| Q. |
What kind of media do you use? |
| A. |
As its core medium, DoctorsDialog uses high quality, first class, personal correspondence,
accompanied by unique personal Q&A and response feedback instruments.
DoctorsDialog can also integrate fax, e-mail and online instruments and blogging,
along with journal response ads. |
| Q. |
Isn't mail used a lot less today? |
| A. |
No. It is simply used more effectively. While healthcare marketers are using the internet,
they are also using more relevant response mail.* A notable example,
parallel to healthcare is the discipline of direct marketing, where sales are made through media without reps.
Execs in direct marketing continually test the full range of media against controls for response and ROI.
They are using more targeted (personalized, segmented) response mail than ever to make and close sales.
The question is not whether to use one medium over another (internet or mail), but to test and use every medium more effectively.
*Notes:
--Pharma budget projections for coming years show direct mail growth (MM&M).
--Direct marketing in 2009 accounted for 54% of all US advertising dollars (DMA). |
| Q. |
Why do you use mail as the core DoctorsDialog medium? |
| A. |
Because it continually outperforms other physical and digital media, in number of exposures,
in number of responders, and in depth of responses. It steadily increases sales and earns an average ROI higher than salesforces (clients' sales and ROI analyses, and ACNielsen analysis).
Important to know that while a Dialog uses mail to carry its messages back and forth,
its components and content are very different from other kinds of mail...such as its first class,
personal correspondence, its unique personal Q&A and aggregate response reporting instruments,
its response-tested copy methods, and more.
As noted above, direct marketers continually test all media against controls for levels of response and ROI.
They continue to use response mail as a core selling medium, both to make the sales and to close it. |
| Q. |
What's the DoctorsDialog response rate? |
| A. |
We use three quantitative measures: Two for response and one for exposure.
The two response measures are number of responses and number of responders.
As some Doctors respond twice (at start and at completion), the number of responses is the higher
of the two measures. We consider the number responders to be the most important measure, as it shows how many doctors engage (not how many times they engage). The number of responders ranges from 7%-36%. Follow-up DoctorsDialogs have increased the cumulative number of responders to 27%-69%. |
| Q. |
Is “exposure” rate important? |
| A. |
The exposure rate reflects the number of Doctors who do not respond and yet who may see the Dialog contents.
Exposure can be called reach. It is an estimate derived from exposure tests on the
mailing package used in Dialogs. Tests show exposures range between 49% and 78%.
This measure is important, especially with the aggregate response feedback wave.
Pharma ROI analyses show that even though this aggregate response feedback wave generates the lowest number of responders, it produces the greatest, most lasting NRx increases!
Further, client ROI analysis has verified the feedback effect on non-responders,
reporting an ROI 4.52:1 from these non-responders.
(See “Do the aggregate responses have the effect of an opinion leader?, below.) |
| Q. |
What's the quality of response? |
| A. |
Fewer people ask this question, but the quality of the response makes all the difference in results.
When Doctors voluntarily take the time to answer 15 to 25 questions to indicate the value to them of the message points and their use of the product, their responses have to be considered high quality.
ROI analyses by our clients of DoctorsDialog results verify this. |
| Q. |
How many questions do you ask? |
| A. |
As many as is necessary to convey the entire message.
They usually ranges from 15 to 25 questions, seldom less, occasionally more. |
| Q. |
What kind of questions do you ask? |
| A. |
Dialog questions come in a wide variety, depending on the message to be conveyed.
The questions convey the entire product message in an appropriate sequence, then “ask for action”.
Primarily multiple choice, the questions can cover awareness, experience, importance, significance, relevance, prescribing, patient and doctor preferences, intentions to recommend or to try, and much more. In fact, more than 2,000 such questions have been asked and answered in DoctorsDialogs. |
| Q. |
Does answering really make a difference? |
| A. |
ROI analyses proves that answering the Dialog questions—designed to positively alter doctors knowledge, attitudes and practices—directly increases prescription sales. Sales analysis by our clients reinforce this.
It only makes sense. Each question conveys an important piece of the message.
While answering each, the Doctor must fully take-in the question, consider, and select an answer.
This process increases comprehension and recall. The Summary of Responses, showing each question once again, along with the aggregate answers to the question further serves to reinforce the message. |
| Q. |
Who writes the questions? |
| A. |
We write the questions, using the experience we've gained from writing more than 2,000
questions for nearly 100 products. We then plug the questions into the program.
With your approvals, we then produce the entire program, while reporting its ongoing results to you.
Saves you lots of time. Frees you up to focus on other projects. |
| Q. |
What would I have to do? |
| A. |
As DoctorsDialog is a turnkey program, you would simply brief us and provide relevant information and materials (research papers, vis aids, letterhead, company and product logos).
You would then submit the program we create for review and approval.
We will assist you during the review process, if you wish. |
| Q. |
How long does it take to do? |
| A. |
One to three months to prepare, four to five months to complete both phases (usually 3~ waves).
The second wave follows the first by about 4 to 5 weeks.
The third follows the second by about 6-8 weeks. |
| Q. |
During that time, do Doctors tend to forget? |
| A. |
Personal correspondence in each wave reminds and updates Doctors on the ongoing Dialog.
These reminders work, as controlled ROI analyses by clients show a continuing growth in sales
over the course of the Dialog. |
| Q. |
How would a DoctorsDialog work in the marketing mix |
| A. |
Think of a Dialog as a “Powerful alternative to reps and opinion leader”.
Collaborating doctors prove to do as good a job as reps, and a better job than an opinion leader
in support of the product message. So, if you have little or no rep coverage, or no opinion leader to influence, you can use a DoctorsDialog as an alternative. It will detail your product in full with many,
and relay positive peer influence to most.
Think of a Dialog as a way to Cut through the clutter: If you have a budget for mail,
A Dialog is a proven way to get your message seen. Doctors today have less time than ever to get the information they need in order to serve patients. They have less time to see reps, or wade through emails,
or search online. They want VERY HIGH RETURN on the time they invest.
DoctorsDialog's first class correspondence with its personal message cuts through promotional clutter.
It places your information on Doctors' desks and into their hands.
Its immediacy prompts many to reach for their pen and respond to you.
It motivates many more to read the aggregate responses. It inspires most to use the product.
Response quantity, response quality, and ROI analyses substantiate this. |
| Q. |
Do you offer samples? |
| A. |
Yes, if you wish. While offering samples is not necessary to generate response,
Dialogs have offered samples a number of times. |
| Q. |
Do you handle fulfillment? |
| A. |
If you offer literature or other information, we can fulfill it.
If you offer samples, we will compile the sample requests and forward them to your
sample fulfillment operation in the format they require. |
| Q. |
How much does it cost? |
| A. |
To determine your investment in a DoctorsDialog, we must first ask you a series of questions
to learn what your require. The questions cover sales goals, integrating with other initiatives, and field force, timing, target speciality(ies) and numbers, format of prescribing information, fulfillment options (samples, literature, materials), online and fax options, reporting needs (summary and market pulse [plus blog]
for management, sales, marketing research), graphic option with feedback, vis aid, journal response
ad and reports.
For your reference, investment in the core interactive mail segment of a DoctorsDialog
can be similar to that of a high quality direct response mail program.
Last point. The investment in a DoctorsDialog covers the entire program, start to completion.
To assist you in budget planning the investment is set at the start and billed in 3 installments. |
| Q. |
Why should I use a DoctorsDialog instead of a quality direct response mail program? |
| A. |
The investments may be similar, but the outcomes different:
For example, a client director of marketing first ran a multiwave direct response mail program,
which conveyed a monolog message with color photographs, and asked some brief questions.
He then ran a DoctorsDialog and compared the results. The Dialog pulled 5 TIMES the number of responses
to 5 TIMES the number of questions. More, it generated sales. He has since used 3 more Dialogs.
His Canadian counterpart has used 2 Dialogs to date. |
| Q. |
Is sharing the responses with Doctors' the only incentive? |
| A. |
No. We believe sharing the Summary of all the Responses is the initial incentive to respond
(see What doctors say...about seeing the summary of responses).
A close second is the complete clinical information Doctors get through the concise Q&A, which many apparently appreciate (see What doctors say...about learning the message). A meta-analysis of psychometrics shows that half of all Doctors prefer to take-in information by thinking it through (interacting), rather than talking it over (conversing).
Other strong incentives:
--Doctors need clinical information on products that can improve patient care.
--Doctors like to give their opinions about products.
--Doctors want to know the opinions of other doctors about products, and how others use those products.
--Doctors will tend to use a product when they are given all the above
(see What doctors say...about using the product).
There are more incentives.
--Dialog marketing appears better received than one-way, monolog marketing,
which tends to alienate many today.
--Dialog marketing's mutually-informative mutually- beneficial format has been proven
repeatedly through literally hundreds of programs to appeal to many thousands of Doctors
(see What doctors say... about the DoctorsDialog method).
One last underlying incentive:
Supporting all the above with response and ROI-tested components and content
(including language, eye path flow, typeface, layout, and more) within each package continually
proves to effectively reach, engage and involve more Doctors.
(Example, one client compared a graphic mailer program—not recommend by testing--
to a DoctorsDialog: The Dialog pulled 5 times the response, to 5 times the number of questions.
|
| Q. |
Do specialists respond better? |
| A. |
Specialists tend to respond at a higher rate than primary care doctors. And some specialties tend to respond at higher rates than others. Ask us about yours. We'll share with you the response rates for yours
and if you like, the psychometrics which tend to determine levels of response by specialty.
Note: “Responders” not “respondents”? “Responders” is a noun; it carries (we believe)
a more active connotation. “Respondent” is either an adjective or a noun with a less active connotation. |
| Q. |
Do you use Dialogs with other health care professionals |
| A. |
Yes. We've conducted dialogs with nurse educators, pharmacists and optometrists. All successful. |
| Q. |
What is the response from other health care professionals |
| A. |
As well as with doctors.
For example, a Dialog with nurse educators achieved a 64% response to 15 questions.
A Dialog with pharmacists achieved a 13% response to 23 questions.
A Dialog with optometrists achieved a 36% response to 21 questions. |
| Q. |
Do you pay Doctors to respond? |
| A. |
No. When you offer to share the responses with Doctors, many willingly collaborate
in exchanging information. When you want to keep the response information to yourself,
checks can work as a response incentive. (A good example would be testing the exposure levels of the different types of mailing packages.) However, after writing the original guidelines for product managers,
“How to do check studies”, we tested the idea of simply offering to share the responses.
Sharing worked so well, we stopped using checks as incentives. |
| Q. |
Do the aggregate responses have the effect of an opinion leader? |
| A. |
New research shows: “Cascades of influence are driven not by influentials but by a critical mass
of easily influenced individuals.” (Watts and Dodds, 2007).
To substantiate this effect through DoctorsDialog:
--An ROI of 4.52:1 from non-responders, many of whom see the dialog Summary,
was reported by a client analyst who set out to verify the effect of critical mass influence on non-responders.
--A product manager used a DoctorsDialog to circumvent a somewhat critical opinion leader by feeding back positive mass opinion from responding Doctors to all Doctors.
He achieved the highest worldwide sales increase for the product that year, thus reinforcing
Watts and Dodds research.
--ROI analyses of two DoctorsDialogs by clients show that the highest, most lasting sales increases occur following critical mass influence feedback |
| Q. |
Can I use the response information? |
| A. |
Yes. Like our clients who have done all of the following...
--You can use cumulative response reports to track ongoing Dialog results, present to management,
analyze the relevance of message elements.
--You can use doctors comments and questions to keep tabs on the market pulse—much like a blog.
--You can provide responder profiles, showing individual and cumulative response,
to appropriate sales managers and reps for territory monitoring and personal follow-ups.
--You can use cumulative response information in a visual aid to support sales rep calls.
--You can use cumulative response information in a journal response ad to expand influence
and increase responses.
--You can provide cumulative response reports for marketing research analysis
(cumulative responses are similar to research responses, with a variance of less than 5%.) |
