It’s that time of year again—flu season.
August marks National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), which highlights the importance of vaccinations, including the influenza vaccination, and serves to encourage people of all ages to get vaccinated.
Now’s the time to start promoting flu shots at your pharmacy, as families are preparing for kids to go back to school and everyone gears up for the fall and winter seasons. Some of your patients may have even already come in asking about flu shots.
Here are some key points to remember to make flu shot season a success at your pharmacy.
Prepare your employees
By this point, most of the preparation necessary for your pharmacy’s flu shot program, such as ordering vaccines and setting protocols, should be completed.
However, there are still other steps you can take to ensure you’re ready for the high volume of patients who will visit your pharmacy to receive their flu shots.
Take the time to properly educate all employees about your flu vaccination service. If employees aren’t familiar with procedures, it can lead to a frustrating or bad experience for patients. You want to make sure they have a good experience, so they’ll come back next year.
When patients have questions about your flu shot program, your employees should be able to provide helpful answers and ultimately encourage those patients to get vaccinated.
Make getting flu shots convenient
It’s also important to effectively schedule vaccinations, so patients aren’t forced to wait in long lines. If a patient comes in for a vaccine and is told she will have to wait for a longer time than she had hoped, she may go elsewhere to receive her flu shot.
Make sure there’s always a pharmacist available to administer the vaccine, so that the service is convenient for patients.
Promote your flu shots
It can be easy for patients to forget that they can get vaccinated at your pharmacy.
Marketing your pharmacy’s flu shot program is key, and there are a lot of simple but effective ways to do so.
Print signs and banners that you can hang up around your store reminding patients to get vaccinated. And, if you have a digital sign outside of your store, add a short message that flu shots are available.
It’s also beneficial for your staff members to mention the service when they’re assisting patients in the store or at the register. Remind employees to emphasize the convenience of getting vaccinated at your pharmacy when speaking with patients.
Spread the word on social media
Use social media to spread awareness about your pharmacy’s flu shot program. It’s a digital world we live in, so posting updates to your Facebook and Twitter pages may get the attention of patients who haven’t visited your store recently.
You should also include information about flu shots on your website, so patients can learn more. If you send out emails to your patients, be sure to promote the service and provide a link to the flu shot section on your website.
Make the most of the interaction
Not only is offering flu shots profitable, but doing so can result in increased foot traffic and sales of additional items patients may not have purchased had they not visited your pharmacy to receive a vaccine.
Even though administering a vaccination may be a short process, you’re able to interact with patients and strengthen your relationships. And, it presents an opportunity to recommend other products and services patients may need.
For example, if you’re vaccinating a patient who suffers from diabetes, you can remind him of another patient care service you offer that he may benefit from, such as a diabetes education class. Or, you can recommend a specific product you carry, such as a multivitamin or foot cream.
Encourage patients to get a flu shot by dispelling these four myths.
