Marketing Essay: Strategies to Maintain Market Share for a Pharmaceutical Company

Maintaining market share is more crucial than gaining it for every company. Customer retention is one of the most important marketing strategies to maintain market shares (Ali, Alvi, & Ali, 2012, p. 35). The ability to retain customers depicts that the company is satisfying its customers. It creates brand loyalty and makes clients of the particular products ambassadors of the firm, and they market it as well as coming back to purchase. Companies should continually improve their services to strengthen their relationship with their customers. They should also make a point of finding what their competitors are offering as well as ask their clients how important they take the difference. Customers should never be taken for granted because they play the greatest role to ensure that a product remains in the market. Retention of clients means one will not lose them to competitors. Although it takes a lot to satisfy each customer, having loyal customers is a key to ensuring that any company maintains its market share. Pharmaceutical industry records one of the worsted brand loyalties in the world, though there are traces of customer retention. The existence of traces of client retention means that a company can maintain its market share with the right strategies that ensure customer retention is achieved. The implementation of customer retention strategies gives an organization a competitive advantage over any new entrant. The pharmaceutical company should implement the strategies discussed below to ensure they maintain their current market share and possibly get new customers.

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The pharmaceutical company should come up with an excellent customer service. An excellent customer service plays a significant role in ensuring customer satisfaction (North, 2001, p. 56). Customers in all industries prefer to trade with a company that offers an excellent customer service that extends from before, during and after a sale. After sales service can motivate most clients in pharmaceutical sector because a client would feel that the enterprise other than selling the products it cares. The perception of caring from a pharmaceutical company would make customers develop trust that the company produces quality products that would solve their problems (Baack, 2012). Excellent customer service also makes the customers feel obligated to purchase from the business and ask their friends to do the same in case they are in need. If the company develops its customer service and it becomes one of the best, it would help in customer retention because it is easy to beat new entrant in the market by being friendly. Failure to have good customer services acts a free marketing to a competitor because once a customer is dissatisfied and does not feel cared for by the company, they go to a competitor. When a corporation acts on customer feedback, and offer a friendly and timely response, in a case of negative issues, a feedback is given instead of moving away. Therefore, the company should strengthen the customer service offered to make it the best in the industry.

Delivery services of orders made make companies retain customers. The pharmaceutical company should make sure that they deliver products ordered in time and as promised. The team processing orders and doing the delivery should work closely with customers to ensure fast processing of orders and a good understanding is established so that retail sellers of the company products are always in stock (North, 2001, p. 58). Availability of products in the market makes brand loyalty easy and also makes the other work done by an organization to retain customer achievable because they do not struggle to get products.

Development of loyalty program such as earning points and appreciating customers makes them happy, and they feel valued. Loyalty programs that encourage customers to purchase from the company whenever established make the cost of switching from one seller to the other relatively high and hence a necessary strategy (Lipson, & De Sa, 1996). The enterprise should also look for ways of appreciating customer regularly with unique messages, appreciation cards if possible and other gifts. Surprise presents acts as extra motivation for customers to remain loyal to the brands of a company as they feel appreciated and they know they stand a chance of winning a present.

The company should establish communication channels with the customers so that all feedbacks can be taken. The channels of communication should mirror the current technology so that all clients present and potential ones can give feedback. All comments should be taken, and customers appreciated for taking the time to give their concerns and expectations. The company should act on negative comments immediately. Past surveys show that when negative feedback is acted on swiftly, the complainants have a high chance of becoming loyal customers. In the pharmaceutical industry, negative feedback when worked on makes a customer feel cared for, and they trust in the products offered. The availability of many communication channels would also boost customer retention in the industry because it can act as consultation channel where a customer can be assisted to know the products suitable for their problem as per doctors prescription.

The pharmaceutical company to ensure that market share is maintained; they should put in place several strategies that enhance customer satisfaction and other retention strategies. Some of the strategies include establishing an excellent customer service system and taking feedback from customers. Also, coming up with incentives that encourage a customer to purchase its products and ensuring that the products are always available in the market.

References

Ali, I., Alvi, A., & Ali, R. (2012). Corporate Reputation, Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Romanian Review Of Social Sciences, 10(3), 22-37.

Baack, D. (2012). Customer Retention and the Health Care Industry. Inquiries & Perspectives, 4(1), 35-44.

Lipson, D., & De Sa, J. (1996). Impact of purchasing strategies on local health care systems. Health Affairs, 15(2), 62-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.15.2.62

North, R. J. (2001). What Ever Happened To Customer Service? Behavioral Health Management, 21(3), 56-59. Retrieved from