Just a quick announcement.  I didn’t want to waste time writing a long post with a picture!  So, I”ll just announce it.  The Starter Package is ready for those who are serious about being a Self-Employed Pharmacist.  Check it out!

Tired of working for the chain pharmacies?  Ready to become an Independent Pharmacist?  Want all the tools and information you need to get started?  Or have you started but haven’t had success? Need some extra help?  Are you curious about how my marketing letter looks?  Need a template for an invoice or the contract service agreement?

We can’t coach each and every one of you personally, but this package is the next best thing.  In this package, you’ll get detailed information, tips and tricks I’ve used to get myself to where I am.  There’ll be super secret information in this package not given on the site.

Initially we were only going to release the Private Lesson Package mentioned in a earlier post.  But because so many of you asked for more information on how to get started, we decided to expand on that idea and add all the tools you need to start and include it with a private lesson package.

You’re not going to need to hire a marketer to write that letter for you or hire a lawyer to help you write that contract, all you need is this package to get started or improve what you’re already doing.

This package will be released late March or early April.  If there is anything else you want included or detailed information on in this package, please email us before our release date.  Stay tuned!

How do you overcome a roadblock?  How often have you heard of someone quitting because they couldn’t overcome their roadblocks?  Have you ever quit because of a roadblock?  Have you quit at becoming an independent pharmacist because of a roadblock?

My Personal Roadblock

Before meeting Cindy, I was deeply into West Coast Swing Dancing.  I really wanted to be great at it.  I would go to the dance studio every night and test my mettle at dance competitions.

Unfortunately, no matter how much practice or effort I’d put into it I always placed either last or on a good day, second to last.  It’s not a great feeling to put so much effort into something and not see any results.

Frustrated and discouraged I almost quit for good because I just couldn’t succeed at it.  The most disheartening thing about it was I honestly had no idea what I was doing wrong.  I didn’t know how to overcome.  I had hit a roadblock.

Then one night, I was about to leave the class at the end of a lesson when one of my teachers tapped me on the shoulder.  I thought she was going to ask me what’s the matter, after all I was melancholy that night.

But that wasn’t it.  She explained she needed help with buying a computer and in return she would give me private lessons.  Of course I jumped at the chance.

Take Private Lessons

That decision to take private lessons from her turned things around for me completely.  She saw the mistakes I was making and worked with me to correct them.  She corrected aspects of my technique that I never would have thought were a problem.

But that little nudge, that little private lesson led me down the road to big improvements in my technique and a few wins as well.  If I hadn’t had someone help tweak my techniques I never would have gotten as far as I did.

Even though I thought I was doing every move correctly I still needed a nudge in the right direction.  And that nudge is what made all the difference.

Tapping Your Shoulder

Eventually I left the dance world and met Cindy.  But I was reminded of that part of my past after seeing the problems and issues many of you are facing.

In spite of the detail we put into the coaching series, we came to realize that many of you were hitting roadblocks.

Because of this we are tapping the shoulders of those of you out there that also need a little nudge.

You might not even realize it

We’re working very hard at putting a more detailed package together based on your most common questions, most common pitfalls and yes after seeing some of your marketing letters we came to realize some of you need help putting that together properly too.  The troubling part is we believe some of you might not even realize it.

The Private Lesson Package

We’re calling it the Private Lesson Package.  We can’t coach each of you personally at this time.  But this packet will be the closest thing.  It will include, several different copies of the marketing letters we use and one or two sent to us that missed the mark.  You’ll be able to see the service contracts we use, how our invoices look and insider tips and tricks that gave us a competitive edge.

If you’re serious about succeeding at this venture, if you want responses from your marketing letters, if you want your clients to use your services again and again, then you’re not going to want to pass the Private Lesson Package up!

No Need To Hire Anyone Else!

You won’t need to hire an attorney to write your service agreement, you won’t need to hire a copywriter to write your marketing letter, you’re going to see everything we use and you’ll be free to modify it to fit your needs.

So stay tuned we’ll be premiering this package in late March- early April.  If anyone out there wants to send us the Marketing Letters you used we may be able to critique it in the package as well.  Just send it to us and we’ll block out all the ‘private info’ and write about how to improve it!

Have you started yet?  Sometimes the hardest step on this road is the first step.  Sometimes it’s right before the final step where you either make it or break it.  This chapter will offer you help to make that first step, and every step afterward.  But, remember ultimately following and taking our advice outlined here is entirely up to you.

If you’ve caught this coaching series in the middle, please take the time to start at the beginning of the coaching series and get yourself caught up!  Otherwise read on

Last week, I talked about Tracking Your Metrics as a Self-Employed Pharmacist.

Hopefully, you’ve gotten the ball rolling and have been talking to or working for clients and tracking what works and what doesn’t.  If not, what are you waiting for?  What’s stopping you from getting started?  Need a kick in the keyster?  Read on and I’ll see if I can kick some of you into gear.

This lesson is titled “Get Out There and Just Do It as a Self-Employed Pharmacist“.

It’s interesting how many people begged and asked us how did we get this, we’ll tell them exactly how we did it.  And you know what happens?

Something stops them from taking the simplest step.  An excuse crops up about why it won’t work.  Or maybe they didn’t get a response from the first batch of marketing letters and they just give up.

On Your Marks…  Get Ready…
How many people do you know live their lives on ‘get set’?  They get everything ready for what they want to do and then they just stop?  They never go.  They take their marks, they get ready, and then nothing.  They never go.

Below I’ve listed 14 points to keep in mind when you find yourself with a lack of motivation.

1. Focus on one thing at a time. We’re all busy.  Oftentimes there is so much to do.  When I’m trying to do too much.  It saps my energy and motivation. What I’ve done is itemize a goal list for myself.  With steps to complete each goal.  Concentrate on one step at a time.  Mark off each step as you continue.  Sometimes, you’ll have to stop for a bit to pick up the steps of another goal.  With focus and perseverance you can accomplish more that you thought.

2. Find inspiration. In the forefront of your mind, think about why you want to do this.  Why do you really want to get out from the big chains?  Why is your work environment so unhappy?

3. Get excited. Think about all the reasons being an independent pharmacist has so much more rewards.  Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is.

4. Set yourself a deadline. Set a deadline for upcoming steps and do everything you can to stick to it.  Enough said.

5. Post your goal. Keep your goals with each respective deadline where you can be continuously reminded of them.

6. Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first 5K, I told my co-workers at the time I wanted to run it.  The building knew about my goal, so of course there is always that one co-worker who is involved in good causes ask me to join in on a 5k run for breast cancer. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper or anything like that, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.

7. Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.

8. Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone. Sometimes you need just a little bit of a push or a little encouragement.  You can find support through your family and friends or even here.  Just comment on our blog I’m sure others out there will reply with encouraging remarks or just email us, we try really hard to get back to each of our fans and listeners.

9. Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, remind yourself about your goal, ask for help, and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.

10. Stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there.

11. Start small. Sometimes it’s because we are close to the edge of our comfort zone and we’re just really afraid to go that much further.  Take baby steps.  Instead of writing out your entire marketing letter.  Write one element of the letter, then another, and then another.  So on and so forth.  Before you know it, the letter will be complete.

12. Build on small successes. After you complete one step, start the next.  Don’t stop, keep going.  Build on top of what you’ve completed.

13. Squash negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones. I can’t tell you how many personal friends of ours quit trying, because of a variety of reasons.  “I mailed out 25 letters, got no response.  It doesn’t work”.

14. Think of this whole thing as a process. It’s not a one time performance.  Some aspects of our techniques will work perfectly,  others may come short, it’s up to you to refine and fix what doesn’t seem to work well.  Or make adjustments to improve.

Get Set…

Most people die on ‘get set’.  When it comes to their dreams and their goals or using their gifts or even trying to be independent.  They take it all to the grave with them because they lived and died on ‘get set’ and I never want you to be one of them.

The only way to be an independent pharmacist is to start doing it.  To get off of get set… and go.

Next Week’s Lesson?
Next lesson?  Well, there isn’t one in this series.

All that’s left is for you to get out there and do it.

That’s it for the coaching series.  But don’t worry we’ll keep blogging tips and tricks of the trade and of course let you know how we’re doing and what’s going on in our lives.

If you liked this series, sign up for our email newsletter.  That way you definitely won’t miss anything and you’ll get the pdf version of the series for free!

One of the most critical requirements to success in any venture is tracking your metrics.  Read any book on succeeding in any area and it’ll tell you the same thing.  You need to measure and track metrics.

If you’ve caught this coaching series in the middle, please take the time to start at the beginning of the coaching series and get yourself caught up!  Otherwise read on and I’ll go into what metrics are and why are they important.

Last week, I talked about Your First Day at a Client Site.

Hopefully, you’ve gotten the ball rolling and have been talking to or working for clients.  Do you want more success in this craft?  Well then it’s time to measure, record and track your metrics.

This lesson is titled “Tracking Your Metrics as a Self-Employed Pharmacist”.

If you operate based on “gut instinct,” or you make assumptions on how your business is performing without knowing the facts, you’ll run into problems quickly without knowing why.  When you reach a point where you’d like to improve your business you won’t know where to start.

There is a solution. A simple one.  By monitoring a few key metrics, you can quickly gain a handle on your business and start on the path to improving your profitability.

What’s a Metric?

By metric I mean, any type of measurement related to an area you’re trying to get a handle on or improve.  That’s my definition anyways.  For example,

Let’s say you want to lose weight what do you do?  You weigh yourself now, record it somewhere.  You decide on a strategy to lose weight.  Then you weigh yourself throughout and after your strategy is implemented.  The result provides an indication of how well your strategy works.

This is true for any metric for anything you want to improve.  You can’t manage, improve or succeed it if you can’t measure it.

4 Major Benefits of Monitoring Metrics
There are many advantages to monitoring metrics.  But, I’m going to list 4 major ones here.

• Accurately Assess – Measuring key areas now gives you a better idea of where you really are

• Clarify Goals – Deciding on metrics forces you to focus on what areas you want to improve

• Improve Performance – If you want to improve a certain area.  Track it.

• Promotes Creativity – Sometimes what you think will improve you numbers really doesn’t when it comes down to looking at the actual numbers.  To really improve your numbers sometimes requires out of the box thinking.  As you practice using these metrics you’ll find that interesting things will increase your success rate.  For example, one consulting friend of mine noticed a 15% call rate increase from one of his marketing letters over another.  What was the only difference?  The more successful one had a blue line under his heading.  I’m not saying each of your headings should have a blue line under it.  All I’m saying is, experiment and try different things to improve your numbers

The Two metrics I want you to track, for now…

Marketing Letter Success Rate – this is an important piece of information.  If you have no clients you have no business.  You want to make your marketing letter persuasive enough to get that independent pharmacy owner to call you.  Track how well your marketing letter is doing.  Don’t just give up if one letter doesn’t do well.  Rewrite and change it and try again until your callback rate improves.

Lead Generation Success Rate – Track the sources you’re getting your independent pharmacy leads from.  Oftentimes pharmacies close, the data you’re using is outdated.  Focus your efforts on the sources that give you the most reliable data.  Otherwise you’ll be wasting a lot of your time.

Implementing Other Metrics
Getting started with metrics is easier than you might think.  Once you get the hang of it and understand how much it can improve your business, I’m sure some of you over-achievers out there will come up with some others to track.

If you need a little help coming up with some metrics here is a six step process.

1. Define Your Goals. Make a list of business goals. Goals might include increased clientele, increased retention rate (how many clients call you back), increased clientele in a specific area…etc..etc…
2. Define the Metrics. For each business goal on your list, write down a metric that will help you track your progress to success. For example, if your goal is increase your cash flow, your metrics might involve tracking all business related expenses and coming up with a strategy to decrease your expenses.
3. Benchmark Current Status. Once you established your metrics, you need to measure them. You must determine exactly how your business is doing, even if the truth is hard to swallow. By establishing the current value of each metric, you will be able to track your improvements in the future.
4. Put in Place a System to Monitor and Report Metrics. You may need to add new business processes that will help you calculate and report your metrics. For example, is the number of your customers who view your customer service as being “excellent,” then you may want to survey your customers every month and ask them how you are doing.
5. Review the Metrics and Make Decisions. With your metrics in place, you have greater insight into which strategies work and which don’t. Review the metrics and take steps to improve your results.
6. Promote Successes. When your metrics improve to the point you reach your goal.  Sit back for a bit and go back to step 1.

Metrics Best Practices
As you move towards using business metrics to manage and improve your business, follow these suggestions:

• It’s important not to have too many metrics. Concentrate on only a handful of metrics that are necessary.

• Choose the right frequency of measurement. If you only measure a metric once a year, you may not get the information in time to take the necessary corrective actions.

• Periodically reevaluate your metrics. Your business priorities change over time, and your metrics will need to be modified accordingly.

• Be creative

Reaping the Rewards of Business Metrics
Effective use of business metrics can have a profound impact on your business. As you gain a better understanding of your business and move closer to achieving important goals, your day-to-day work will become easier.  You’ll make decisions based on data, without the confusion of emotional input or informational overload.

What’s Next?
Put aside a couple hours to get started with your business metrics initiative. Decide what metrics you need, do some initial benchmarking and get started.

Remember what you don’t know can hurt you.

Business metrics can keep you aware of how your business is faring and ensure your business is in good health and on the right track. Collect appropriate metrics on your business, summarize and make them useful, and you will have a powerful new tool for managing your business.

Next Week’s Lesson – Get Out There and Do It As A Self-Employed Contract Pharmacist

Now you have a good idea of where your business is and where you want it to go.

Next lesson, will be a motivational get out there and do it lesson.   You have everything you need now to get started in this.  All you really need is the motivation to actually do it.

This concludes this week’s lesson.  Get out there and prepare for success.

If you liked this lesson, sign up for our email newsletter.  That way you definitely won’t miss a chapter and you’ll get the entire coaching series free!

While working for a client for the first time, think of as audition time.  Success in this venture is repeat business.  When help is needed you want the client to think of you first and not a random relief agency or even one of their regular pharmacist.  You want to be their regular contract pharmacist.

How do you do accomplish this?  To find out keep reading because in this chapter we go into the dos and don’ts on the first day at a client site.  Follow the steps we’ve outlined for you here and repeat business will not be far behind.  Repeat business provides independence from the big chain pharmacies.

If you’ve caught this coaching series in the middle, please take the time to start at the beginning of the coaching series and get yourself caught up!

Last week, I talked about How to Handle Your First Set of Calls

Hopefully, you’ve landed your first contract or are very close to it.  Your work isn’t over yet.  Now it’s time do a great job for your client.

This lesson is titled “Do’s and Don’ts on your First Day as a Self-Employed Pharmacist”.

So in order to help you succeed we are going to talk about some do’s and don’ts that will help you succeed as an independent contractor.

Don’ts

• Don’t be late – We can’t stress this one enough.  NO matter what, do not show up late to the pharmacy.  Most of the time, on your first assignment the owner may not be there.  You will probably be opening the pharmacy with a tech.  You can be sure, no matter how well you do the rest of the day……the fact you were late will be mentioned when the owner asks the tech!  If you are late because you are lost, Make sure you call!  If you are lost and you CALL, then things don’t look as bad.  But if you are late and you don’t call and you walk in fifteen minutes late as if you are on time and don’t even make an excuse, well, that’s not going to look good for you.

• Don’t answer your cell – Yes, we know that other potential clients may be calling you.  However, your first day at a new pharmacy will be like probation.  You’re getting to know the staff, where drugs are, and how their work flow is.  Answering your phone, will seem rude and give the impression that your always going to be on the phone.   We’ll answer how to handle other clients in the Do section.

• Don’t surf the internet or check your mail. Most sites will have internet access.  You want to make a good impression so checking the internet on downtime won’t make a good impression.  If you ever become a regular, then once in a while is ok.

• Don’t compare how things are done at other pharmacies. For example, you don’t want say “Why are your generic drugs stocked next to your brand drugs?  We don’t do that at (Pharmacy A).”  Every pharmacy and staff has a certain work flow and a way they like things done.  As long as it doesn’t interfere with pharmacy law or your professional pharmacist judgement……then just go with the flow.  If you see things that can greatly improve their work flow or pharmacy site, just save the comments for another day.  When timing is appropriate,  and you know the owner better, suggestions will be more welcomed.

Do’s

• Do call before your first day on site. Its a great idea to confirm a few days before your scheduled date.  You want to make sure the owner knows your excited about coming to the pharmacy and your prepared.  Make sure you get alarm codes, pharmacy key information and names of staff members who you will be working with.

• Do dress appropriately.  Its a good idea to come in a lab coat that has your name and title on it.  If your lab coat doesn’t have your name on it, make sure you purchase a name tag with your title on it.  Most states will require this as pharmacy law.

• Do set up your own orientation. Take the initiative to have someone give you a brief overview of where everything is in the pharmacy.  Ask someone to tell you which computers the tech types on, where or if a tech fills, and where you should be doing the checking, which phone lines are doctor calls, etc….will help keep the flow in the pharmacy running smoothly.

• Do bring all necessary documents. Make sure you show with your pharmacist pocket license and liability insurance.

• Do call back clients when appropriate. Politely tell the staff you need to return a business call and keep it short.  In situations where the owner is there, explain to them you need to return a quick call from another pharmacy.  Most owners will understand, because they know they would appreciate you returning their call too.

• Do love what you are doing. Love being an independent contractor.  Enjoy your first day on site and do a job your proud of.  Your attitude and how you take care of their pharmacy business will make or break the success of your business.  I can guarantee you, if you do a great first day on the job, this will lead to a successful long term business relationship with the owner.

• Do follow up. Depending if your assignment is one day, a 3 day contract, or a week long contract, make sure the client knows they can call you again!  There’s lots of ways to this without being overly persuasive. You can leave your invoice on your last day or send your an invoice with a little note to the owner.  Something like “Thank you for the business and I really liked your pharmacy, etc……..” tells the owner that you want to come back.  Or give the owner a call a few days later and make sure the owner knows your available for more assignments.  This will remind them to call you first when they need to fill their schedule.

Next Week’s Lesson – Tracking Your Metrics as a Self-Employed Contract Pharmacist

Now you have a good idea of how to handle your first call and why.

Next lesson, we’ll cover a business concept called metrics and how to track them and why it is important.  It’ll be another critical chapter for long term success.

This concludes this week’s lesson.  Get out there and prepare for success.

If you liked this lesson, sign up for our email newsletter.  That way you definitely won’t miss a chapter and you’ll get the entire coaching series free!

You know what they say about first impressions?  It’s so critical how you conduct yourself with pharmacy owners.

To find out keep reading because in this chapter we go into how to handle that first phone call (and your future ones) and why.  Find out our step by step to handling your future clients.

If you’ve caught this coaching series in the middle, please take the time to start at the beginning of the coaching series and get yourself caught up!

Last week, I talked about How to Market to Your Target Market

Hopefully, you’ve done your homework and mailed out your marketing all over the areas you want to work in.  Now it’s time to go over how to handle your first phone call.

This lesson is titled “Landing your First Client as a Self-Employed Pharmacist”.

You’re slammed, prescriptions are piling up.  Customers want a consult.  Your tech has a pending question and a Doctor is on hold.

You take a breath only to notice that your cell phone is ringing.  You don’t recognize the number.  Is it a potential client calling because they’d received a marketing letter?

Your First Potential Client

A flood of thoughts pound your mind.

Wow, someone actually called!  My letter worked! How do I answer?  What should I say?  Should I answer or wait?

The first set of exciting calls will bring you one step closer to being an independent pharmacist.

Every response to your letter means an opportunity for potential new client. Commit yourself to seal a deal and set your first assignment.  But before we reveal how and what to expect, let’s go over some basic phone answering skills.

How to answer a call when your busy at work in the pharmacy

Phone answering skills are critical for your business.  The phone is still an owners’ primary contact with you.  The way you answer your phone will form your client’s first impression of you.

It’s not easy to answer a personal call when you have multiple phone lines ringing in the pharmacy.  Nor is it easy to talk to new clients when you’re surrounded by staff members who might overhear your conversations.

There are 2 ways you can handle this situation.

• Answer It: If you have a few minutes to spare talk to the new client, answer the phone and let them know your busy at work but you will call them back at a more convenient time.  The only problem with this tact is oftentimes unexpected problems in the work environment often arise.  You want your first conversation with a potential client to be without very much interruption.

• Let it go straight to your voicemail.  Make sure your voicemail says whom you are so the client knows they reached the right person.  I generally recommend this tactic.  It gives you time to prepare and compose yourself.

Call them back as soon as possible

Call back at your earliest convenience.  Owners like to know that they can rely on you and a quick response to their voicemail will give them a sense of reliability and a great first impression of you.

If you have limited time to talk, give them a call back and say you received the message but your busy at work and if you can call them after work.  Oftentimes, you may not have time to talk until you leave the pharmacy yourself.  But by then, the owner will have left his or her own pharmacy too.  So by spending a few minutes calling back during the day hours, this will allow you to set up a more convenient time to talk with the customer.

Ensure the callers are dealing with a professional business!

1) When talk on the phone be warm and enthusiastic.  Your voice is the first impression the caller will get of you.

2) We recommend you use your personal cellular line.  Answer incoming non-recognizable numbers courteously and identify yourself.  Say, for instance, “ Hello, or Good Morning. Susan speaking.”  This way the caller knows they reached the right person.

3) Keep your voice volume moderate, and clear when answering the phone, so your caller can understand you easily.

4) Answer all your calls within one business day.  I can’t emphasize this one enough.  A timely response reinforces the favorable impression of you and that you’re reliable, prompt and ready for business.

5) Make sure you are prepared to talk to a potential client.

How to Prepare

• Always have a pen and a little notebook so you can write down some information you will need to stay in contact with those who call you.

• Always get the name of the person who called and how they heard about you.  Most will be from your marketing letter, but some will be referred.  Get the name of the pharmacy, call back number and address.  This way you can keep in touch.  Keeping in touch is important, if they don’t need your services in the near future, most of the time they can use it sometime later.

• Always have your schedule book with you.  Oftentimes you’ll be asked if you can start right away.  Having your schedule immediately available will give the impression you are organized and prepared.

What kind of questions will you be expected to answer?

A well written, clear marketing letter will explain your services.  But, there will still be some questions the caller will need for you to answer.  The client that calls you will be interested in your rate and getting to know a little bit about you.

• Make sure you set your rate upfront.  We recommend you be fair and charge higher then what an employee would make but a lot less then a relief agency.  Try to keep this non-negotiable.  If the rate is fair, most clients will accept it and won’t attempt to negotiate with you.  A few will try to cut a good deal for themselves.

• It’s important to keep in mind, not to undercut your rate.  Word of mouth travels fast and you don’t want to charge one client less and then have another client asking for the same deal.  Plus, you’re in this for the long haul and you want to make sure you and you’re client are happy with the fee.

• If you do get the client that tries to negotiate and deeply undercut your rate, we recommend you handle this professionally.  Explain to them that you charge everyone the same, your services are much cheaper than a relief agency, and you charge more then what they would pay their employee because they can expense your service, which is a cost savings for them and you have to pay for your own benefits.

Close the deal

You will notice that some calls will come immediately.  These owners usually want you to come in as early as this week.  Some will call because they just want more information.  Others will want to meet you before they agree to use your services.

• If your working full time, let them know which day your off and offer to visit in person.  Some clients will want to meet you and feel assured that they can trust you.

• Most importantly make sure you make an attempt to schedule yourself for a day of work or future days with each client call.  For example, if they are just calling for info, let them know which days you are off in the upcoming weeks and ask them if they would like for you to come in to work for a day so they can try out your services.

• If their response is “no thanks”, then offer to visit so they can meet you.  If you both can’t agree to a day to work or meet, make sure to tell them to call you back when they need your services.

• If you don’t hear back make sure you follow up within a timely manner.

Next Week’s Lesson – Your First Day as a Self-Employed Contract Pharmacist

Now you have a good idea of how to handle your first call and why.

Next lesson, we’ll cover your first day on contract.  A very important chapter so be here to read it.

This concludes this week’s lesson.  Get your game on and prepare for success.

If you liked this lesson, sign up for our email newsletter.  That way you definitely won’t miss a chapter and you’ll get the entire coaching series free!

It has been many months since I last posted.  My husband and I have been busy with family, friends and work.

I’m still working 4 days a week as an independent contractor.  If you remember some of my last posts,  I had lost a client due to his business shutting down.  I had intended to use this as an opportunity to show all of you how easy this really is.  But before I could write more about it, I was booked solid for the next few months!

Now in my spare time, I’m quite busy with my almost 3yr old daughter.

I’m also 7 months pregnant.  One of the reasons I haven’t been posting was not feeling well during the pregnancy.  This pregnancy has been a little difficult.  I was on bed rest early on due to some bleeding and then feeling nauseous for 4 months.

We are very thankful that we are pregnant.  I suffered a miscarriage in October of last year. Anyone that has gone through one knows exactly how difficult and sad it is.  I was really depressed for a week and sent Marvin to Baskin Robbins several times for some ice cream therapy!

During the pregnancy that miscarried, the doctor also found a dermoid cyst that needed to be removed.  So I had a D and C then surgery a month later.  It was an emotionally tough time for us.  Fortunately, we did get pregnant again and in a few months we will meet our baby girl.

Marvin has also been quite busy and therefore has postponed writing the coaching series.

He accepted a full time position with a prestigious company that works with artificial intelligence.  He is still working with his clients on his minimal spare time.   But rest assured, I’ve already talked to him about releasing the next coaching series!

We have every intention on releasing more articles, just give us some time.  The emails we have received motivates us to keep this going.  We realize how important it is for us to get this information out there so we can help pharmacists be happier practicing pharmacy.

Thank you all for visiting the site, commenting, and emailing us.  Please email questions to Marvin directly.  And questions to me directly.  Stay posted for the release of the next coaching series.

Want to learn to fish for pharmacies eager to use your services?  Read on loyal fans, in this chapter we go fishing for pharmacies.  We’ll take you step by step on where to find and how to market to pharmacies.

If you’ve caught this coaching series in the middle, please take the time to start at the beginning of the coaching series and get yourself caught up!

Last week, I talked about the Self-Employed Pharmacists Target Market.

By now, you know about the kinds of pharmacies out there.  This week’s lesson is where most people get stall out.  This happens, not because this lesson is very complicated, it’s because this involves work.  The kind of work that involves finding, contacting and persuading pharmacies to use your services.  Something a lot of pharmacists out there aren’t used to doing.

This lesson is titled “How to Market to Your Target Market“.

The key question here is how do you find pharmacies and how do you let them know about your services?

Let’s tackle the first question.

Easiest Source
Where’s that secret fishing spot of pharmacies?   Well I’ll tell you.  It’s so simple and easy.  So simple that I think that’s why most people won’t even try.  The best way to find these pharmacies is by opening your Yellow Pages or Yellow Book.  That’s it!  That’s all you do.

Look in the areas you are interested and/or willing to work in and start writing down addresses.

Internet Sources of Finding Pharmacies
Ok, for the computer savvy out there wanting an Internet based source here are Three.  Do any seem familiar?

PharmacyPages

Yellow Pages

Yellow Book

Chamber of Commerce
Another great source is the chamber of commerce.  Successful businesses network with other businesses and organizations.  One of which is a Chamber of Commerce.  Go to the ones in the cities you want to work in.  If any pharmacy is registered with the Chamber, they can help you get the inside track at closing a deal and may even introduce you personally.

Drive bys
Another option is to drive around the neighborhoods you want to work. You’d be surprised how many pharmacies don’t market themselves out in phone books or any other place.  Just get out there, keep your eyes peeled and take down addresses.

I Have All These Addresses… Now What!?
Utilize the sources above and you’ll have a huge pool of prospective clients.  Now you have no excuse, but to market to them.

How do you do that?  How do you bait your line and get them to bite?  It’s as simple as hooking a marshmallow to catch Bass.

You use a marketing letter.  Yup, it’s time to use your business letterheads and stationary.  You know the stationary you should have set up back in lesson 3 (Setting the Foundation for Business).

How do you write such a letter?  Now here’s the tough part, probably as tough as making homemade marshmallows.  But, I know you can do it.  Because if I did it you can too (and I can’t even make marshmallows!)

Here’s where all your homework comes together.  Hopefully you’ve Understand What Your Business Really Offers, and you have your business tools ready to go because now it’s time to talk about…

The Recipe of Persuasion

I’ve broken out the steps to writing a persuasive marketing letter to a prospective client.  You will have to write one template letter and send it to all pharmacies you’ve uncovered in your search.  I recommend you balance some sense of informality and professionalism.

1)    Use your business letterheads.
2)    Follow the structure of a standard business letter.  With today’s date and greeting your prospective with something like ‘Dear Pharmacy Owner’
3)    In the body of the letter.  There are no hard and fast rules.  But in the letter be sure to:
a.    Introduce yourself, who you are and the services you’re offering and how you can be contacted
b.    How your services can benefit that pharmacy (lesson 4 what your business really offers) in your own words.
c.    Bonus tip #1:  Ok, quick tip here.  Also, make sure your prospective is aware of their situation with questions like, “Need some support help? Do you feel married to the pharmacy?”
d.    Bonus tip #2: You’d be surprised how many people fail to do this so I should mention it here.  Make sure to specifically tell them to call you should they need you.  In other words, ask for the sale!
4)    Make sure you letter is structured professionally, but it’s ok and even recommended to be informal in how you word your sales letter.  You want your prospective client to feel like you are a real person.

Use a word processing program to format it.  Print out multiple copies and mail them to each of your prospects.  Then sit back and wait for phone calls.

Other Notes
When I say, pick prospects I don’t mean four or five either.  The first time we tried this with my wife we mailed two hundred letters.  A sales letter such as this type will typically get a response rate of 1%-4%.  We received a whopping 20% response rate.  How’s that for a great market!?

Next Week’s Lesson – Landing your First Contract

We walked you through the process of writing a marketing letter to prospective clients

Next week, we’ll cover how to handle your first call.  This is an exciting chapter so be sure not to miss it.

This concludes this week’s lesson.  Make sure to get off your tired butt and start creating a list of prospects and begin writing a sales letter tailored to your business.

If you liked this lesson, sign up for our email newsletter.  That way you definitely won’t miss a chapter and you’ll get the entire coaching series for free!  (Once I’ve completed writing it of course!)

Photo: Sunset Fishing by NatashaP

I knew it was Bad Karma, WHY did I agree to help Friday?  I don’t work as much for the chain anymore, but when I do, Karma decides to give me a good kicking in my butt!

His name was Frank.  Our date was supposed to be around 4pm.  I received a phone call around 6 pm. He was running late.  Disappointed and anxious I kept looking at the clock. I just wanted him to show up.  Well, he did.  He showed up at 6:38 pm.  I was overjoyed to see him.  Our Friday Night Begins…

My Morning From Doom Begins

Every so often, I still work for Sam’s club.  Its by choice, I have no reason to leave the company.  When I decided to pursue my pharmacist contracting full time, I gave my district manager my resignation.  He suggested I stay on board and I could work as a relief pharmacist whenever I wanted.

I work a few times a year to fill in for some gaps.  I also like to help out fellow pharmacists who need a day off.  Most of all, because I don’t have to do this full-time, working a few times a year isn’t so bad anymore.

I opened the pharmacy at 9am. My morning clerk shows up and informs me that the regular tech is out today.

With over 20 in my fill queue and another 20 something in my trouble queue, and prescriptions in my input queue, I knew my day in “Pharmacy Doom” would begin.

Always in the RED zone

Every time I looked at my darn computer, I was back in the red zone.  Just that color puts a level of anxiety in me that is unexplainable.  Without a tech, I was running around like a mad woman.

I called the pharmacy manager to find out what was going on?   I needed a tech.  My customers were starting to get cranky and I just couldn’t get my multiple work queues out of the anxiety inducing RED zone.

My relief Tech

The relief tech arrived at 11:30.  I was so happy to see her.  She was awesome.  She drove 2 and ½ hours to come help at this store.  We started to catch up on the day.  I started to feel this day maybe wouldn’t be so bad.

Grumpy Pharmacist During Transfer

As busy as we get in the pharmacy, I do understand that transfers can be a hassle on an already stressful day.   But its part of our job.  And most of the time, I don’t mind.   It’s a common courtesy among pharmacy to pharmacy.

I called Walmart next door to get a transfer.

The pharmacist put me on hold for a quite a long time.

But I understand, they are busy next door.

When she did get on the phone, she was grumpy and frustrated.   She seemed annoyed with me.  Her tone of voice showed frustration.   She just filled all these prescriptions at her pharmacy and now had to return them to the shelf.   I felt bad.  It is those moments, that I wish I could just scream over the phone, “Would you like to do what I am doing?”.

She said “Why do they want it over there?  I just filled all 5 prescriptions and now I have to return it to stock.  Why do they make it so difficult and waste my time”.

Hey…I wasn’t in a great mood either.  My day too was chaotic.  As patiently, as I could I said “Look, we’re both tired and busy.  As much as you don’t want to give me the transfer, I also don’t want to take them,.  But the patient wants it here, so lets just try to take care of this patient together.

“Sigh….ok…” she replied.

Cranky customers

Since my morning tech wasn’t here, catching up took a little while.  By 2pm, two customers already yelled me at.   I can’t blame them, the wait time was a little over an hour. And the pick up register line was consistently long.

Laser Printer Died

Its 3:30 pm and my laser printer is repeatedly getting stuck.  I tried to fix it but I knew this printer needed help.  I called computer support and they let me know they were going to send someone to fix my laser printer.

I had too many to fill and repeatedly jammed laser printer.  I tried not to print too much at one time, because the printer was overheating.  So, I spaced my prescription checking far apart enough so the leaflets would print.

By 5:45…the laser printer completely stuck.  I wasn’t able to do any more prescriptions till the Computer guy came to my rescue.

My date night begins.

Its 6:30 pm and he’s 2 and ½ hours late, but I was so happy to see the computer guy arrive.  I let him know that too!  When your laser printer gives out in the middle of your day, it can be very stressful.  The only person, I really care to see at that moment is someone who can fix this problem for me.

Well, he couldn’t fix it.  He had to order an overnight tray.  We talked, we laughed.  I told him how thankful I was he made it.

My day on Friday, made me realize how grateful I feel doing my contracting. My days as a contractor isn’t always perfect and there are still some stressful days.  But I swear to you they are fewer and farther in between.

Maybe it’s the new environment I’m in, maybe it’s the clients I have, or maybe its me.

I feel differently as a pharmacist contractor.  I care more, because this is my business.   I have great clients who have never left me alone in the pharmacy!

For example, I have never been without enough tech support.  When a tech does call in sick, the pharmacist owner will usually serve as my tech.  It is these days that I appreciate being an independent pharmacist.

Tonight was a night that motivated to really push this information we have.  This is something I am passionate about and I believe in.  This is such a better way to practice.

Well, my Friday night turned out ok.  Computer geek didn’t fix the laser printer but promised me he would be there 1st thing Saturday morning to fix it.

If you liked this article, why not set a date yourself… with our email newsletter every so often you’ll get an email with our latest articles. That way you won’t miss out on anything and you’ll get our Coaching Series in a PDF format for free!

Photo: ‘Thomas the I.T. guy‘ by petiteamie