Independent community pharmacies are good at customer service. You greet patients by their first name; you know which medicines they take; and you develop close bonds with your most loyal customers.
Patients love your business for the personalized care and attention you provide. But, did you know that there are tools available that can further enhance your relationships with patients?
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools, like Salesforce and Infusionsoft, allow users to track customer information, sales insights and other useful patient data to improve patient-pharmacist interactions, increase pharmacy sales and keep patients happy, so they continue coming back for an above-and-beyond customer service experience.
Check out the top reasons why investing in a CRM tool can be beneficial to your independent community pharmacy.
CRM helps you stay organized
Running an independent community pharmacy is hard work. You do your best, but you can’t remember every patient’s birthday or their regular purchases.
CRM tools remove any confusion and disarray associated with customer information. They allow users to document detailed customer information stored in one easy-to-access place, which can help you stay organized.
CRM can help increase sales
When you can easily keep track of patient history and buying habits, you can tailor your pharmacy to suit what patients want and need.
And, when you’re more in touch with what your patients want, they’ll be more likely to visit your pharmacy, make a purchase or use a patient care service, like immunizations.
A CRM tool can also serve personalized offers, discounts or promotions across web, mobile, social and your physical pharmacy, which can turn shoppers into buyers.
CRM keeps you in communication
Communication is key to keeping your patients happy. With a CRM tool, you can drive repeat business, encourage bigger sales and gain valuable referrals because you’ll have the tools to stay in touch more easily.
Whether it’s sending a patient a ‘happy birthday’ email or responding to a potential customer on Facebook, a CRM tool enables you to handle those interactions in one place.
CRM can help your marketing
When you know more about your patients, you can also improve your marketing.
Whether you’re sending emails, using social media or updating your website, a CRM tool allows you to personalize the message to the patient. You can also segment patient information so you can modify your marketing to individual patients.
For example, your senior patients might prefer a phone call alerting them to your pharmacy’s latest event, while millennial patients might just need a social media update to get them into your pharmacy.
Metrics, reports and other information regarding the success of your marketing are also readily available with a CRM tool. For example, a CRM tool can help you pinpoint the best time to send your pharmacy’s e-newsletter.
CRM keeps employees up-to-date
With easy access to patient information, your employees can become more educated on the patients they’re serving.
They’ll know personal information, like your patients’ birthdays, interests and social media accounts. Your employees will also know sales history and contact details. This allows employees to send the right message through the right channel.
They’ll be able to quickly respond to customer complaints and send out ‘thank you’ messages and regular updates via web, email or social media.
You can also use a CRM tool to keep track of patient’s health information. (Just make sure the CRM tool you use is HIPAA-compliant.) Now, the entire pharmacy team is able to become knowledgeable on a certain patient’s condition. And, when another pharmacist is taking care of that patient, she’ll have the records she needs to provide individual care.
Discover five ways technology can improve your pharmacy’s patient care efforts.
