Several years ago I was part of a sales team for a large technology firm. The company, with sales approaching a billion dollars, had a dominate position in the independent hardware store and auto parts business and was eager to sell their products to independent pharmacies.
One of the opportunities this job provided was participating
in a year-long sales revamping process undertaken by a large consulting firm.
What’s this got to do with you?
During the process I learned something that will help anyone
trying to manage an independent community pharmacy. The consultants came back
with a whole new sales process built on the notion; if you want to speed up the
sales cycle, then you need to slow down and plan more carefully.
For some reason, the juxtaposition of the phrase, slow down
to speed up, impressed me. And, I think the idea has value for
independent pharmacy owners.
Here’s why. If you want
to grow your pharmacies sales professionally and profitably then you need to pause, take a
step back and rethink what you do. Most pharmacies
are built on the idea that to be successful they need to fill more
prescriptions. While filling lots of
prescriptions is helpful, it is no longer the key to success. Low reimbursement, more expensive inventory
and labor issues mean you need to do more and be better than ever before. And, if you want to do more and be better you
need to pause, ponder, plan and prepare.
That all requires time away from the pharmacy, it requires networking
with others and brainstorming with you team.
In short, if you want to make more money, you need to find new, more and
better ways to operate.
The good news is other pharmacy owners have already found
many of these new ways. Some have
decided to do more compounding. Others to
focus on non-pharmaceutical treatments, others have successfully adopted a cash-only
model. I have a fondness for those updating the look of their pharmacy and re-invigorating
the front-end. Health services, like smoking
cessation or diabetes education are common.
And of course, the most rapidly
emerging areas for growth seems to be immunization. With point-of-care, “test-to-treat,” coming
in a close second.
But, the number of choices is the problem. If you try to do
too many you are likely to fail. If you
try to adopt programs you don’t have a passion for, or for which your market
place is not ready, or that someone else is already doing, you are not likely
to succeed.
Which brings me back to the starting point. If you want to speed up, slow down. Take time to examine your strengths, understand
your passions and evaluate your trade area.
Then carefully choose one or two programs and get started.
It is possible to run a profitable community pharmacy. Its not easy, but it is possible. I know, because I get to see them when I travel. The one thing that
is true for each of them, they are doing something else besides filling prescriptions
fast and accurately.
Here’s hoping something you read here will help you do more
and be better.
