Do Ads Still Work?

I get asked every so often, "Why don't my ads work?"

My answer, "If your ad isn't working it means you are running a crummy ad."

First, let me document that ads still work.  Have you seen the pillow guy's ads?  Yea, he's become a multi-millionaire selling pillows.  Or, how about the company that sells rubber car floor mats for five times as much as they cost at Auto Zone?    

These ads seem to work just fine.  So, what's the trick? So, here's the formula: 

        1. Have something; Good To Say

        2. Say it; Exceptionally Well

        3. Say it : Often

        4. Say it: In The Right Place

I realize this list is a bit like the NFL football coach telling his quarterback to throw a touchdown pass.  That's always the objective, but eleven other guys are working real hard to keep that from happening. 

Still, here are some more detail.  

Have something good to say means finding what it is you do in your pharmacy that truly matters to your current and prospective customers.  Hint, it's not, we've been serving the XYZ community for 50 years.  It's not, fast, friendly services.  

Try to find a hot button, something that truly speaks to your current and potential customers.  The two biggest examples I know of in the current market are; pouch packaging and medication synchronization.  

But both of these examples bring to bear the second rule, say it well.  If you are using the words adherence or compliance or synchronization in your ads then you are not, saying it well.  Consumers don't understand these terms.  

Headlines like: Too Many Pill Bottles, Too Little Time?  Or; Do You Ever Wonder If You Already Took Your Pills Today?  These headlines avoid "jargon" and speak to real concerns of "some" of your patients.  

Once you find a headline, topic and message that resonates keep using it. You and your team will soon get tired of hearing it and want to come up with something new.  Try to resist that temptation as long as you can.  

Finally, say it in the right place.  Ah, that's a real challenge.  The local newspaper, radio or cable TV station are always options.  Facebook is popular.  But the first place to start is in the store.  Window banners, shelf talkers, bag clippers, buttons for the staff and even door hangers placed on homes in your vicinity are all good places to start.  

I am a big fan of personalized email and even better, snail mail.  Sending a truly customized message to 10 patients a week telling them about the service you provide, and and how it will help them, is a time tested approach.  This takes time, but if done in a sensible manner and built into the job description of specific staff members, will pay off handsomely.  

Here's my one last thought.  The ability to do all the above is not a skill many pharmacy owners have.  Say it well means you keep it short, sweet and simple.  It means you come up with clever graphics that grab peoples attention. And, it means you come up with a call to action that gets people to call, or visit your pharmacy and ask questions.  I suggest you find an ad/marketing agency that can help you do this.  Because, ads do still work, and finding ways to build demand for services that generate the profit you  need is essential to your success.  

Something I Learned In A Class I Took From Stephen Covey

With all the challenges facing independent community pharmacy it’s easy to become overwhelmed, discouraged, and, dare I say, burnt-out? 

Perhaps some perspective will help you more effectively handle this challenge.  Years ago, it was my privilege to attend Brigham Young University and take a class from an impressive, but yet little know professor of Organizational Behavior, Stephen Covey.  In 1973, the idea for his blockbuster book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, was not even on his radar screen.  But, some of the concepts he taught in my class ended up in his book.

One was a concept he called, A Paradigm Change.  At the heart of this idea is to take the same facts, but look at them from a different perspective.   

In, The 7 Habits, Covey illustrates the concept by telling how he took a subway ride on a business trip to New York City.  On the ride was a man with 2 young children.   The children were behaving badly, jumping on the benches and making a nuisance of themselves.  Covey says he looked at the father with disdain wondering how it was he did not control his kids.  As he did so the father looked up and realized what had been happening.  He apologized and explained that he and the children had just come from spending the night at the hospital where their mother had just passed away. 

Instantaneously his attitude changed, even though none of the facts had. 

So, you say, what’s your point?  

The phone rings and one of your techs says she can’t come in today.  Patients give you anxious looks wondering why it is taking so long to get their prescription even though your IVR texted them that it was ready.  Workloads are up and profits are down.  

For these and numerous other reasons industry observers are often heard to say the future of retail pharmacy is bleak. 

But, is it really? When I hear predictions that independent pharmacy is dead, I think back on the first sales calls I made only months after listening to Covey’s lecture on paradigm change.  Within weeks of graduating, in August 1973, I started working for the J. B. Roerig Division of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. My first task was selling a line of cough and cold products to independent pharmacies in North Dakota.  As I made my calls, I was shocked to hear so many owners complain about how bad the future looked for them.  The reason, the makers of Robitussin changed their policy and decided to let chain drug stores sell the line.  

For forty-nine years I have been told independent pharmacy was dying.  Yes, I know that since 1973 tens of thousands of them have closed.  And, in the past few years that same trend is occurring in chain pharmacy.  The facts can’t be denied, things are tough.  Yet, somehow, some owners take these same facts ,but by looking at them differently, they find ways to make their pharmacies profitable.  I know, because I get to talk with talk with many of them on my podcast,  www.PharmacyCrossRoads.com

Take, for example, Shahida Choudhry, PharmD, owner of The Palms Pharmacy in Tampa, Florida. She opened a brand-new, start from scratch, pharmacy six years ago and is doing so well she is already planning to open another.  Part of her secret is sourcing unique front end products and finding effective ways to network with prescribers in her community. You can check her out at: https://www.thepalmspharmacy.com/

Then there’s Kyle McCormick, PharmD, owner of Blueberry Pharmacy in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania area.  He has gone to an all generics, all-cash, membership model. That’s right, no PBM hassles. McCormick is meeting with so much success he is now helping others emulate his model.  Check him out at: https://blueberrypharmacy.com/

These owners, and hundreds of others, all have the same challenges but they have found a way to undergo a paradigm change by finding new, more and better ways to move forward.  Maybe you do something new and unique in your community.   

If You Own A Pharmacy You Need To Know About The DSCSA.

Pharmacists are the guardians of medications.  You know what they do, how they interact with one another and can often help prescribers find the best one for your patients.   But there is one other, perhaps even more critical thing, pharmacists need to do to make sure people get, take and actually benefit from the medications their doctor prescribed; is the medication in the bottle on your shelf actually real?  

That's what DSCSA is all about.  The acronym stands for Drug Supply Chain Security Act and its core purpose is to designate ways pharmacists can be sure the medications they dispense are real.  Counterfeiting of drugs is a real issue and the counterfeiters have become expert at finding ways to place their fake drugs into the supply chain.  That's where DSCSA comes into play.  

Passed nearly 10 years ago the regulations, up to this point, have affected mostly manufactures and distributors.  They have had to develop, with the help of industry standards and trade organizations, ways to authenticate and trace prescription medications in the supply chain.  The results of this have been most visible to retail pharmacies as the pedigree documents that come with your orders.  

While much of that "up stream" work has been done and the pressure is now on retail pharmacy to develop policies, tools and systems to assure that the products they purchase are in compliance with the new regulations.  And with more and more pharmacies utilizing secondary suppliers this process is becoming more important
and more complicated. 

I just did a podcast with two experts who talk about what this means to retail pharmacies.  It runs for about 40 minutes and includes comments from Perry Fri, EVP of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance and Leon Nevers, Director of Procurement for HEB, a world class grocery chain with pharmacies in Texas.  

You can listen to the podcast using this link:  

https://traffic.megaphone.fm/CSN2107439901.mp3?updated=1654533358

The BIG takeaway is that your primary wholesaler can help with this but you shouldn't count of them to provide you with all the tools you need.  And, the time to get started in now!  You can do that by talking with your wholesaler rep. to see what he/she can tell you and by accessing some documents prepared by the Healthcare Distribution Alliance at:  www.HDA.org/issues.

Here's hoping this information helps you prepare for the policies and procedures you'll need to put in place to meet the regulations which go into effect - with penalties - in Nov. 2023.  

Here's A New Acronym That Could Improve Your Profits

 A few years ago, I attended a pharmacy CE session that impressed me.  The featured speaker was not a pharmacist nor did he speak about pharmacy. 

He owned a small chain of hair salons and he espoused a customer service technique called, F.O.R.D. I think the idea he shared was ingenious and feel to share it here. Indeed, I’d like to see some pharmacy management system company find a way to build the capability of using it into their software. 

As you’d expect his business management system kept track of appointments, the salon’s pricing schedule and calculated the commissions to be paid to each stylist. But in his business, the speaker said, relationships where paramount, so he’d added the ability for the system to house other information that helped his staff build relationship. 

Here’s what they put in, under the acronym of F.O.R.D.:

1.     Family: names of spouse, children, pets, etc.

2.     Occupation: What kind of work do they do, what company, how long there, etc. 

3.     Recreation: How do they like to spend their free time; skiing, bingo, reading, etc.

4.     Dreams: What do they wish they could do; have kids, travel, get married, etc.

So, here’s an example; the receptionist gets a call from Mary Jones asking, “When is the soonest you can get me in to see Wanda?” The receptionist says, “Let me check,” and then while checking casually asks Mary Jones, “What’s up, why the rush?” Mary explains her mother passed and she needs to leave in two days for the funeral. The receptionist tells her there are two times available tomorrow. Mary Jones selects one and the receptionist books the appointment. But that is not all, she also adds a note in the customer relationship module under, the family tab. 

When Mary Jones comes in, Wanda has reviewed the note, expresses her condolences and chats about Mary Jones’ mother.  A relationship is strengthened because the system captured and shared the information. 

Now another example; Sally Smith comes in on her regular visit and while chatting mentions she is up for a promotion.  Wanda makes a note under the occupation tab. When Mary comes in eight weeks later, she asks for an update on the promotion and offers congratulations or condolences.

Whenever a new person comes in the stylist is trained to ask how the new person heard about the salon. The reply is entered into the system for management review. But if the new person indicates a current customer suggested the salon the stylist adds that into the customer relationship management module for the referring customer.  The next time the person who referred a friend comes in the stylist thanks the person and is authorized to provide the customer with a small gift, a bottle of shampoo, or other item the salon features.   

You get the idea, get, capture and appropriately use all the information you can on your patients. People rarely leave their stylist because a new salon opened down the street. When it come to independent community pharmacy your very much like the hair salon, personal relationships are the backbone of pharmacy. Always remember, pharmacy is a people business.  

You Can Learn A Lot Just By Listening

As "The Road Trip Guy", I have long been a fan of  Yogi Berra, the  baseball Hall of Fame player and erstwhile philosopher.  One thing he is reported to have said is, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”  Borrowing from that statement I’d like to suggest that pharmacy owners can learn a lot just by listening.  

While listening to employees and customers is always wise, I am not talking about that.  Rather, I am suggesting you listen and learn from successful pharmacy owners.  And helping you listen to some of the best is the mission of my popular podcast show, PharmacyCrossRoads.  

The program calls for me to spend about 30 minutes interviewing a successful owner who explains how programs, products or services they use help them be more successful.  And, I am happy to report there are still plenty of successful owners we can all learn from. 

The beauty of an audio podcast is you can listen during your commute, while working on spreadsheets or even while mowing the lawn.  True, video presentation can be great.  But there are clear advantages to audio. 

PharmacyCrossRoads is a member of, The Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN).  PPN hosts more than 40 pharmacy related programs and posts them on Spotify, Apple/iTunes, Google Podcasts and more.  No matter what device you use you can subscribe and listen to PharmacyCrossRoads when and where you choose.     http://www.PharmacyCrossRoads.com 

I hope our paths cross on one of my podcasts soon and that as you listen you'll pick up tips that will help you do more and be better.  

Have You Heard of Justin Jones-Fosu?

I have.  I listened to him speak at a conference recently.  He did a great job. So much so I feel to share some concepts he discussed. And, to be clear, the picture you see here is not him.  It is just a shot designed to capture your attention.  

Jones-Fosu spoke at the NCPDP Annual Technology and Business Conference.  As you know, NCPDP stands for the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs.  What you may not know is NCPDP does more than provide you with that magic number you use to bill third-party payers.  They set the standards that allow your pharmacy systems so share information with other systems.  

But I digress, let’s get back to Jones-Fosu.  His remarks focused on getting people to be better workers by helping them find satisfaction in what they do.       

One counter-intuitive thing he said was, “Don’t look for your work to bring meaning to your life; rather, bring meaning to your work.”   The statement reminded me of President John Kennedy’s inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

While this notion may not immediately provide you with dozens of energized and committed employees it is, he maintains, one of the secrets to your success as a person, as an employee and an employer.   Jones-Fosu is on a mission to help people, no matter how menial their jobs, realize everyone’s job has meaning. He maintains, if you can find meaning in your job, you can help others find it in theirs. 

He shared the story of walking through a busy airport after a long business trip.  He was tired and grumpy.  Then he noticed a maintenance worker smiling and whistling as he pushed a trash cart down a hallway sweeping the floor.  He decided the time had come to remember all the big ideas he’d shared during his recent speech and thanked the janitor for what he was doing. 

The maintenance worker responded with a thank you.  Jones-Fosu asked him if he’d mind chatting for a few minutes while he recorded the conversation on his cell phone.  The short video clip showed a a smiling maintenance worker who was obviously flattered by the attention.  The question was asked, "how do you stay so happy doing this kind of work?  The response, “I know my job is not glamourous but what I do matters to people like you.” 

He showed a second clip.  This one featured a cafeteria worker cleaning tables in a busy corporate lunch room.  She said that despite the fact most people might feel what she did was insignificant, she disagreed.  She said she came to work each day, not only for the money, but because what she did helped other people, even it was only her co-worker who would need to pick up the slack if she was not there.   

As you deal with employee turn-over or the challenges of getting people to do their jobs well, it might help to explain the tasks involved in a specific job from a different perspective.  Your pharmacy does more than take pills from big bottles and put them in little ones.  Your pharmacy helps people live healthier, happier lives.  In short, like the janitor, you help people. That’s why you need people working with you who understand the importance of their job. 

Here's hoping something said here help you do more and be better.  Because, what you do matters!

You Can Learn A Lot Just By Listening

 

Yogi Berra, the late great baseball Hall of Fame player is reported to have said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”  Borrowing from that statement I’d like to suggest pharmacy owners can learn a lot just by listening.  

While listening to employees and customers is always wise, I am not talking about that.  Rather, I am suggesting you listen and learn from successful pharmacy owners.  And helping you listen to some of the best is the mission of my popular podcast show, PharmacyCrossRoads.  

The program typically calls for me to spend 30 minutes or so interviewing a successful owner who is generous enough with his or her time to chat about programs, products or service they use that help them be successful.  And, the good news is there are plenty of successful owners out there for me to keep busy doing shows for quite some time.  

The beauty of an audio podcast is you can listen during your commute, while working on spreadsheets  or even while mowing the lawn.  True, video presentation can be great.  Being able to see the things being talked about is terrific.  But there are clear advantages to audio.  You can take it with you no matter where you go. 

PharmacyCrossRoads is hosted by the pharmacy industries most popular podcast platform, The Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN).  PPN, www.pharmacypodcast.com is the home of more than 40 pharmacy related podcast programs and they post all their programs on Spotify, Apple/iTunes, Google Podcasts and more.  So no matter what device you use you can subscribe and listen to PharmacyCrossRoads when and where you choose.    

Check it out at: http://www.PharmacyCrossRoads.com 

Here's hoping my podcast will help you do more and be better.  

A Few Things I Learned This Week....

 I  spent a day at the 2022 Annual Technology and Business Conference of the National Council on Prescription Drug programs, better known as NCPDP.  It provides every pharmacy with the specific identifying number used to bill for third party reimbursement; but it does a whole lot more. 

One of the “other” things is hosting a technology conference that attracts a diverse group of companies interested in helping pharmacies operate more efficiently; and, NCPDP advocates for pharmacists to be allowed to provide more clinical services. 

Dr. Jerome Adams, the former U.S. Surgeon General, delivered an informative and uplifting Key Note address.  Adams framed his comments with the statement that the United States does not need to spend “one dime more on health care.”  Instead, as he explained over the next 30+ minutes, we simply need to rethink and rearrange how we spend our healthcare dollars. 

One notable example is, he says, for some mysterious reason both the government and private insurers have decided not to cover things “above the neck.”  They don’t’ pay for dental work, hearing aids, eye glasses or, mental health conditions.  As for mental health Adams points out how more money spent on helping people deal with mental health and related social skills would save the nation billions of dollars on the cost of imprisonment.   This is especially true if one factors in the cost to society of the loss of human potential and the money spent to replace property losses due to crime. 

One topic mentioned in several presentations, and included in Adams’ remarks, is the costs to the health care system of social determinants of health.  The inability of the underprivileged to gain access to early detection and poor nutritional is a major cause of obesity.  And, as we all know, obesity drives a variety of chronic health conditions.  Adams argues focusing more attention on these issues now would save our society billions of dollars.   

NCPDP is dedicated to helping payers and regulators understand that by empowering – and paying – pharmacists to provide new, more and better healthcare services that we can improve the health of more Americans.  And,  as Adams says, it won’t cost us one dime more. 

If you own or manage a pharmacy I challenge you to reach out to your elected representatives, insurance commissioners and other policy makers and employers in your area.  Let them know that by taking fuller advantage of the resources your pharmacy provides your community can save money and enjoy better health. 

No Front-End Is Too Little To Matter

Learning from others is one of the secrets of success.  And, boy did I learn a lot from my conversation with Shahida Choudhry, Pharm D., and owner of The Palms Pharmacy, in Tampa, FL.  

Shahida is a rock star! Operating out of an 1800 square foot facility with a that house the "typical" pharmacy area and a compounding lab.  Leaving only about 300 square feet for her front-end.  Most owners would simply put in some classic drug store products and ignore the space.  But, there is nothing normal about her. By listening to customers, considering her market area, tapping into local suppliers and sourcing product from innovative vendors she has turned her 300 square foot into a profit center and a patient magnet.  

And better yet, she shares her story in my most recent podcast.  Here's the link: 

 https://traffic.megaphone.fm/CSN8831132273.mp3?updated=1649422210

While your front-end may only account for 5-10% of sales it affects 80% of your image.  Making it appealing, and profitable is both important and possible.  Just ask Shahida, she'll tell you that retrofitting her front-end plays a critical role in making her pharmacy profitable.  

Having Trouble Finding Good Employees; Perhaps You Should Look For Character Not Credentials

I listened to a fascinating NPR report yesterday about changes some employers are making in their recruiting efforts.  Of course they talked about signing bonuses, higher wages, flexible hours and even work from home.    

But they also mentioned another option.  That being, recruit for character with less concern for  credentials. In the NPR story the key illustration was the habit employers have of automatically requiring a college degree even one one is not necessary for the job.    

I guess the point I am trying to make it that too many pharmacy owners have grown accustomed to putting in their job description the need for a high school diploma or other educational credentials.  That is a logical requirement, and under what used to be normal, it would help clear the applicant pool of unsuitable candidates.  

But, too many applicants is no longer a problem.  So, maybe the time has come to think of new, novel and perhaps more important employment qualifications.  The world is full of mother's interested in returning to work but who do not have "classical" work experience.  Perhaps being the leader of a cub scout troop, or a volunteer with a not-for-profit organization would be a better indicator of a person's work ethic and ability.  

The point, when recruiting, try to find ways to attract people with the character traits you need, and then train them for the technical skills they require.  And, educational credentials may not be the best way to determine that.  Personal recommendations and non-commercial work experience could be a better way to find such people.

I'd love to know what you think.  Email me at;  BFKneeland@gmail.com 

Back To Normal Is Not The Goal

 Almost every day I hear someone say; “I can’t wait for things to go back to normal.“

If in 2019 you were making plans to try new things and striving to grow your pharmacy, advance your career or improve your personal life, then everything you were doing was an attempt to get out of what was then, normal. 

So, while yes, we want to put COVID behind us, we also want to find new, more and better ways to advance our professional and improve our personal lives. 

Remember that no matter how hard things get there are always ways to succeed.  I read stories of pharmacy owners who are totally reformatting their pharmacies into cash only, no insurance accepted practices.  I have spoken with pharmacists that contract with medical clinics to do chart reviews or diabetes education.  The clinic bills for the service using their billing codes and pay the pharmacist a per hour fee for providing the services.

Point of care testing is a growth field as is the role of pharmacy as a healthcare destination to aid patients in areas such as; drug nutrient depletion, improved diet, diabetes prevention education and many more services that are not dispensing related. I even know of an organized effort by a sharp vendor to incorporate the selling of health insurance into the pharmacy.  Ohers are providing, cash paid, in home elderly support care services.  Incorporating one or more of these, and dozens of other opportunities, into your pharmacy will help you move away from normal as you become; exceptional.

But what about finding more joy in what you do.  Societal expectations of what a job or career means are changing.  Consumer behavior has also changed as incents of rude and abusive customer conduct are increasing.  Working in a pharmacy just is not the same as it was a few years ago.  

No matter if you are the owner, manager, a technician or a cashier you can do much to improve your working conditions.  Pay and benefits are critical and need to be in line with the realities of the market place.  For staff members this is a good thing.  For owners and managers, maybe not so much.  But those who adjust and find ways to more fully engage, respect, trust and empower their team members will benefit from this huge shift in employer and employee relations. 

On a non-economic front, and I would argue a benefit that is more powerful than money is working conditions.  This affects owners, managers and team members equally.   Much of what happens in a pharmacy depends on the way staff members interact with one another, do their job and how well they treat patients.  Much of this depends on how much the employee believes that working in a pharmacy is a noble cause; that helping people live healthier lives is important and serves a higher purpose than simply that of making a living.    

A few years ago, I started using a made-up word; probletunity.  It is intended to underscore the notion that hidden in every problem is an opportunity in disguise.  COVID, and the closely related economic, social and health related problems it has brought upon pharmacy are well known to everyone that works in a retail pharmacy.  Yet, for those that are astute enough to see the opportunity, and then quick enough to adjust, will benefit from all the turmoil.  It has ever been so.  Wars, depressions, natural disasters and other major disruptions always produce new opportunities.  I have pointed out a few.  I’d love to have those who are smarter and more observant than me point out opportunities they see they feel are even better
than the ones I have mentioned. 

As always, here’s hoping something I have said here will help you, Do More and Be Better.