It is graduation season and with it the required graduation parties. I was so excited to receive an invitation in the mail to my niece’s party, yet somehow the e-vite I received to a friend’s daughter’s party just didn’t carry the same feeling. It made me really think about how we recognize special events in our lives. Are we still willing to take the time to send a personal note to people we care about, or has life become doing what is easiest?
Every day we have patients who have life events – birthdays, graduations, successes, and losses. One of the ways you can distinguish your business from the chains is by recognizing these life events with a personal note.
PFM creates personalized cards so you can really make an impact on your customers. I hear stories again and again from stores whose customers are touched when they receive their birthday card in the mail. Sending personal notes is an integral part of any marketing loyalty program. While loyalty swipe cards are nice, birthday cards can be just as effective at a fraction of the cost.
Here are some ideas to use Birthday or Thinking Of You cards as a marketing device:
For your Birthday cards, you first need to decide who will be on the list. For example: seniors, Med Sync patients, or patients with chronic illnesses. Have someone sign the card before it goes out to add that extra personal touch. If a patient brings in the card to redeem their coupon, coach your staff to acknowledge their birthday again.
The Thinking of You cards could be sent to anyone experiencing a milestone in their lives, whether it is tough times, an accomplishment, new job, new baby, an empty nest, a death in the family, etc. These cards should be available to anyone on your staff. Beyond the patients, you could also send them to other business owners or community leaders.
Are you having trouble finding the time to send cards out each month? You can do what Diana from Lang’s Pharmacy does. She sends her database to Pharm Fresh each month and we personalize her cards and take care of mailing them out. Her patients love them and her responses have increased. Call us if you would like more information on how we can help you.
Marketing Your Pharmacy: Success Story
Sue Graffstra, of Pharm A Save in Monroe, Washington, runs a busy pharmacy. Her business may be 103 years old, but it thinks like a much younger mind!
Sue has always made Birthday and Thinking of You cards part of her loyalty program. Lately she has expanded her program to include New Patients. What a great idea! Sue understands that competition for new patients is tough, so she and her staff have made it a priority to engage with new customers by using Birthday and Thinking of You cards.
When a new customer comes into Sue’s pharmacy, their contact information is captured by whoever helped the customer (Sue sells DME as well as her retail business). That information is then used to follow up with personalized notes.
Just last week, Sue had a day where 200 of the 300 prescriptions she filled came from new customers. While she is going to be busy with this follow up, she knows the effort will pay off with long-term patients.
