What is your pharmacy’s business development plan for 2020? It’s hard to stay excited about our industry when we’re surrounded by negativity, declining reimbursements and PBM abuse. You won’t find any of that here! At ATRIUM24, we know personally what it takes to run multi-million dollar pharmacy businesses, employ hard working people, and support your communities’ health. Although times may be tough, NOW is the time for pharmacy owners to develop and implement a strong 2020 plan.
Luckily, agile pharmacy owners are not one trick ponies. Those of us who are thriving know that diversification is the name of the game. Whether it be clinical services, wellness testing, supplement expertise, CBD education and sales, direct prescriber relationships, or something else, the pharmacies who will crush 2020 are moving a lot of their eggs out of the PBM basket, while at the same time using data analytics to truly understand how to work within each PBM’s constraints.
The first thing any strategy starts with is a thorough pharmacy sales analysis. What is your current volume of prescriptions? What is your gross profit per script in terms of both percent and dollars per RX? How is this trending? What recent changes have impacted said trends? According to the NCPA digest, averages for 2019 were at $12.02 profit per script and 21.8%.
To begin diversification, once you’ve established which products and services you’d like to offer, you’ll need to:
- Brand your marketing message
- Strong, identifiable pharmacy branding positions you as a qualified expert.
- Which materials do you need?
- How should you position your call to action to elicit the desired response?
- Determine who your target audience is, and how you’ll reach them.
- Face-to-face physician meetings?
- Social media?
- In-store promotions?
- Curate your product offerings
- Which vendors do you want to work with?
- Which products to carry?
- Starting order?
- Implement
- How to train your staff?
- How to start your marketing plan?
- How to implement into your current workflow?
- How to incentivize your team?
- Staffing requirements?
- Tracking and accountability?
- Quarterly goals and rewards
Easier said than done, we know. The key we’ve found at ATRIUM24, both in consulting for other independent pharmacies over the years and at our own wholly owned pharmacy, is to FOCUS! In order not to overwhelm the team, and to truly focus on optimal results, do not try to implement too many ideas or changes at once (where have we heard that before, pharmacy school!). A solidly laid plan with two to three projects per quarter is what the business development expert should be working on, whether that person is the pharmacy owner or a key team member.
ATRIUM24’s goal is to share knowledge with like-minded pharmacy owners and industry vendors. In future blogs, we’ll expand on some of the topics presented, such as:
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- Branding – what every pharmacy needs to present a user experience that competes with giants
- Sales Strategy Blueprint {2-Day Training coming up on THIS HOT TOPIC}
- Engaging with Prescribers – getting past the gatekeeper
- Sales Reps – how to hire them, compensate them, and ensure their ROI
- Data analytics – how to look at the same data, the same way, across your organization to make clear strategic decisions
- Executive Assistants – How can pharmacy owners stop spinning their wheels, create more time, and focus on tasks they actually enjoy!
- PBM Nuances – What are the specific requirements from each of my major payers that my team on the bench needs to know about?
- Clinical Programming – How can I create specific product bundle offerings for surgeons, dermatologists, and dozens of other physician specialties in my area?
- Do you have additional topics in mind? Let us know!
Overwhelmed by the details? Want to see how other successful pharmacy owners do it? If you’d like a jump start to plug a variety of diverse programs into your pharmacy and shorten your runway to success, visit ATRIUM24.net today and fill out our contact page to see how we can help!