You Have Opened Your New Pharmacy, What Next? Marketing Ideas For A New Pharmacy

You have mobilized fund for your pharmacy. You have secured a very good and suitable location. Your premise has been inspected and approval given to open shop. You have set up the shelves and counters and fully stock your new pharmacy. You have employed your staff and they have resumed work. Now your business has opened and you are faced with the ultimate question. How do I get customers for my pharmacy business?

A business without customers is heading for death. It will be closed down in a very short time. It is dead on arrival. So in order to ensure that your business flourishes and grow as you have anticipated when you set out to start it, you must devise strategies for bringing customers every day. Below are a few ways to get customers to your new pharmacy.

1. Create Your Business USP: USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. It is a statement which summarizes what differentiate you from the other players in your industry. Examples of an USP are the following: HealthPlus Pharmacy – “Love Life! Feel Great!”; GlaxoSmithKline – Do More, feel better, live longer; and MTN – Everywhere you go. By creating your USP you are separating your business from the crowd. Your USP is the message you pass to your customers and what they expect to experience. Once you have created you USP you can now start your customers acquisition efforts.
2. Hold A Grand Opening Day: You should not just come up one day and open shop for business. People should not just be living in a place and just out of nowhere a pharmacy business is around the corner. Make proactive effort to announce your presence. Set aside a day to open your business. Invite the people living around the area and other business owner to the opening ceremony. Hold the ceremony in a grand style. During the ceremony deliver free health lecture and include other healthcare activities for your invited guests.
3. Offer free services: Set aside the first week or month of your opening to deliver free health services to your community. The activities to include in this programme are free blood pressure measurement, free blood glucose level test, BMI calculations, drug counseling and so on.
4. Distribute health educational fliers: You can produce fliers which educate the community on healthcare or some disease conditions. You are providing free community service and the benefit you get is that the community will patronize your business in return.
5. Use Large Banner: Make a large banner to inform your community that you have opened and also announce any special services you are offering to your community. You may want to make series of banners like Opening soon banners, countdown to opening day banners, and Newly opened banners.
6. Build partnerships: You can approach hospitals, outpatient consulting clinics and laboratories to announce your opening. You can ask them to send their patients to you and even offer them special discounts.
7. Give Gifts: You can give gifts to your first sets of customers to appreciate their patronage. Your gifts should be something that is helpful to their health. They will reciprocate this gesture by doing business with you again and again and even help refer others to your business.

The strategies shared in this article can be employed by any pharmacy business no matter the age or customer base. Ensure to check with your local regulatory agency to find out what is permitted and to what extend you can go in your marketing effort.