Take a couple of minutes and think about your community.
- What needs aren't being met? - What are you doing better than your competitors? - What are your competitors doing better than you?
The beautiful part of being an independent pharmacy is that we are flexible. By getting a clear cut idea of where you stand in your community, we can adapt to meet your community's needs, change our store to better compete with our competitors and can continue to expand our services to be the pharmacy that people want to go to.
An example of understanding your marketplace is the Medicap Pharmacy in Toledo, Iowa. Tim Madsen, RPh was informed about a factory opening nearby that was expected to bring in an influx of Hispanic families to their town. So to capture these families, Tim hired two Spanish speaking cashiers, started running Spanish radio spots, created Spanish flyers to hang around his store and spoke with Spanish speaking doctors in his area to let them know about his services.
Since he started, he has seen very positive feedback from the community and has seen an increase in Hispanic customers. By being proactive and adaptable he was able to get a head start on capturing these new customers and has set himself apart from the other pharmacies in his area.