Gerry Spitzner | Blog

Retail Pharmacy’s street fight in an online age

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Operations, Pharmacy, Retail, Social media

We’ve seen remarkable change in our lifetimes, but what we’re experiencing now is different. It’s not just evolutionary change; it’s transformative change that requires us to alter our patterns of behaviour and learn new skills. Just having a nice store with nice products and services in a good location isn’t enough anymore. Patients are seeking modern conveniences such as mobile apps that can connect them directly with their pharmacy, and community pharmacies must be willing and able to meet those needs. Although specific apps may not be feasible for…read more

Aug.20

Tips to become more customer focused

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Operations, Pharmacy, Retail

Patient services are about applied health benefits, not just features. A feature is what something is and a benefit is what something does. Patients always seek to fulfill some intention beyond just a pill. While pharmacists often focus on the effects of disease and medication, patients focus mainly on the outcomes. In other words, they are seeking the applied benefit of your patient service. Applied benefits are the outcomes patients expect beyond the prescribed medication. For example, take a newly diagnosed child with asthma. While the patient service you deliver may show…read more

Jun.20

Get with the Pharmacy business program

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Operations, Pharmacy, Retail, Small Business

The old saying “nothing remains constant except change itself” must have been written by someone well-versed in the day-to-day operations of retail pharmacy. We must adapt and grow with every change we encounter. For me the pace of change is staggering. The nature of this business is changing so quickly that you need to be nimble and flexible. Focusing on the business of your practice is crucial to your professional and personal success. Today, the change before us is that the healthcare industry is evolving and so too are…read more

Apr.18

3 tips to help introduce a new patient service

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Operations, Pharmacy, Retail, Small Business, Social media

For many pharmacists, the process of launching a new patient service begins with the lightbulb moment when they conceive of a breakthrough idea. Very often, they are so passionate about the idea that they believe its merits will be self-evident to prospective customers and patients—that the innovation is so obviously superior it will sell itself. On the other hand, entrepreneurial thinking pharmacists who avoid that delusion may think of their initial sales as a chicken-and-egg problem…they realize that getting buy-in from potential customers is a top priority, but until…read more

Feb.22

Why Pharmacists need to learn to always begin at the end

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Leadership, Marketing, Operations, Pharmacy, Retail, Small Business

For many Pharmacists, the process of launching a new patient service begins with the lightbulb moment when they conceive of a breakthrough idea. Very often, they are so passionate about the idea that they believe its merits will be self-evident to prospective customers and patients—that the innovation is so obviously superior it will sell itself. On the other hand, entrepreneurial thinking Pharmacists who avoid that delusion may think of their initial sales as a chicken-and-egg problem…they realize that getting buy-in from potential customers is a top priority, but until they…read more

Jun.22

Create a value proposition for your Pharmacy that people really care about

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Pharmacy, Retail, Small Business

Getting your value proposition right is critical to your Pharmacy’s business model. You can have the best features, the most perfectly executed daily business operations, the right price etc.; but no one will ever know of it if they don’t get past your high-level value proposition. Warren Buffet’s famous quote from his 2008 Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders helps to explain. ‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’ Your value proposition is the crunch point at the intersection between business strategy and brand strategy. It’s a promise of value to…read more

Mar.17

5 key operations tech trends for retail pharmacy

Posted by Gerry Spitzner in Business Planning, Customer experience, Marketing, Pharmacy, Retail, Small Business

Innovations and trends that are changing the retail Pharmacy landscape While many Pharmacists only encounter or look for trends once a year, it’s clear that trends don’t begin or end at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Advanced technologies are driving the disruptive innovations that will bring significant and permanent change to Canada’s business landscape. Watch out. Speed matters; the world is not only moving fast, it is accelerating. Disruption is not going to happen in some distant future. It is happening now. With one in three Canadian…read more