7 Ways to Upsell Your Pharmacy Customers
While upselling is often perceived negatively, it can make a whole world of difference when making your pharmacy extremely profitable. Upselling shouldn’t be seen in the same light as a shady used-car salesperson, it should be perceived as a way of giving customers additional solutions that help them solve for their needs. Yes, upselling is designed to give your pharmacy a boost in sales and, if implemented correctly, it will also help your customers.
The goal should be to always help the customer find a solution to their shopping and pharmacy needs. Here are 7 upselling tips your pharmacy can utilize to help customers and boost your revenue.
1. Form Rapport and Build Relationships with Customers
Upselling begins when customers walk through the doors of your pharmacy. When they come in, welcome them with a warm greeting: “Good day! What brings your to our pharmacy today?“. Make them feel comfortable and give them an opportunity to start the dialog about what they need. Ask questions, so you can quickly find just the right solution to your customer’s issue. With the warm, welcoming greeting and by asking just the right questions you will be able to build a strong foundation and a postive repuation for customer service for a long-lasting relationship.
2. Use Additional Services
Each time you fill a prescription there is an opportunity to ask questions that help determine if you can offer additional services that add more value to your customers. For example, ask them if they had a flu shot and if not, mention that your immunization program offers free flu vaccines. Medication Synchronization is another great option to add value to the customers with multiple prescriptions. They might not know about these additional services you offer. So don’t think of these as upsells, think of them as educating your customers about how you can help them live a better life now and in the future.
3. Provide Solutions, Not Products
Always remember that the main benefit of your pharmacy is to provide solutions for people’s health care needs. Don’t focus on upselling the product you think will bring in the most revenue for your business, find the product that best relates to your customer’s immediate need. Educate staff about the importance of promoting pharmacy solutions that help customers even if they don’t directly contribute to your profit.
4. Educate Your Team
While educating your staff about upselling as a way to provide additional value to your customers, be sure to set up weekly meetings to teach your team how a certain product can relate to a particular health need. Every day, set a goal for your team to educate a certain number of customers about the additional solutions that solve for a specific health issue and help increase the effectiveness of the medications they are already taking. Educating your staff will empower them to provide a better customer service with confidence.
5. Bundle Up!
Bundling multiple products into one great price encourages customers to add a few more items to their shopping cart. For example, offer a bottle of hand sanitizer at a discount to those who are purchasing an OTC cold and flu product. Grouping products into bundles is a great way to increase sales. It also helps your pharmacy move inventory faster, increasing your average sale per customer.
6. Create and Promote a Loyalty Rewards Program
Creating a customer rewards or points program is a powerful way to bring additional revenue and should be part of your pharmcy program. It also makes upselling easier. At checkout, ask customers if they are familiar with your rewards program and encourage them to start collecting points. They are more likely to respond to upsells when there’s an incentive. For example, offer points for buying additional products and then turn points into free gifts. This will help you move inventory faster and will guarantee that your customers will come back to collect and redeem their points.
7. Online Upselling
Today, an e-commerce website can open up additional revenue streams that can’t be ignored; and it’s a powerful tool that must be nurtured and used wisely. While not all prescription refills are available online, retail items can easily be purchased from the convenience of a person’s device. You can even take orders online and have everything packed and ready for the pick up. Modern websites make it really easy to group related products and show them on the same page when a customer is looking for a particular item. For example, if the customer is on your website, looking for a wrist brace you can show related products like hand strengthening tools, books about joint care or special joint pain-relieving creams.
Upselling is an important part of any business and a pharmacy is no different. Educate your team on how to talk to your customers to get to know them better and help them with their needs. Offer different product options and bundles that help your customers save money and entice them to come back. In turn, these techniques will open up new revenue opportunities and will contribute to the longitivtiy of your business. At the end of the day, remember that it’s not about the gains, it’s about helping your customers find the solution to their needs. And upselling will become as easy as simply saying hello.
Looking to implement a new program in your pharmacy but don’t know where to start? Download our free eBook, The Pharmacy Owner’s Guide to an Exceptionally Effective Implementation
