Through the Looking Glass: The Customer

During the last few months, I sat in on a few focus groups with some of our members. I love doing focus groups because you get a raw, unfiltered understanding of the customer.

Focus groups are one of the many ways I hear directly from customers, in addition to call center calls and visits, ethnographic studies and other methods. All are valuable, but focus groups have an immediacy that can’t be matched.

You sit behind the glass and hear people talk about their interactions with your company – the good and the bad. What’s discussed is top of mind to the customer and it’s a reminder that it should always be top of mind to me. I get even more motivated after attending a focus group and realizing that we can make such an impact not just on health, but on overall well-being and lifestyle.

It was particularly interesting to observe a focus group comprised of seniors in Miami, Florida. Participants weren’t focused on advances in new medicines or industry topics, but how they were treated and what they needed to do to stay healthy, physically and emotionally.

One member said that her treatment should always be done with “love, attention and affection.” Another member reflected on the importance of activity to their health: “as elderly people, we have to stay healthy and activity is very important to us.” It was the simple things that mattered to them and these simple things must be a priority for us.

What I Observed – and Learned

Like any engagement with our members, I wanted to learn what was most important to them and what we can do to help them. Here are some areas where health care needs to go to truly become a consumer-focused industry:

• Listen to what I have to say – You will always learn more from listening to your customers than from any market analysis you can do. People want to make sure you know them, understand them and care for them. Sit back and listen.
• I don’t like it when the doctor stares at the computer when he or she is talking to me. I want to be looked in the eye – If you have a smartphone or tablet (we’re all guilty of doing this at one point or another), make sure it’s not driving the conversation with the customer. People want you to show them you care.
• Make it easy so I can actually do what I want to do – Health care is complex and this must change. If a prescription is for the heart, put a symbol of the heart on the bottle. If the customer doesn’t understand the terms (co-pays, etc.), simplify it for them.
• Help me stay healthy so I can do the things I want to do – The answer to this is different for every person. A 78-year-old-female with multiple chronic conditions who is unable to walk without assistance wants to be healthy enough to attend her granddaughter’s high school graduation.

These four areas all have one thing in common: social. People want to feel connected to others, whether it’s their friends, family, doctor, etc. They want to feel like they’re part of something that matters to them. It’s not just about their health; it’s about feeding their spirit, as one of our members also noted during the focus group.

It’s About the Consumer

My focus group(s) experience was a reminder that long-term customer relationships must go beyond health and are the critical foundation for creating a healthier nation. It’s about taking a personalized approach to the customer.

When you’re dealing daily with millions of seniors, as we do, you know firsthand that aging is a very challenging process, a relentless tide of issues that these people deal with every day. If they don’t have help to get on the path to better health, it’s our responsibility to give them the type of customized support they need.

Thanks to advances in medicine and technology, aging is not what it was 10 to 15 years ago. It’s inspiring to see the vital, active lives that many seniors enjoy today. While more and more seniors will get on the path to better health, we must never forget that it starts with the bond of trust. When you are truly engaged with the consumer in his or her health, you will have a truly meaningful impact on their health and well-being.

You can look through the glass and learn quite a bit, but it means nothing if we don’t apply what we learn.

Photo: creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by peasap: https://flickr.com/photos/peasap/1680885692