by Jenny Kosek
As a course of business, for the past thirty years HRG has conducted research with the independent pharmacies we serve with our merchandising and pricing services. I was lucky enough to participate in these calls, and after speaking with some half-dozen pharmacists who also serve as front-end managers, I would like to say:
Pharmacists are amazing.
Not only do pharmacists have to deal with the very serious, complicated chemical intricacies of prescription drugs, they must also serve as counselors, insurance agents, government program liaisons, financial advisors, customer service representatives (and all of the challenges that particular role can entail), salespeople, and retail clerks — and that’s just to their customers.
In addition to the complexities (and frustrations, as one who has worked in customer service knows) of dealing with customers, behind the scenes, pharmacists are expected to be shrewd business people, human resource managers, merchandising experts, accountants, business strategists, and even building maintenance crews, all rolled into one.
While speaking with one pharmacist, although I heard three phone lines ringing behind her, she still gave me all the time I needed to chat with her and ask our prescribed questions. Not only are pharmacists awe-inspiring healthcare professionals and business people, but man: they are just plain nice.
Pharmacists are pulled in every possible direction, every day, and independent pharmacists face the endless uncertainty of small business owners regarding what tomorrow may bring. Still, they patiently provide us with health solutions that make our lives better, and tend to do so with a smile and a sympathetic ear, both of which have become scarce in so many peoples’ day-to-day. Those incredible touches of kindness are precisely why the independents are hanging on, and why devoted shoppers continue to return.
To all of the harried, determined, overwhelmed, but oh-so-important independent pharmacists out there: thank you.