The Golden Tickets!

Increasingly, I am witnessing a number of unique strategies being implemented in various businesses in an effort to claw back the lost revenue of PBS Reform and survive. One of these strategies was a well-known banner group incorporating another buying group’s model into their own. One may question what this could achieve, except for customer confusion and a disconnection from their well-established banner group.

With script numbers on the increase (in most cases), some pharmacists are looking at increasing their investment in medical centres and putting on additional doctors in an effort to further increase their script volume. This is ok; however, with profits falling further with every round of PBS reform, all they are achieving is more work for a lower yield. How does this make sense? Working twice as hard for half as much!

These poor strategies often stem from a lack of knowledge and insight into new opportunities. You see, in my opinion, the pharmacy industry is in dire need of fundamental change. While the industry is reliant on PBS subsidy, it is at the beck and call of the Government and it will be forced to do whatever they require from pharmacy.

So what is the answer? Is there a silver bullet that can save the industry?

In short — no — there is no silver bullet, but there is a solution. It requires the industry to appreciate what it really is — a merchant, a retailer.

Within your business you have readily available what I refer to as “golden tickets” which can unlock this potential and move our industry away from an unbalanced reliance on PBS subsidy.

These golden tickets are the scripts you process every day. These little pieces of paper are the key solution to your survival and what you do with them will make, or break, your business. You see, a script is very quickly becoming the new catalogue. It has been, and continues to be, the main traffic driver for your business. It provides the purpose for someone coming into YOUR pharmacy.

How many of your customers coming in with a script are actually buying from your retail area? Is it 2 in 10, 3 in 10 or higher? In the pharmacies I have been to over the last month, my observations tell me it is nowhere near high enough.

Those pharmacists who are trying to increase their script volume actually have the right idea, but they are doing it for the wrong reasons. As the script volume goes up, you must also be increasing your retail opportunity; there are higher margins and more opportunities to grow the profitability significantly in your business.

This has been the primary focus for Pharmacy Essentials and our members have been using platforms that will increase the conversion rate of our script customers. The advantage they are achieving is they are not having to attract new business but, by improving their customer experience, they are maximising their sales potential with their existing customer base. The result is that they have the opportunity to dramatically improve their business split and reduce their reliance on PBS revenue.

If your current brand/banner, are not providing these solutions to you (or making an investment at a local level) then maybe it’s time to look at why you are still with them and speak with me today before it is too late.

Feel free to ring me on 0412 219 916 or email me (simon@pharmacyessentials.com.au) if you aren’t happy with your current situation and are interested in making a change.

Until next edition,

Cheers, Simon.