2 steps that owners of pharmacies can take to keep their customers healthy and happy

If you own and run a pharmacy, here are some steps you can take to ensure your customers stay healthy and happy.

1. Choose a reliable and reputable OTC pharmaceutical supplier

Keeping a large and varied supply of OTC medicine in your pharmacy is important for your customers' health and satisfaction. If you routinely run out of cough syrup, throat lozenges, painkillers, laxatives or acid reflux medications, your customers may not only suffer as a result of this (unless they can obtain the items they require from another nearby pharmacy) but may also decide to stop using your pharmacy.

The best way to ensure that this does not happen is to choose a reliable and reputable OTC pharmaceutical supplier to purchase your over-the-counter stock from. If your supplier always delivers the exact types and quantities of medications that you request and is careful to ensure that your orders are delivered on time, you will be far less likely to run out of the medications that your customers require.

When selecting an OTC pharmaceutical supplier, make sure that you choose one which is well-established, has an excellent reputation and has a large supply of the types of products you will need to order.

2. Encourage your customers to ask questions if they don't understand how to take their medicines

Many customers who purchase their prescriptions from pharmacies have a tendency not to ask questions about their medications because they don't want to bother the pharmacist whilst they are busy preparing other prescriptions. However, if a customer does not understand how to take their medication (for example, if they are uncertain about the dosage or the frequency with which they should consume it) or if are unsure if it might interact with another medicine that they sometimes take, and they decide not to ask the pharmacist to clarify the issue, they could end up becoming seriously ill.

As such, if you want your customers to remain healthy, it's important to encourage them to ask questions, if they are confused about some element of their prescription. You could, for example, place a sign by the counter, which states that customers should not hesitate to ask query their prescription if there is something about it they do not fully understand.

Talking them through the problem will usually only take a minute or two, and could help to prevent them from accidentally overdosing, or mixing their medicine with another substance and having a severe reaction.