When your patients trust your pharmacy, they keep coming back. And, since it’s generally recognized that it costs businesses more to gain new customers than to keep current ones, maintaining patients’ trust is important to staying successful.
Lucky for you, just being a pharmacist means that you’re already a step ahead. Pharmacists are recognized as one of the most trusted professions in the nation; they were ranked as the second most-trusted profession in Gallup’s most recent honesty and ethics poll.
RELATED: How to Build Patient Trust in Your Independent Pharmacy
Build on the trust people already have for pharmacists to create even better relationships with your business. Here are ten easy ways to build more trust and keep your pharmacy business thriving.
1. Come out from behind the counter
When your pharmacists step into the front of the store to help patients find the right probiotic or to recommend a knee brace, that extra interaction helps build trust and makes your business stand out.
2. Make sure all employees reinforce trust
Promoting trust isn’t only for your pharmacists. All of your employees need to promote good customer service in order to build patients’ trust with your business. Make sure all employees, including pharmacy techs, cashiers, and delivery drivers, understand this goal.
3. Reinforce with marketing
Use marketing pieces, like postcards and newsletters to reinforce trust with your pharmacy. Include information about health topics that are important to your patients, to establish your pharmacy as a knowledgeable (and trustworthy) source of health information.
4. Participate in the community
Show patients you care about your community by participating in community events. Attending health fairs, visiting senior centers and sponsoring children’s sports teams will continue to reinforce trust in your pharmacy.
5. Call patients to check in
A phone call to check up on patients is an effective way to build trust. Patients who just got out of the hospital or who are having a difficult time will appreciate a call to check in on how they’re doing and to answer any questions.
6. Follow up on negative comments
If you experience patient complaints in person or online, immediately follow up. Try to respond with empathy, even if you don’t agree, and provide the person with ways you’ll work to sort out the problem. Showing concern for patients’ complaints will go a long way toward maintaining a trusting relationship.
7. Meet goals
You’ll lose credibility with patients if you advertise that you’ll have all prescriptions ready in 15 minutes or less—and then don’t. Make sure to meet all of the expectations your pharmacy sets.
8. Get to know patients personally
Learning patients’ names immediately builds rapport with them. Your independent pharmacy may be stretched for time, but getting to know each patient on a personal level can help keep patients as long-term customers.
9. Provide additional information
Go above and beyond the normal pharmacy by pointing patients to websites, brochures or any other extra information that can help them with their medication regimen or that can help them better understand their disease. Helping patients beyond just providing their medications will build trust with your business.
10. Listen to patients’ needs
Are a lot of your customers asking about immunizations? Do many of your patients have trouble managing their diabetes? Listen to what your patients are saying and provide services around those needs. There’s no better way to build trust than to actively listen to what your patients want and to provide solutions to their problems.
A Member-Owned Company Serving Independent Pharmacies
PBA Health is dedicated to helping independent pharmacies reach their full potential on the buy-side of their business. Founded and owned by pharmacists, PBA Health serves independent pharmacies with group purchasing services, wholesaler contract negotiations, proprietary purchasing tools, and more.
An HDA member, PBA Health operates its own NABP-accredited secondary wholesaler with more than 6,000 SKUs, including brands, generics, narcotics CII-CV, cold-storage products, and over-the-counter (OTC) products — offering the lowest prices in the secondary market.
