15.2 Providing Professional Customer Service

Other written and unwritten standards that come into play in the community pharmacy have to do with professional customer service. In the 1960s and 1970s, mass merchandising was an innovative retail marketing strategy, and customers became accustomed to large impersonal drug stores with numbered aisles of merchandise, price tags, and cash registers. By the 1980s, however, customers missed the days of personal service attending to an individual customer’s needs associated with the small, independent neighborhood pharmacy of the past, where everyone affectionately called the pharmacist “Doc.” Surveys have indicated that customer service and accessible location are the most important aspects consumers consider when choosing a pharmacy.

In the institutional pharmacy, some operations also view nurses and the other healthcare professionals as their clients or customers to keep satisfied. So many of these customer service principles also apply to the institutional pharmacy in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Customer Attentiveness

Among small businesses, pharmacies (and banks) have received the highest marks for in-person customer service from Gallup surveys. A little personal attention pays off. A courteous voice, a welcoming smile, a moment of assistance finding merchandise, or holding a door can go a long way toward making customers think of your pharmacy as a pleasant place to visit and do business. Greeting patients by name is especially important. Patients are far more likely to return to a pharmacy where someone knows their name and they have received personal attention than to one where they have not.

Pharmacy technicians can help customers read labels to compare brand and generic OTC labels.

Often a customer is reluctant to ask for help to avoid imposing on the pharmacy staff member’s time. Approach any customer who has an uncertain look or is wandering the OTC aisles and ask courteously, “May I help you?” Then after the customer’s response, ask some clarifying questions. For example, if a customer is looking for aspirin, then they may need to know not only where the OTC analgesic products are located, but also where to find a specific analgesic such as baby aspirin, aspirin for a migraine, Goody’s powders, or an enteric-coated form for those whose stomachs cannot tolerate conventional analgesic dosage forms. If possible, escort customers to the place where the desired merchandise is shelved and then help them find it. Point out items that may be on sale this week.

Similar principles apply in the institutional setting. If a nonemployee looks lost or confused, offer assistance. A friendly “May I help you?” can make a difference in someone’s experience. If they ask for directions to a certain unit or area of the hospital, try to take them there if possible. While the layout of a hospital may be familiar to someone who works there, hospitals can be extremely confusing for patients and their visitors.

Juggling Demands

In the community pharmacy, many things may be happening at once: you are making a sale; the phone is ringing; a customer is waiting for help in the OTC aisle; and five patients are waiting to pick up prescriptions. Here, a good pharmacy technician will triage, or sort out the various types of requests, and handle those that are appropriate to specified duties and leave others that apply only to the pharmacist. This involves strategizing about available resources to attend to the varying customer needs.

First, acknowledge each customer’s request for service by a simple statement like “I will be right with you.” Focus attention on each customer one by one for a moment and then on getting their needs met—this helps make them feel it was worth the wait. If possible, request help from other technicians, the pharmacist, or the store manager. During the wait or after providing the needed service, acknowledge their inconvenience by saying, “Thank you for waiting,” or “I appreciate your patience.”

If a customer requests an OTC product outside of the immediate pharmacy department area, assist them by providing the aisle number and location, or page a store manager if you are busy. When a product is out of stock, apologize to the customer and offer a rain check. If a customer requests a unique product not typically in stock, then check with the manager or consult the wholesaler log to see whether a special order can be made. If so, let the customer know when the product should be received (usually the next business day), and get their name and phone number for a courtesy call. Making the extra effort to provide customer service pays off in long-term dividends and return business for any retail operation.

In the institutional setting, technicians may also be required to triage and prioritize. For example, this might involve being asked to restock medications in an automated dispensing machine and deliver a compounded sterile product for a patient in critical care. Consider the urgency of both requests and respond appropriately. In the example provided, delivering the compounded sterile product to the patient in critical care would be the higher priority. After delivery is completed, the automated dispensing machine can be restocked. Best practice is to communicate prioritization plans to any colleagues that may be affected, if feasible.

Gathering Information

To triage well, gather information from the customers to help discern their needs and assist the pharmacist in arranging medication therapy management or counseling sessions. Ask well-phrased questions that are appropriate to the type of information needed. A closed-ended question is one asked in a yes-or-no format, such as “Do you have a headache?” or “Have you tried aspirin?”

An open-ended question allows the patient to share more information about their illness and provides more helpful information to the pharmacist for recommending the best treatment. Asking the patient open-ended questions like “Can you please describe your headache pain for me?” is always preferable. Gathering this information and relaying it to the pharmacist will expedite customer service.

When speaking, work to enunciate clearly while looking someone in the eyes, especially when conversing with older adults who may have trouble hearing. People in a rush also tend to slow down and hear more effectively when eye contact is established. Eye contact and a smile help people be more receptive and attentive, which is essential if you are trying to communicate drug administration directions. Tone of voice also matters: is it friendly, warm, and appealing? Or stern, grouchy, crisp, dismissive, or absentminded? Always use a nonjudgmental expression and tone of voice. Never let patients feel that they are imposing or that they are being scolded.

In many cultures, eye contact is often associated with honesty, sincerity, and respect. Older patients and those who are hard of hearing sometimes need to lip-read to supplement the words that they cannot make out. Speak with your head facing the patient to make what is being said easier to understand. This is true for all patients at a community pharmacy with a drive-through window. It is already difficult to communicate over engine and ambient noise. Be ready to repeat the customer request—whether it is verifying patient name, date of birth, address, or other information.

Providing Empathy

While gathering information or serving a patient, it is important to act with empathy, which is the ability to share and understand another person’s feelings. Perhaps the customer has recently lost a loved one, or a loved one has become seriously ill, or the patient may just have been recently diagnosed with a serious illness. Perhaps the person has just been discharged from the hospital or spent the better part of a day or night at the emergency room. Whatever the customer’s circumstances, try to be consistently open and receptive and not make any assumptions or rash judgments so it’s easier to serve the patient’s needs as well as possible.

Applying old-fashioned manners never goes out of style and is the way to success with customers in the ever-changing world of pharmacy.

Being Courteous

In every interaction with a customer, sprinkle the conversation with courteous words and phrases because they show respect and provide openings for empathy and service. Memorize names and faces to greet people by name. Get to know local and cultural pleasantries, such as talking about the weather, how someone is doing, the news of the local team winning, and other common ways of building a connection. Ask about people’s children and pets. Get to know your clientele.

Common Phrases of Courtesy

To ensure that your customer has a good experience and will want to come back, use respectful expressions of address like “Ma’am” and “Sir” to those you do not know. Begin and end customer interactions, even the briefest ones, with formal courtesies such as, “Good afternoon” and “Have a nice day.” “Please” and “Thank you” should become a part of your regular vocabulary. Offer a sense of hospitality by practicing courteous speech, as demonstrated in these examples.

Sometimes mistakes are made. Customers will call attention to things that may or may not be a problem or the pharmacy’s fault. Thank them for making you aware of the problems, and bring the issues to the attention of the pharmacist. If a mistake is yours, make eye contact with the pharmacist and admit to making an honest mistake. The pharmacist will decide how to handle it. If no mistake was made by the pharmacy, then you should be as understanding as possible and try to address the customer’s concerns to find a solution. If there is a delay in filling the prescription, then apologize to the customer for the inconvenience.

Nonverbal Courtesies

As with colleagues, nonverbal gestures, expressions, or movements can help or hinder communications, so you need to be very aware of them. If not, you can communicate exactly the opposite message from the professional one that you would like. Consider these scenarios:

Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process

Strong patient care isn’t limited to being pleasant and helpful during face-to-face interactions. It requires far-reaching communication skills to make sure that patients, families, and caregivers are engaged as much as possible, whenever possible. In 2014, the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners identified the steps of the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process, a method of collaborating with prescribers, other pharmacists, and pertinent health care professionals to provide “safe, effective, and coordinated care.” As members of a team, pharmacy technicians will play an important role in assisting pharmacists with each step of this process.

Using principles of evidence-based practice, the Patient Care Process guides pharmacists to:

• Collect—The pharmacist oversees the collection of relevant information about the patient to create a comprehensive medical/medication history.

• Assess—The pharmacist assesses the information collected and accounts for the patient’s overall health goals, identifying problems and evaluating solutions.

• Plan—The pharmacist creates an individualized, cost-effective, and evidence-based care plan tailored to the individual patient.

• Implement—The pharmacist implements the care plan while collaborating with other health care professionals and the patient or caregiver.

• Follow-up: Monitor and Evaluate—The pharmacist monitors and evaluates how effective the care plan is and adjusts in collaboration with other health care professionals and the patient or caregiver as needed.

For more information on the Patient Care Process, see: https://PharmPractice7e.paradigmeducation.com/PatientCareProcess