How to increase your profile as a “beacon” pharmacy for women’s health -part 2
So, you are looking to increase your pharmacy’s women’s health profile, and become a solution destination for health states like pain, heart health, and pregnancy? Experience shows us that there are two broad domains you need to master to achieve this objective. One is the “engineering” piece and was featured in part 1 <CLICK HERE TO READ PART 1 OF THIS ARTICLE>
• Physicals
• People
• Process
• Product
The other is the “conversation” piece, and features elements ………..
• Attitude
• Aptitude
With the engineering piece mastered, you can maximise your conversation competitive advantage. Unfortunately, pharmacists, generally, have not been trained in the pre-requisite skills. What-stop-go speak, whilst still relevant and important is no longer good enough to underpin your women’s health destination objective. This form of language is overly risk management based – think Hippocratic oath “above all else, thy shall not do harm to thine customer”. Your conversational goal should now reflect – “extend what they know, challenge what they think they know, teach what they don’t know”. In this context you should be leading the consultation, not only reacting and responding only to the customer’s agenda. Ultimately such mastery will deliver commercially, but the motivation must be to offer the customer a range of choices above and beyond their expectation. One that provides a more complete solution than they are asking for. This is attitudinal – ie do you have the mindset to master such conversational skills, and shift the customer’s visit expectation? And it is also aptitudinal – ie are you able to learn and practice such new skills?
At the foundation level, four fundamental skills are required ………….
• Listening skills
• Questioning skills
• Advisory skills
• Objection handling skills
The key to mastering listening and questioning skills in terms of promoting your pharmacy as a beacon for women’s health is in elevating the hitherto predominant conversation around the medical domain (signs, symptoms, side effects) to make the emotional connection (impacts on work, rest, play). By asking the right questions the right way, you will increase trust, and encourage the customer to do more talking than you. When executed with aplomb, any recommendation you subsequently provide will be perceived as providing choice and options rather than pitching product.
Not surprisingly, the mastery of the engineering and conversation pieces in support of your aspiration as women’s health destination will also underpin the overall value your pharmacy delivers to your patients. Not just for the specifics of women’s health.
rt health, and pregnancy? Experience shows us that there are two broad domains you need to master to achieve this objective. One is the “engineering” piece and was featured in part 1 ………..
• Physicals
• People
• Process
• Product
The other is the “conversation” piece, and features elements ………..
• Attitude
• Aptitude
With the engineering piece mastered, you can maximise your conversation competitive advantage. Unfortunately, pharmacists, generally, have not been trained in the pre-requisite skills. What-stop-go speak, whilst still relevant and important is no longer good enough to underpin your women’s health destination objective. This form of language is overly risk management based – think Hippocratic oath “above all else, thy shall not do harm to thine customer”. Your conversational goal should now reflect – “extend what they know, challenge what they think they know, teach what they don’t know”. In this context you should be leading the consultation, not only reacting and responding only to the customer’s agenda. Ultimately such mastery will deliver commercially, but the motivation must be to offer the customer a range of choices above and beyond their expectation. One that provides a more complete solution than they are asking for. This is attitudinal – ie do you have the mindset to master such conversational skills, and shift the customer’s visit expectation? And it is also aptitudinal – ie are you able to learn and practice such new skills?
At the foundation level, four fundamental skills are required ………….
• Listening skills
• Questioning skills
• Advisory skills
• Objection handling skills
The key to mastering listening and questioning skills in terms of promoting your pharmacy as a beacon for women’s health is in elevating the hitherto predominant conversation around the medical domain (signs, symptoms, side effects) to make the emotional connection (impacts on work, rest, play). By asking the right questions the right way, you will increase trust, and encourage the customer to do more talking than you. When executed with aplomb, any recommendation you subsequently provide will be perceived as providing choice and options rather than pitching product.
Not surprisingly, the mastery of the engineering and conversation pieces in support of your aspiration as women’s health destination will also underpin the overall value your pharmacy delivers to your patients. Not just for the specifics of women’s health.