When my husband got a promotion that meant relocating, I knew it was time to put our house on the market. What I didn’t know was that the process would remind me so much of what we teach about effective engagement in pharma.
Our relocation company gave us a list of realtors to choose from, but we went with someone we already knew. She’d helped us back in 2016, and even though nearly nine years had passed, we’d stayed in touch. She remembered details about our home, about us, and about what was important to us. It was a reminder that trust isn’t built overnight. It’s built over time, through consistent connection and genuine listening.
This time, I was the one doing the listening. She was honest but kind in her feedback. “There’s one thing about living in a house,” she said, “and another about selling one.” Her advice was simple: depersonalise. She advised us to remove our Persian rugs, take down the family photos and clear the surfaces. Her advice was to create a space where the buyer could imagine their own story.
So, I did just that. I spent two weeks cleaning, decluttering and lightening our load. We repainted, repaired, mulched the garden, moved out extra furniture and brought in professionals to make everything shine. I wanted to present the house in its best light, not as our home, but as someone else’s future one.
When my friends walked in, they could not believe their eyes. The house looked so different, calm, balanced and inviting. We listed it, stepped aside and let our trusted realtor do her magic. Within a day, the offers came in.
It worked because she knew what buyers wanted to see, not what we wanted to show.
Selling, whether it’s a house or a medicine, isn’t about the product. It’s about the person on the other side. We often make the mistake of showing everything, holding on tightly to what we think matters. But the buyer isn’t looking for everything. They’re looking for what meets their need, solves their problem, or fits their world.
That experience taught me three simple lessons:
- Selling is never about you. It’s always about the other person, their needs and their context.
- Less is more. Buyers don’t need to see everything, only what helps them decide.
- Expertise matters. Working with people who understand buyer behaviour saves time and increases value.
In pharma, we often do the opposite. We focus on our brand, our data, our features, and we end up overwhelming the customer. It’s no wonder that 77% of marketing content never sees the light of day in HCP interactions, and that, on average, fewer than four pages of a detail aid are used.
Having worked with the NHS since 1986, first as a nurse and later in pharma, I’ve seen first-hand what builds trust and what puts people off. That insight helps us guide our clients to see through the buyer’s eyes, not their own.
At Cheemia, we don’t sell to the NHS. We help the NHS buy from our clients.
So, if you’re struggling to connect, or unsure what to keep and what to let go, message me. I promise not to make you throw away your Persian rug, but I’ll tell you exactly what the NHS needs to see to buy from you.
Mehrnaz
