RxGenius

The Green Pharmacy

As one of the original attendees of the 1st Earth Day and a third generation ecologist, the concept of ‘going green’ is not new, it is a lifestyle.  Many of us have waited a long time for the rest of the country to wake up to the necessity of caring for the only planet and home that we have.   Astronauts look at our world from space and marvel at its beauty; astounded at the thin layer of atmosphere that protects us from destruction.  Native Americans have encouraged their philosophy of living with nature, not against it. Our country and our corporate structures are the largest contributors of waste in the world. All this is finally changing.  It simply has to. 

Making your home and your life ecologically friendly takes a mind set to make some changes in the daily habits; and pharmacies can help in a great way. 

Pill Return Program:
Making sure you have a standard recycling program for paper, plastic and glass is a start. Research shows that 89 percent of consumers throw their unused pharmaceuticals in the trash or down the toilet.  Since this has been in the news lately, your pharmacy can join a pill return program.
Dumping medications harms waterways and eventually could harm people if we drink the water. 

As a judge in the local school district Science Fair, I had the honor of previewing one of the student’s 2 year studies on the percentage of estrogen that is in the water system. Her award winning study began long before the news announcement we are now familiar with, and the resulting information is being used as part of a longer term county study.

By joining a pill return program, your pharmacy is giving your patients another option. Medication received is sent away to companies that safely disposes of them. The medication is incinerated in an environmentally proper way and in most cases, the service is free.

There are some limitations, such as needles, inhalers, or controlled substances such as Vicodin that are not accepted.  You must assist in educating your patients to remove personal information before they recycle anything.

Totally Green Power Source:
The Village Green Apothecary in Bethesda, MD is the first pharmacy to have all of its electricity supplied by wind power -- a clean, alternative energy that doesn't cause global warming.  The sign on the front door tells customers about it as soon as they arrive, and little windmills throughout the store are whimsical reminders.

"Most people don't realize how easy it is to do something like this," said owner Marc Isaacson.  Isaacson pays wind power association Native Energy a yearly fee to replace the traditional electricity the shop uses with wind power. The wind energy doesn't actually come into the shop but is replaced at the power supply, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide produced.  Native Energy is run by a consortium of tribes from the Great Plains that uses the money to fund more wind farms throughout the country.

The Village Green Apothecary is a health and wellness center that offers a wide array of herbal supplements, organic products and books. Now that the shop is going green, it's encouraging its customers to do so as well. Pamphlets about buying wind energy are available in the essentials to healthy living section, and books on the environment are prominently displayed.  Isaacson said he wants customers to realize they can make a difference.

Recycled Electronics:
Whether you have an old pc or a slightly abused cell phone, there are organizations in your community that will refurbish and reuse this equipment.  Contact your local schools to find out if they have a program. Many refurbish and donate these items to families in need.  Your county may have a program to reuse the valuable metals inside the computers or electronics. 

Adopting An Area:
As a young girl our camping trips always started out by cleaning up the camp site before we settled in.  My mother said “we must leave this area in a better condition, than when we arrived”.   Many towns now offer local retailers the ability to adopt-a-highway or a section of a local park.  This is an excellent opportunity for you to show your sense of community to your customers.  The time required is minimal when it is divided between all of the staff. Many can use this as a family participation, demonstrating to the children the priority of keeping our earth clean.

Organic Products:
Organics are also not new, but are one of the top purchased items in the country.
I used to have to order these products on-line and pay a much higher price.  Mass merchandising chains have realized that there is a great demand and have are stocking/selling at an amazing rate!  Organic products do not pollute the environment nor do they contain the chemicals that contribute to illness. Offering your customers the choice of organic fair trade coffee and food items will bring new customers to your pharmacy and impress upon existing customers your commitment to their health. 

Environmentally Friendly Products:
Environmentally friendly soaps and washer detergents, diapers/baby items, and paper products will bring you more devoted customers. There are so many more choices and selections now available for you at reasonable prices.  If your supplier doesn’t offer them find out why.  If they don’t have an answer, find a supplier that will include them in your inventory selections.  It won’t be long until that supplier begins to realize they need to make some changes.

Pharmacy Technologies:
Talk to the vendors that supply you with the various automations and technologies in your pharmacy as well as those that you are considering purchasing products from.  Thankfully, it has become an appealing attraction for corporations to show that they are environmentally friendly in both the production of the products as well as their factories/locations.  They know that people are making product choices based on how ‘green’ the company is.  A quick phone call or e-mail to existing vendors might get a few recommendations for adjustments in your technology that could reduce electric use or use the technology in a more efficient manner.

Plastic or Paper = Neither:
The City of Seattle is considering a fee to be added to all purchases using plastic or paper bags. Part of the fee would go to the retailer, the rest to the city for the cost of recycling the waste.  Although this is the most radical move in any city so far, they are also considering extending it into the restaurant business for using foam and non-recycled plastic containers. This may seem like a longer term scenario of acceptance for the shoppers in the U.S. as they slowly make the transition from plastic bags to reusable, environmentally friendly carriers.  However, most of the large mass retailers have already begun following the path of the health stores by offering these bags at the front of the store at very inexpensive prices.  This is a lifestyle change that people will be happy to adjust to, if they realize they will be charged extra for items that are not ‘earth friendly’.

Conscious Purchasing Choices:
Many consumers are examining the packaging of the items they are seeking to buy:  The face moisturizer that is packed in 2-3 different plastic containers so that it will look appealing – is no longer popular.  Vegetables prepackaged in foam and plastic wrap is passé. Foam packing peanuts are being replaced by recycled paper with further r&d into alternatives. 

Your pharmacy can make the same environmentally friendly choices in the products that you offer to your customers.  From how your supplier ships the products to what you put on your shelves, every effort makes a difference.

Karen Sulprizio
Email Me or Call Me: 1-866-312-8324

Do It Yourselfers - Learn A Lesson

My husband and I are self-proclaimed do-it-yourselfers.  We have a history that involves fixer-upper older homes with the desire to learn and take pride in having accomplished a well-done project ourselves.  From tiling, painting and building our own enclosed back porch – our construction jobs have been many!

This positive attitude changed when Hurricane Charley hit.  Our older asphalt roof came off in so many pieces, that they were found 8 houses down.  We still had a roof, which, is a lot more than I could say for the people in Charlotte Harbor, FL.. So, we told our insurance company to wait on stopping by and pay attention to those that really needed their attention.

3 months later, the insurance estimator told us that only the front half of the house needed to be done; get an estimate on half a roof – and they would give us $2,000.   Since a roofer will never do half a roof – the cost for a new roof was $10,000 for our 1 ½ story, 1400 sq ft home.

My husband and I looked at each other – and began doing the research.  Roofing materials alone were impossible to find due to the hurricane. 8 weeks later – we were ready to roll up our sleeves and start the project ourselves.

To begin with, I am terribly afraid of heights.  So, I took off my glasses, climbed on the roof and we began the project.  Electric nail guns, asphalt cutters for the custom edge pieces and the ‘black tar’ goo that was needed to seal the peaks.  We spent every weekend for 3 months. For the 2nd story portion, we got an electronic ‘lift’ – and it did help a bit – when carrying the 50 lb wrapped bags of asphalt roofing materials. 

It was a long, horrible, hot and terrible project.  It took every minute of every weekend; and we both were having nightmares where we could hear the pop-pop-pop of the nail gun.

When we were done, we had professional roofers check the job – and they marveled at the excellence and care that we took. 

The moral of this story is – that we learned our lesson.  If I had to do this over again – we would take a loan out to pay a roofing company. It took hours and hours to finish; all of our free time, and we realized that there is a reason why people hire professionals!

We may still paint and tile our own home – but, we measure the amount of time it will take and balance that against the cost of hiring someone.

Our time is valuable.   We have learned the lesson the hard way.

You are a Pharmacist – specializing in customer and patient service.  Your time is valuable as you have so little free time.

When considering any technology, including a web presence or Loyalty program for your pharmacy –  Don’t try to do it yourself.  In most cases, it will take long involved hours and days of your time and, will probably not look professional. 

You want products that reflect the high standards that you take pride in.

Karen Sulprizio
Email Me or Call Me: 1-866-312-8324

Marketing 101

As a Pharmacist, “Marketing” is not something they taught in Pharmacy school.  As a business person, you have either used a ‘learn as you go’ or have been forced to hire a marketing company. You need to ensure that the technologies you select include marketing tools.  I advise Pharmacies to be wary of marketing companies that charge you for what is, pretty much, a common sense approach; but one that you simply don’t have time to focus on.

A Bit of Marketing Theory

It only takes a little theory practiced and applied – and soon you will find that marketing is part of your daily routine. Marketing is more than sales – it is a set of activities used to:

• Get your potential customer’s attention.
• Differentiate yourself from the competition with special sevices/products.
• Motivate your potential customers to buy.
• GET them to actually buy. *Recognize and reward your best customers, to keep them. *Attract new customers based on your unique branding and services.

Marketing is how you define your Pharmacy, products, promote your products, distribute your products and services, and maintain a positive relationship with your customers.

The ‘theory’ of Marketing is made up of only a few main concepts..  Each contributes to your ‘marketing mix’.  There is usually not a ‘single’ marketing concept that is a complete success; it is a combination of efforts. 

Product: Product is, of course, the service and/or products that you have to offer to the customers. There are a number of things about the product you should evaluate.  It is important to understand your product and service from the customer’s point of view.

Product Description: It is critical to be able to say in one clear sentence, why your product and service is perfect for a specific customer/patient; and what it does best.

Product Name: It is more important to be descriptive than creative. There are some exceptions to this – such as working in ‘the arts’.

Functionality, Features & Benefits: In order to begin to understand the product and service from a customer’s point of view, list the functionality, features and the benefits that the product/service has.  Prioritize each for the target market or market segments to determine the development as you go forward.   

Product/Service Adaptability: By understanding how adaptable your technology is, you can incorporate the necessary elements into your marketing.

There are six factors for measuring how ‘adaptable’ your product/service is:

1. Relative advantage of the product/service: How superior is the innovation to the product/service or other problem-solving methods it was designed to compete against? Will it offer automated and cross-over functions?
2. Compatibility: Does it fit with current product/service usage and customer activity? Can you easily identify the best customers? Can you develop tools to bring new customers in?
3. Complexity: Will confusion arise in understanding the innovations basic idea?
4. Divisibility: How easily can trial portions of the product/service be purchased?
5. Communicability: How likely is the product/service to appear in public places where it is easily seen and studied by potential users?  Are you offering the same products/services that can be found elsewhere at lesser costs?
6. Labor Intensive: Is the product/service creating a situation that requires repeating previous procedures, yet expecting a difference in results?

A little ‘common sense’ goes a long way!

Karen Sulprizio
Email Me or Call Me: 1-866-312-8324

Thinking Outside The Pill Bottle

Smart independent pharmacies have taken the initiative to not only think about analyzing their business model – but taking action as well!

A Complete Miss: A recent trend of some independents has been to add ‘gift card’ only programs. Although there is a market for these things, the holiday season was a perfect ground to show that every retail store, from the mass market chains to card stores carried the same cards. The turnstiles carrying the well known titles were in every entrance of every store imaginable. This was another marketing mistake – as there was nothing unique or different for the independent pharmacy.

Taking The Signal from the Chains:  These companies invest in what works – and what is profitable. They stay within the guidelines of health and wellness.  Longs Drugs has committed $225,000 to the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The funds will be used to sponsor regional awards, Front Runner Recognition awards and their ongoing Activity Guide. 

CVS has had a long and successful loyalty marketing program with the knowledge that they are keeping their existing customers and attracting new ones.  The program has done so well that they are taking it to the next level.   Raleigh-based Kerr Drug has health-care centers in about 16 of the approximately 160 stores it has in the Carolinas. They plan to add more. Customers can get one-on-one diabetes education, flu shots and wellness assessments in those centers. CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid have similar programs and are looking to offer more nationwide. 

Independents Need to Differentiate:  ‘Not just your average pharmacy’ should be the motto of each Independent.  Those that are flourishing have added integrative medicine products that are not usually found in the chains.  Informative and health oriented websites, combined with their own uniquely branded Loyalty programs have added credibility to these pharmacies.  Keeping in contact with the patients with wellness e-newsletters and e-mail communiqués containing product information and coupons have given these Independents a refreshing new edge.

Independent pharmacies need to have the resources to market their Pharmacy, products and services in today’s economy for today’s customer and patient. 

Smart Marketing: We always offer a word of caution in paying a marketing company for information that is really ‘common sense.’   You shouldn’t have to attend a 2-day seminar or any other lengthy, expensive program to prove that you are spending your money wisely.  You should be working with technologies that include automated marketing tools as ‘part’ of the service. The ‘key’ concept is simple: recognize, reward and keep your best customers and develop unique branding with services and products that attract new customers.    

Offer Health & Wellness Products:  Existing customers and patients are spending their dollars on vitamins, supplements and integrative medicine.  The independent pharmacy is in the best position to offer higher quality products – than those found at the usual mass chain pharmacies.   You are one of the top resources for your patients for their wellness needs. 
Your customers will thank you and your margins will be higher.

Karen Sulprizio
Email Me or Call Me: 1-866-312-8324