I TOOK MY 12TH PHARMACY road trip last September. Getting to visit outstanding pharmacies on a prearranged and appointment basis is a real treat. While in the pharmacy I get to meet the team that makes the magic happen, take a tour of the facility and then sit and chat with the owner and simply ask, “What are you doing that works?”
I have nothing to sell, I am just there to listen and learn.
The trip I took in September. saw me visit three remarkable, yet very different pharmacies. I drove from Prescott, Ariz.; to Reno, Nev; Chico, Calif.; and Grants Pass, Ore. I was sponsored by PioneerRx pharmacy software and InterLink AI, makers of the scripClip pick-to-light will-call system. Both of these companies have sponsored me in the past.
The purpose of all my trips is to document things pharmacies are doing that help them succeed, and to share these findings with others. On this trip I saw a remarkable cash-only compounding pharmacy. A medical-arts type pharmacy combined with a medical supply store, and a classic full-line pharmacy located on the town’s main street and with a large and attractive front end.
Pharmacy Is A People Business
Despite the differences in their formats there was one effective characteristic all three pharmacies had. It was the feeling that the people who worked there liked one another and liked serving their patients. Somehow the owners of these three pharmacies had mastered what management experts call “soft skills.” These managers seem to understand that pharmacy is a people business! How well you greet, treat, and respond to people is one of the secrets of success.
That doesn’t mean these owners can slack off on any of the other professional and business issues. If you don’t operate an efficient pharmacy, you won’t make it either. But efficiency is not what sells. What sells is patient satisfaction, bedside manner, the ability to connect on an emotional level. It is the ability to convey the message that you care about me as a person. That is the key differentiating factor.
This is easy to say but hard to do. Pharmacy schools recruit and train on cognitive skills that emphasize the details of prescription medications. And I am glad they do. The work of filling prescriptions requires the ability to keep track of details and make sure they are done right. Still, as I visit super-successful pharmacies I am struck by the personality, or ambiance, of the pharmacy.
Treating People Right
Do team members get along with one another and truly understand that the job they do is far more important than putting the right medicine in the right vial and giving it to the right person? Mail-order pharmacies can do that. Community pharmacies need to do that plus treat people right. And the word “people” includes prescribers, vendors, other team members, patients, and even community leaders.
These soft skills are important but hard to measure. And if by chance the owner does not possess these skills then one of the first things he or she needs to do is hire someone who does. This key employee can be the face of the pharmacy. This person can join the Chamber of Commerce, greet new patients, and do the doctor detailing.
The ability to interact with others and get them to like you is one skill all three owners of the pharmacies I visited on my last road trip had. So the takeaway for today is: Build your people skills and you’ll grow your practice.
Here’s hoping something I said here will help you do more and be better. CT
Bruce Kneeland is an independent pharmacy veteran, author, and podcaster. He can be reached at BFKneeland@gmail.com and listened to at www.pharmacycrossroads.com.