, but i did not tailored my story to my customer needs. I refused to hear what he wanted, I just waited for the right moment to tell him what I thought he should actually want. It was all about me, me, me. When you are looking to boost your customer engagement should definitely not be about you, it should be about your customer, what is in it for them, how will your offer add value to them.

Maybe next time you go to the supermarket to buy something, your are in the mood to play a bit with the SPACED concept and ask yourselves why do you choose that particular brand of Olive Oil. For me is the perceived performance of the product, and linking of the price with the accuracy of the production cycle and the quality of the ingredients. Which of course is not always the case…..but I am just human and sometimes the customer in me totally takes over the marketer.