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It’s time for a new prescription
The community pharmacy is fighting to survive amid aggressive price disclosures, high expenses and pressures from wholesalers. Yet, the treatment of slashing costs and pushing discounts only focuses on the symptom of financial turmoil, rather than treating the root cause of the problem. The financial turmoil facing the pharmacy industry is a symptom of a…
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The Pharmacist Advocate – Happenings in a Global Pharmacy on its way to you!
Editor’s Note: In March 2016 i2P published an article by Peter Sayers regarding the globalisation of Australian community pharmacies (read http://i2p.com.au/understanding-the-impacts-of-a-global-pharmacy-invasion/ ). We also published well before the last election that Medicare privatisation issues would became the focus of that election and that the election would be basically fought on health. Future elections are likely to keep…
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Asthma Perceptions
I know that we’ve come out smelling of roses in the ethics survey this week, but our role in managing inhaler technique in asthma is under a cloud. 90 % or so of people with asthma don’t use their inhalers correctly, according to research released by the National Asthma Council. I don’t believe that this…
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Throw The Map Away And Just Use The Compass
One of my hobbies is genealogy and I find it deeply satisfying when I can apply some areas of this discipline to my professional activities. For example, the origin of surnames for when I am involved in a formal interview, I will often use the patient’s surname as a conversation starter by asking the patient…
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The Value Of Free Pharmacy Consultations.
There is nothing as frustrating as a patient asking for a pharmacists advice to then walk out empty handed as though all you had said was worthless. In an industry where time and profits have become scarce, pharmacists don’t need the extra waste of time if their is no direct sale. After all, many pharmacists…
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Killing it with kindness
One rainy night many years ago, a gentleman and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia. The man asked the clerk if he had any rooms available. The clerk, who was actually the hotel manager, was a friendly man who prided himself on superior customer service. He said that unfortunately the…
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Marketing Focus – Miscellaneous Essays on Management & Marketing
BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS – NOW TRANSACTIONAL My, how things have changed. The nature of, and expectations for most business relationships in 2016 are now founded and valued on single transactions, and short-term relationships. Put aside the well crafted vision and philosophy statements about customer-centricity, client-driven and mutually rewarding strategic alliances. Reality is, that for…
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Do You Promote Free Advice?
Frequently there is a lament recycled by pharmacy commentators that the business model for community pharmacy has relied on providing services through the margins received for recommended products. That model is still a valid part of community pharmacy culture, except that it has not been appropriately adjusted to counter market changes that have occurred over…
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Selling is not all about the product
Over my decades in business, I’ve noticed a baffling trend: “sales” has become a dirty word. I’m on a life-long campaign to change that. In fact, many companies no longer call sales people sales people. They have account executives or account specialists, business developers, client advisers, relationship consultants, territory managers and numerous other monikers. I…
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What are you Competing on?
The profession is going backwards. Seth Godin has obviously attended APP16…..here’s his latest and it’s so timely as many pharmacists try and emulate the yellow box method. What are you competing on? It’s pretty easy to figure out what you’re competing for—attention, a new gig, a promotion, a sale… But what is your edge? In…