A lesson in branch psychology: Training meets psychology at Alliance Pharmacy
It’s an all-too-common challenge within retail: a new initiative is being embraced by some branches with tremendous results, but other branches are lagging behind. So how do you drive take-up to include the sceptics and doubters as well? Alliance Pharmacy and Criterion Partnership found the answer and it was all about hearts and minds.
The initiative described in this case study is the free ‘Medicines Check-up’ service that is available to Alliance Pharmacy customers. The lessons learned could equally be applied to any other product or service initiative within retail.
Background
For years one of the main roles of pharmacists has been in supporting their local GP surgeries, ensuring prescription medicines are taken safely and patients don’t buy over-the-counter medicines that might interfere with them.
In 2005 the Government, with a 92% vote in favour from the pharmacy community sector, formally acknowledged this additional service provided by community pharmacies and introduced new contracts with them. Under these contracts community pharmacies would be remunerated for delivering ‘Medicines Use Reviews’ (MURs). These one-to-one consultations between specially qualified pharmacists and customers would be offered free to the public and consist of a 15-40 minute confidential discussion in a private consultation room. The service allows pharmacists to check that the customers are taking their medication correctly and address any customer concerns.
Alliance Pharmacy immediately embraced the new contract opportunity and saw it as a perfect fit with their current ’Healthcare First’ philosophy. They decided to brand their MUR service ‘Medicines Check-Up’ (MCU).
The first step involved investing heavily in equipping a majority of their stores with private consultation rooms. Then this was taken a step further by going beyond the minimum specification suggested by the government, and including running water and computer terminals in all of the rooms. The addition of the computer allowed easy access to the Patient Medication Records held in the pharmacy which facilitated a more accurate discussion with the customer.
The next major investment was a company supported pharmacist accreditation programme, and the placing of accredited pharmacists in branches with consultation facilities. Non accredited pharmacists meanwhile were given action plans to achieve accreditation.
A mixed performance
In-branch marketing made it clear that this new service was available free of charge, and the MCUs started in earnest.
However, having the facilities and offering the service proved not to be enough. After a short while it became clear that some were delivering considerably more MCUs than others. In fact, some were delivering none at all.
Why psychology was the key
Alliance Pharmacy, along with occupational psychologists and training consultants Criterion Partnership, conducted internal research, meeting numerous members of branch staff and pharmacists. As Clare Clark, Head of Learning & Development at Alliance Pharmacy explains: “Our research soon uncovered some clear themes amongst the branches that weren’t delivering many MCUs, whether the obstacles were practical or perception, the underlying challenge was often simply a lack of confidence.”
Practical obstacles included factors such as believing that they were too busy to fit MCUs into their working day. Perceptual obstacles included fearing customer and GP reactions.
Using the insight from the research, Criterion Partnership and Alliance Pharmacy Learning and Development department set itself the following objectives:
- Share best practice and experiences between branches
- Instil the confidence required to sell an MCU to a customer, and liaise with GPs
- Develop personal skills to ensure MCUs are carried out effectively
The programme
A combination of communications and training was needed that would allow staff to learn and gain confidence within the branch environment. The chosen blend included:
- A short face-to-face presentation from an Area Development Manager (ADM)
- CD-ROM/DVD training material (see right) to provide a visually stimulating, consistent and detailed overview of MCU best practice containing interviews with directors, other branch staff, pharmacists and enactments of real MCUs
- Printed guides for branch managers
- Marketing collateral
This programme is being steadily rolled out across their branches, targeting the lowest performing branches first. As of January 2008, the team has now successfully trained 67% of the branches that have the facilities to run the MCUs, and as can be seen below, the approach appears to be working.
Impact on branch staff
When surveyed 88% of pharmacists agreed that the training successfully supported MCU delivery in their branch. The training programme was clearly improving the branch staff’s confidence when it came to approaching customers and encouraging them to participate in an MCU. One pharmacist said; “Team members are more motivated to offer MCUs, and are more able to handle questions from customers in a professional manner, which has increased the uptake of MCU bookings from 50-90%”
The programme has been delivering other benefits too, as Clare Clark adds: “Our branch teams are generally hungry for training and eager to help customers. So this programme, which is helping them develop their skills and often change customers’ lives, is proving to be a tremendous boost to branch staff and pharmacists alike.”
A comparison of before and after performance amongst branches that received training demonstrated that within two months of training being delivered, branches experienced an average of a 60% increase in MCUs per month (see graph). Branches that had not received the training were also analysed and sure enough their performance was flat.
Impact on the business
By the end of March 2006 Alliance Pharmacy had delivered 3,709 MCUs and just a year later this figure had nearly tripled to 10,442, and this figure is continuing to rise.
During the MCU the pharmacist has the opportunity to listen, support, empathise with and reassure the customer which has led to increased customer loyalty and a significant uplift in the number of prescriptions being processed.
The ‘Passionate About Customers’ mystery shopping exercise also reiterated customer satisfaction and achieved the highest score of 80.8% compared to other leading pharmacists such as ASDA (77.7%), Lloyds (75.0%), Superdrug (74.9%), Tesco (74.8%) and Sainsburys (70.4%).
Impact on customers and their health
More importantly the MCU service has had a significant impact on Alliance Pharmacy customers’ lives. As this programme has already increased the number of MCUs by about 2,000 per month, each month Alliance Pharmacy is uncovering an additional 740 issues requiring a GP referral, of which 200 result in a change of medication, not to mention all the useful counselling, advice and information customers are receiving.
The impact on customers has also been acknowledged by Retail Week magazine, which has shortlisted this for the ‘Customer Service Initiative of the Year’ category of the 2008 Retail Week Awards.
To receive a more detailed case study
To receive a full version of this case study, complete with graphs, photographs and some true stories of real MCUs, please e-mail us at letterbox@criterionpartnership.co.uk