Top 3 super easy, low cost, high return ideas for Independent Pharmacists that can be put in place today!

  1.  Encourage everyone on your staff to be your extended sales force.  This is such an easy and often easily missed opportunity.  Have a contest each month, quarterly, or bi-annually.  Decide a time frame that works and encourage your employees to come up with ideas to sell more product.  The employee’s idea that generates the most revenue should be rewarded.  Obviously, you need to have some guidelines and layout how the winner will be picked, but you will be shocked how this can motivate your staff and increase moral.  A happy staff will translate into happy customers and more synergy and buzz about your store.
  2. Remember the 80/20 rule.  Your pharmacy system should be able to easily generate a list of your top 20% of customers.  Analyze it and see what they have in common and then go after more of what emerges as your target market.  Do they share a disease state like Diabetes?  If so, create a Diabetes Prevention Program.  For this, one option is to look to partner with a local YMCA.   The YMCA already has their own Diabetes Prevention Program.   The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program uses a CDC-approved curriculum and is part of the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program.  Rather than creating your own, you may want to find out if you can partner in some way with a quality organization that already has a program in place?  Even better if there is a local YMCA near your location for an easy referral partnership.
  3. Create Relationships.  Yes, be the pharmacist they trust.  Take the time to answer questions and know your customers by name.  This is something that chains just can’t touch Independents on.  We suggest asking this simple question to every customer that walks in your door.  “How Can I Make You Smile Today?   It’s personable and memorable!  Along with this, we highly like the idea of giving out the business card of the attending pharmacist every time the question is asked.  It reinforces that relationship and makes you even more memorable and business cards are very cheap.  On the back of the card look to put a coupon that drives them back into the store or to a new product! There you have it 3 super easy, low cost, high return ideas for Independent Pharmacists that can be put in place today!  Go forth and implement!