You need two things to catch a fish: bait and a rod.
The right bait attracts the right fish.
The rod makes the catch.
But what does fishing have to do with pharmacy?
Well, to get patients, you have to fish in prospects.
Unlike with fish, reeling in patients is good news for them. Your independent community pharmacy can improve their health outcomes and can provide the personalized care they can’t get from the national chain pharmacies.
But they can only experience the unique care you provide when they become your patients.
So, fishing.
How do you transform prospects into patients?
You bait them with marketing. And, you reel them in with differentiation.
If you do both well, you’ll turn prospects into patients.
The Best Way to Entice Prospective Patients to Choose Your Pharmacy
You choose bait based on the type of fish you want to catch. (Don’t bait trout with hotdogs or they’ll never even look your way.)
The same principle applies to prospective patients.
For example, say a large millennial population lives in your area. Millennials won’t notice an advertisement pinned on bulletin board in the local community center. But a relevant social media post may catch their attention.
Here’s how to use marketing to turn patients into prospects.
Step 1: Determine your target market
Before you can start marketing, you need to determine who the target market is for your pharmacy. What types of patients live in your area and need your services?
Step 2: Run marketing campaigns
Then, you can run marketing campaigns specific to your target market’s wants and needs.
For example, you’ll need to use digital marketing channels to bait millennials. Like social media, website and mobile apps. (Millennials are more likely to become loyal customers if a brand engages with them on social networks.)
Step 3: Tailor marketing content
And, you’ll need to tailor the content you use for marketing.
Millennials look for convenience, technology and charitable causes. So, your marketing messages should highlight those strengths.
If your target market is seniors, your marketing strategy will look different.
You don’t have to choose one over the other. But you’ll have to market to them in different ways.
So, before you start trying to hook prospects, make sure you’re using the right bait.
Check out these articles for more tips to improve your pharmacy marketing.
How to Differentiate Your Pharmacy and Hook Interested Prospects
Have you ever had a hooked fish writhing on the end of your line only to watch it careen off into the water?
Even if you get prospects to bite, it won’t matter if you can’t reel them in.
But if you want to turn prospects into patients, they need to do more than walk through your doors. You need to give them an experience they can’t get from the national chains or big box pharmacies.
Give them that, and you’ll turn prospects into patients.
Hook prospects with better customer service
It’s no secret national chain pharmacies can’t offer the same level of customer service that your independent community pharmacy can.
But not all independent pharmacies offer great customer service, even if they think they do.
And customer service is key to turn prospects into patients. As many as 89 percent of consumers leave businesses for a competitor following a poor customer experience.
Offer your prospects next-level customer service and they’ll want to reward your pharmacy with loyalty.
So, how do you provide a standout customer experience?
Customer service doesn’t just mean responding to patient complaints or helping patients find the right aisle in your front end. Customer service is about the entire experience when patients visit your pharmacy.
Here are a few customer service practices to turn prospects into patients:
- Fulfill your promises: Nothing turns patients off more than a lie. Make sure you delivery what you promise.
- Build meaningful relationships: Get to know the people who visit your pharmacy. Learn their names, greet them and follow up with them. Make their visit to your pharmacy a personal experience.
- Cater to patients: Make patients feel catered to. Get feedback from them, make changes based on the feedback and ask them if they’re satisfied with the changes.
- Make time for one-on-one: Dedicate a pharmacist to counseling patients. Making time to meet with patients and hear their concerns will create a satisfying, personal experience for patients. And, it’ll set you apart from the national chain pharmacies.
Reel prospects in when you differentiate your services
If you don’t deliver prospects what they want and need, they’ll choose a different pharmacy.
And people today want a lot. Pharmacies can provide more services now than ever before and patients are beginning to expect that.
For example, patients under 40 are almost 50 percent more likely to rely on non-traditional modes of primary care delivery rather than on a primary care physician.
That means the more provider-level services you offer, the more people will want to use your pharmacy. If you don’t provide those services, they’ll find another pharmacy that does.
Become a one-stop health shop to reel people in and turn prospects into patients.
Offer these services to turn prospects into patients:
- Chronic disease management
- Comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs)
- Health screenings
- Immunizations
- Medication adherence
- Medication synchronization
- Medication therapy management (MTM)
- Pharmacogenomics
- Prevention and wellness education
- Smoking cessation
- Specialty pharmacy
- Transitions of care
Don’t let those fish get off the line. Now you have the strategies to hook and reel them in every time.
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