How to Win Market Share from Your Competitors

Life science companies are competing in a time of increased consolidation, with modest growth in steadily maturing markets. Although there are recent exceptions, such as the rise of genome editing products, these conditions virtually dictate that in order to grow, life science companies must win market share from their competitors.

A key component for winning share is by establishing differentiation not only through the products the company offers, but through the services and channels in which current and potential customers interact with your brand. Key touchpoints at any stage of the purchasing process can solidify a customer’s loyalty or frustrate them to the point where they urge others to avoid your brand.

From when they first enter your website, to placing an order through a sales rep, to using technical support when setting up a new system — every time a scientist interacts with a supplier is a branding opportunity. A dedicated customer experience program has a formal strategy to engage and satisfy, not merely serve.

A customer’s experience encapsulates all aspects of the purchase journey: the pre-purchase activities, the actual purchase being made, and receiving the item and engaging with post-purchase support. We’ve identified 21 different touchpoints where a customer could engage with your brand and have a positive or negative experience. These touchpoints can be rolled up into the following categories:

However, some touchpoints are more important to life scientists than others. In our 2016 Customer experience report, we had respondents rank touchpoints in order of most importance to their experience to least. Product integrity was deemed the most important category, with the others ranked below:

Suppliers who focus their efforts on outperforming competitors across each of these touchpoint categories will achieve the competitive advantage and differentiation they seek.

Our next article in this series will discuss some of the findings from our recent Life Science Customer Experience report, and how companies can use that data to focus their efforts and budgets to produce better results.