The Opportunity These Constantly Bring
It’s Never About the Drugs
My great friend and colleague (and Certified Go-Giver Speaker & Coach) Corey Jahnke is a combination of pharmacist and philosopher.
I call him the “Zen Pharmacist” because he communicates his Yoda-like wisdom whenever he connects with customers and coworkers.
Throughout his career, Corey has served as a pharmacist/pharmacy manager for both independent and corporate pharmacies, and in doing so has touched the lives of both customers and the many young (and not so young) pharmacists he has joyously mentored.
So Very Important: One thing Corey knows — and has proved over and over again — is that being a pharmacist is not *about* the prescriptions and the medications, but rather about the people they are serving and the overall buying experiences they provide them.
He’ll tell you that they can get medications anywhere, but time, attention, counsel, education, empathy, appreciation are what they need and what they crave from their pharmacy professional.
During an email discussion with him, he wrote to me the following...
Powerful: “Whenever I work with other health care professionals, I want to make sure they recognize that what they call “patients,” I call “people.” Patients are a demographic and can too easily be treated as a number. People want to work with those who see them as human beings.
“When they say, ‘Well if you do that special favor for Joe, then we will have to do that for everybody’ I just delight in saying, ‘Yes, and that’s how we make and keep customers.’
“At this point they believe I create more work, but what they’ll soon learn is that by truly taking care of people the right way the first time, we ultimately save countless hours of haggling, negotiating, apologizing, etc. etc. etc.”
And…
Key Point: “Best of all, of course, is that it creates an opportunity for us to earn a valued customer and friend for life.”
Indeed, it sure does.
And not just for pharmacists! I’d say…for all of us!
Today’s Exercise: Consider some areas in your work that might *seem* like time-wasters or in some other way appear to be counterproductive, but in reality are more likely to turn into a magnificent customer experience and an ultra-loyal, very profitable customer.
Thanks for the mention Brother Bob! I find this to be even more true today than when we first talked about it as people are feeling more fearful and less connected than ever before.
I appreciate this perspective and believe the same is true in other respects:
- While working in corporate America, I heard team members referred to as "resources." I think that terminology encourages a transactional view - that people are expendable and can be moved around at will in order to increase productivity.
- In my current work as a speaking coach, I also prefer to use the word "people" rather than "clients." I believe the word "clients" can create a transactional and limiting view as well, reducing the relationship to a unit of business. (But that may just be me!)