Live Storytelling: the impact #pharma can make in front of their customers

Trying to pinpoint when the first story was told would be impossible. Some of the most famous stories – Gilgamesh, Beowulf and even Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare - began life as fireside spoken tales.

It would be fair to assume that we started telling stories when we first devised language, but I guess that’s more about how stories were able to spread from one culture to another so prolifically – Homer’s Iliad was first told in Greece and it’s now been read on every corner of the globe. How’s that for impact?

Of course, written stories are very impactful in their own right. The bestselling book, according to Wikipedia, is the ‘The Bible’ – but even that began life through word of mouth.

Written stories cannot surpass the impact of live storytelling.

It’s why YouTube is so successful, and Ted Talks are watched by millions of people each year. There’s something powerful yet intimate about the presenter-audience relationship; relaying a story directly to others, watching their faces fly up in surprise, disgust, feeling the emotions of a tale.

The brain has a dedicated region – the Limbic system – to process emotion. What’s more, it has specific cells – mirror neurons – that are activated when another individual acts or shows emotion. These cannot be readily activated through reading a story; they are the brain’s response to viewing another human acting and mirroring their actions internally. All this in order to process information more efficiently.

Therefore, the impact of live storytelling can, in many cases, far surpass the effect of reading an article online, or, for example, a detail aid. Though the story has been carefully devised, structured and tested to fit physician’s expectations - even covering the emotional charge of treating a certain therapy area - it in no way negates the need for direct contact with your customers.

This makes the sales call – and most importantly the story you tell during this call – the best opportunity to convince your customers of your brand. So don’t forget this.

The question remains then: how will you come up with the killer story to tell your customers in that face-to-face situation? Well, the Branding Science Group specialise in helping you not only construct your story, but practice the execution. Get in touch with our team to find out more!!

This article was written by Sofia Fionda Senior Research Executive at Branding Science

The BHBIA conference – beyond expectations!!

As a first time delegate, I did not know what to expect from the BHBIA conference.  It’s fair to say, my expected highlights were the awards dinner and guest speech by Mark Foster, one of the UK’s most decorated sportspeople. 

From my tower of cynical ignorance, I had two main preconceptions about the conference as;

1.   A backslapping exercise for the main sponsoring agencies/client companies

2.   A platform for agencies/service providers to hawk their wares, with harassed clients fleeing successive sales pitches as they make their way from coffee pot to  paper-presentation

My opinion, however, rapidly and considerably changed for three key reasons…

Collaboration

As I listened to the first paper-presentation, I was struck by the atmosphere of togetherness and partnership.  The transparent discussion of innovative methodologies and success stories was inspiring.  Imparting this “winning feeling” to us all and initiating new directions of thinking was not just refreshing…it was incredibly motivating. 

Pride

It was very easy to see the pride delegates have in the Pharma industry. Highlighted at every point was how business intelligence adds value to all aspects of a brand’s life cycle.  There is real scope for change, real opportunity for innovation and real need for the business intelligence community to make the difference.  I doubt any delegate left without a feeling of purpose and energy.

Receptivity

Opportunity to talk with client and agency colleagues with the sole agenda of promoting better business intelligence was very powerful.  Existing pre-conceptions and relationships were set aside, as delegates openly discussed issues and brainstormed solutions.  This added to the positive feeling of the conference and likewise to my belief in what I/we can achieve to improve healthcare in the UK.

As for looking ahead? I will certainly attend the 2013 BHBIA conference, and hope this summary encourages thinking into what a creative forum like this could mean to your company and team’s approach to business intelligence.

Oh, I almost forgot, the awards dinner and Mark Foster speech were also sensational!

The author: Joe Gadilhe is Senior Research Executive at Branding Science. With experience across therapy areas, he has managed research projects exploring the views and opinions of payers and physicians in the UK and abroad.

Get the big Rocks in your bucket first, a metaphor for your busy life

As a Training Consultant in the past, one of my favourite metaphors for getting the message of ‘effective time management’ across to participants, was this….

I’d start with a bucket, some big rocks enough to fill it, some small stones, some sand and water. I’d ask in what order should I put them in if I was to successfully get them all into the bucket?

After much fun and fooling around we’d settle on the following most effective way.

1. Put the big rocks in the bucket - is it full?

2. Put the small stones in around the big rocks - is it full?

3. Put the sand in and give it a shake - is it full?

4. Put the water in. Now it is full.

The point of the metaphor is this: unless you put the big rocks in first, you won't get them in at all.

In other words: In life, we need to ‘plan’ time-slots for your personal or career big issues before anything else, or the inevitable sand and water issues will fill up your days and you won't fit the big issues in (a big issue doesn't necessarily have to be a work task - it could be a family occasion, your child's sports-day, or a holiday). Think about it, are you getting those big rocks into your bucket first?

The author: Sammy Lloyd is Head of Learning at Branding Science.

You know Coaching would be great for your team, but you don’t know where to start!

Here’s a quick guide from Sammy Lloyd, Head of Learning at Branding Science

Coaching – What the hell is it, really?

• It’s helping people to learn a skill through 1-1 sessions and feedback.
• Uses day to day, career learning experiences for your team members. The best coaching is done on-job, (you don’t always have to create appointments and schedule diaries, good coaching often only takes a few moments/minutes)
• Provides a structure for development of every member of staff, controlled by you, but owned by the individual.
• Should be carried out on an ongoing basis. (if you believe that you did some coaching with a team member last year, therefore you are coaching……you may need to think again)

Follow this Simple 4 stage Process and see dramatic results

1. Analysis of Coaching Needs.

• OK, what are the standards that my team need to achieve in a specific area of our business? What skills are required to do this? (you might want to list them if you haven’t got them down already)
• What is the gap between the required standard/skill and the standard/skill at present? Get really clear on this and list them, you need to be crystal clear on this. You’ll notice that often our human abilities i.e. relationship building skills, attitude, determination, procrastination, effective use of time etc may surface.
• Can the gap be filled by coaching?
• What are the priorities? List them.
  

2. Setting objectives/ targets / key result areas etc.

• What targets should you set for staff? Now I hate to use the next example, but you what? Nothing has come up yet to replace the technique of using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timescale). Most important? - Realistic.
• Draw up a simple Learning and Development plan for every member of staff. Think about their coaching needs. Which are the most important? How frequently can you address them?
• Always agree targets with team members. Remember that coaching is (when used correctly) a key motivational tool – if staff are not kept informed it can de-motivate through fear and suspicion. Many great coaches don’t even use the term ‘coaching’ as it becomes ‘conversational’ it’s often just an ‘impromptu, informal chat’. Coaching still happens and is very structured, but the skilled coach interweaves and infuses the session elements conversationally (that are often not even noticed by the team member). This frequently ends up with the team member leaving the session with fresh impetus, clarity, focus, and often in higher spirits.
  

3. Coaching Skills

• Adopt the ‘little and often’ approach.
• Consider your communication techniques. Use a combination of open and closed questions. A closed question can only be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. The skill of using open ended questioning technique is a true skill. (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How?) Seek methods of utilizing this skill in your own personal development. Always check understanding.
• Be enthusiastic. Give appropriate praise and encouragement.
• Give regular feedback. Be constructive.
• Advice and guidance from own experiences can be very effective. However, use with caution, often when we enable the team member to figure something out for themselves it becomes more beneficial than the old, ‘you want to do it like this’ approach.

4. Evaluation

• You must think about how you are going to monitor the success of your coaching before you really get started. Having a date to review progress is always beneficial
• Always link activity to goals whenever possible.
• Use review sessions to re-assess coaching needs.
• Discuss progress regularly.

How to really ‘mess up’, or the most common Barriers to effective Coaching

• Setting unrealistic objectives.
• You as Coach do not ask enough questions to get to know what the team member ‘really wants to achieve’. Getting to the heart of the matter.
• Poor relationship with staff member.
• Lack of confidence to question and probe, to really understand team member.
• Tendency to instruct rather than coach.
• Choosing inappropriate time and place for your coaching session.

Gaining skills in coaching and then applying them is one of the most productive and rewarding areas of management (and personal life). There are a number of different methods of coaching that can truly bring benefits to management and team members.

Sammy Lloyd is Head of Learning at Branding Science and has been deeply involved in Coaching and Learning and Development programmes for over 20 years. Should you have any queries with regards to Coaching for Results then please contact our offices.