Did You Know is a bi-weekly newsletter containing important information about the RMS POS system and our company. Please use the following link to access the newsletter:

https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=126686&c=ACCT87349&h=7a5ba578f4502e3314a5&_xt=.html

Sticker Shock

Definition: That confused feeling you get when you want to buy something but can’t figure out what the price is. See exhibit below:

Sticker Shock

One of the things I’ve learned during this trip is that the proper process for updating pricing on OTC products is almost universally misunderstood. I’m not just talking universally amongst pharmacy management and staff; the wholesalers who provide the product, pricing strategies and merchandising POP don’t seem to get it either.

Here are the rules that pharmacies and their product vendors should follow:

1) If the pharmacy is using a POS system, the item sticker should never include the retail price.

Why is pricing each item bad?

If each item sticker includes a retail price, the opportunity for a discrepancy between the products themselves and between the products and the POS system scan price is inevitable. The only remedy for that scenario would be to send a staff member out to the aisles with a pen, scratching out the old price on each product and writing in the new one. Not only is this a waste of labor but it is just ugly and unprofessional. I often hear the argument “But, my customers like seeing the price on the item itself”. My response to that is, “Do your customer buy groceries at the local grocery store? That grocery store uses shelf label pricing exclusively and everyone is doing just fine with it”. I truly believe that the argument stems from wanting to hang onto old habits and not customer preference.

2) Shelf tags should include the retail price and be replaced whenever that price changes

If the pharmacy is using the Signs and Labels module with the RMS system, new shelf tags are printed after processing an electronic price update from the wholesaler, ensuring that the scan price always matches the shelf price.

If the Signs and Labels module is not being used, the price update and shelf label replacement process is manual but still very simple.

The pharmacy should request that their wholesaler include the retail price on their shelf labels at the same time that they request the price be removed from the item sticker. Anytime an OTC order is fulfilled, the wholesaler should ship a new shelf tag with the current retail price for each unique item in the order. During the receiving process, the store personnel would just update the retail price in the POS system to match the retail displayed on the shelf tag and then put up the new tag for the product facing.

The result of these changes is less work, cleaner and more professional looking shelves and price consistency.

Did You Know is a bi-weekly newsletter containing important information about the RMS POS system and our company. Please use the following link to access the newsletter:

https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=119648&c=ACCT87349&h=b1c3b15a14d222b66edd&_xt=.html

I’ve never liked meetings. They’ve always felt like a time waster. Everyone gets together for a “mindshare”, providing his or her two cents and then wondering at the meeting next month if their great idea was put into practice.

At RMS we decided to shift our thinking about what makes a productive meeting. It certainly isn’t the length of the meeting. We could spend over an hour in a companywide conference call each month and still feel like there wasn’t enough time to cover everything. Worse, those long meetings weren’t effective because everyone was watching the clock, feeling more and more anxious as the precious time to manage their own workload ticked away. Last week we did away with our monthly meetings and instituted the RMS Standup. This meeting takes place every day at precisely 1pm Pacific, lasts just 5 minutes, and has the whole company on their feet.

What could possibly be accomplished in just 5 minutes? Concise content, full attention, a manageable list of action items, and increased morale just to name a few things.

We have 5 keys words that represent what we want our customers to say about us and one word each day is the main topic of our agenda.

Monday = Reliable
Tuesday = Honest
Wednesday = Professional
Thursday = Knowledgeable
Friday = Innovative

For example, on Mondays the meeting will start with “Provide an example of a real situation you’ve experienced over the last week where our customers would have called us reliable”. We’ll then ask for an example of the opposite. “How were we not reliable?” The 3rd and final question is “Does anyone have information that everyone needs to know?” The information we gather from the answers to each of these questions allows us to determine if our processes need adjusting, if more training is needed, etc. and tasks are immediately assigned. That’s a wrap…talk to everyone again tomorrow.

In just the first week of conducting meetings this way, we feel that the impact has been dramatic. Timely information and timely action is already making a noticeable difference in how our business runs and in the service we provide our customers.

Do you have staff meetings? If so how often? Are you getting what you want and need from them?

Frequency….

This word has been popping into my thoughts quite a bit lately. Given my lack of frequency in posting to this blog, the universe must be trying to tell me something!

RMS CEO Brad Jones first mentioned frequency a few weeks ago after returning from the RSPA (Retail Solutions Provider Association) conference where one of the presenters talked about the importance of shortening the time frame between employee reviews. Our policy calls for a sit down with each employee just twice a year. This schedule applies even if the review is unfavorable and changes are required, allowing for the possibility of underperformance to continue for another 6 months. Think about how damaging that could be to a customer service company! We clearly need to make a change. Our new policy is still being determined, but we are leaning toward a plan which includes a monthly “check-in” coupled with a more formal review quarterly.

Our business moves fast. Keeping everyone in the loop about changes is accomplished via email and other electronic means, but the personal connection achieved by actually talking with someone is what builds a team. Monthly meetings with each staff member will not only help us to be more nimble in effecting change, but it should also help everyone feel more a part of our business which will, without a doubt, make us stronger.

I’ve been thinking about frequency even more since attending the Independent Pharmacy Growth Conference last month in Orlando. Pharmacy Development Services (www.pharmacyowners.com) brings together an unbelievable line up of industry experts and motivational speakers to help their members think like business owners and not just pharmacists. From infrastructure design tips to guidance for the best use of social media, the attendees leave the conference with a portfolio of business changing ideas. I had the opportunity to visit PDS member and RMS customer Stella Chinwubah this week at her pharmacy in Tampa. Stella told me how excited she was about everything she had learned, but she also admitted to being overwhelmed. She’s already implemented some of the suggestions from PDS, hosting weekly classes in the pharmacy for diabetic and cardiac care patients, but there is much more she wants to accomplish. This is where thinking frequency can help. I suggested that she take each project and break it down into weekly and even daily tasks rather than focusing on the end result.

Accomplishing one small piece of the bigger goal each day helps the psyche. Imagine how good it feels when you get to cross items off a to-do list. Ok, maybe I’m the only one who gets geeked out about it, but, trust me, it feels awesome! The little “wins” each day will keep you motivated and get you to the finish line faster.

I’ll be using the frequency theme and relating it to best practices for using the RMS POS system in future posts, but for now, think about these questions…..

How often do you conduct performance reviews?

Do you set daily/weekly personal and business goals?

What’s your frequency?

I’ve recently become a fan of the Food Network show called Restaurant Impossible where celebrity chef Robert Irvine goes into failing eateries and attempts to get them back on track. From absolutely disgusting kitchens to hideous, dated decor to the ever present dysfunction between the owners and staff, it is a compelling train wreck. While all of this drama can be entertaining, it’s not what draws me to the show. In many of the episodes, Robert queries the owners about the state of the business. What are your best selling menu items? What is your average food cost? How many covers do you handle during lunch? The excruciating guessing continues until Robert produces a stack of reports that he’s generated from the restaurant’s point-of-sale system and sets the record straight. The response is pretty much always the same; “yeah, we really aren’t using the system the way we should”

In my experience on the road so far, I have run into this same response over and over again from the pharmacies RMS supports. However, a very small percentage of our customers take advantage of the training programs we offer. These programs which include onsite visits coupled with followup phone training ensure that they get all of their questions answered, stay up to date on all of the latest features, get an evaluation of how they are using the system so important cost-saving process changes can be made, and, as an added bonus, receive a discount on their annual support fees.

Our programs are very reasonably priced and really a drop in the bucket when it comes to the expenses of running the pharmacy, so it’s hard to understand why there isn’t more participation. Those customers who have chosen to include annual training in their operating budget tell me that they can’t imagine going a year without a visit from an RMS trainer. They are better users of the system with more efficient and profitable operations. So, if money isn’t the issue what is? What is keeping everyone from seeing the value in training and getting help with the systems that keep the operation running smoothly? I hope to find out during this journey because it’s vital to our customer’s success that the point-of-sale system is used and viewed an integral part of the business rather than just a pretty cash register.

September 23, 2011

Dear Ms. Gage,

I am writing to provide you with a congressional update regarding legislation I am supporting to help independent community pharmacies. I am cosponsoring H.R. 1946, the Preserving Our Hometown Independent Pharmacies Act, to ensure local community pharmacies are able to continue to provide vital services to folks in Southwest Washington.

Since coming to Washington D.C. I have been working to make sure our health care system is patient-centered and gives people the tools they need to take control and manage their own health care. The Preserving Our Hometown Independent Pharmacies Act takes steps to ensure our local pharmacists are able to continue offering quality, affordable health care to folks in our communities.

This bill will amend antitrust laws to allow independent pharmacies to come together to enter into direct negotiations with health plans and insurance companies, the same way larger chain pharmacies already do. Smaller independent pharmacists have long operated under “take-it-or-leave-it” contracts that put community pharmacists and patients at a disadvantage because of onerous contract terms. Leveling this playing field will create more competition among pharmacies, and more competition means prescription drug costs will decrease for patients as pharmacy choices increase.

I am proud to support our local community pharmacies through this legislation. I will continue looking for ways to support businesses in our region and ensure folks have access to the health care and services they rely upon.

I invite you to contact my office if you have any questions regarding federal issues and my work on behalf of Southwest Washington.

Sincerely,

Jaime Herrera Beutler
Member of Congress

In Giovanni Livera’s book Live a Thousand Years the 12th element for success, or chime as it is referred to, is Time to Reset. While all of the chimes he illustrates in the book are valuable and integral to success, this one resonates with me the most personally. The principles of Time to Reset are as follows:

I reset quickly after failure and begin again
I reset quickly after successes and reach for higher aspirations
I sleep well and get enough rest
I cherish each day

I use this technique daily, even for what would seem minor events, to ensure I stay on track with my goals both personally and professionally. It’s been particularly valuable throughout the Roadshow journey as I’ve encountered many obstacles that I never could have anticipated and that could take the wind out of the sails of even the best laid plans. Try experiencing the jacks down warning light coming on while doing 70mph!! It’s frightening enough to make one want to pull over and put it in park for good.

When it comes to the business of Retail Management Solutions, our management team uses this principle when reviewing every aspect of our operation. It’s been invaluable in helping us open our minds to trying new things, knowing that we can always reset and go in a different direction if our plan doesn’t yield the results we want.

I’ve been sharing Giovanni’s book with every customer I visit. My hope is that it’s lessons will encourage our independent pharmacies to keep up the fight and find inspiration for new ideas that will bolster their business.

To learn more about Giovanni and Live a Thousand Years , visit www.giovanniexperiences.com

I spent last week in Las Vegas attending the Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen pharmacy industry trade shows. After 6 months on the road in the RV it was a little strange to travel by plane, but the accommodations at the Venetian more than made up for any feelings of discomfort!

I was very excited for the opportunity to meet up with many of the customers I had met along my journey thus far and to connect with those I’ll be seeing in the coming months. I wasn’t disappointed. Both events had a great showing of RMS customers and most of them made it by the booth to visit. I’ve attended many shows in previous years, but there was definitely something different this time. The personal interactions I’ve enjoyed during this first half year of the Roadshow as well as the hundreds of phone conversations RMS staff members have engaged in with our customers over the last several months seem to have gone a long way in creating an atmosphere of comfort and rapport. Our booths were filled with happy customers excited to talk about their experience with RMS and checkout the latest and greatest products we were showing. It was really inspiring to witness first-hand the results of our commitment to re-inventing customer service.

Your new register...EvolutionPOS!

Speaking of latest and greatest, our new EvolutionPos was introduced at both shows. Evolution is a game changer for the pharmacy, eliminating the computer and all of its peripherals and untethering service from the counter. Carry all cash register functionality right to where the customers are on a wireless handheld device. More details can be found on the RMS website at http://www.rm-solutions.com/products/evolutionpos.php. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road and taking the EvolutionPOS with me to show off at all of the pharmacies I visit!

I’ve been a Sprint customer for nearly 17 years. In fact, I have never used any other carrier. Do I stay with Sprint because of their award winning service? I wouldn’t say that my experience has been horrible, but they really aren’t doing anything to reward my loyalty. I stay with them primarily because I haven’t taken the time to think about what I’m getting out of my Sprint plan or to analyze what I might get from another carrier. Part of that analysis needs to be questioning Sprint about why they are better for me than any of the others given that I finally have the IPhone craving and can barely pass an AT&T store without tearing into the lot.
So, what is the point of sharing my stagnant relationship with Sprint? On a much smaller scale it represents how the majority of pharmacies I have visited manage their relationships with their vendors. The frenetic pace of daily life in the pharmacy makes it easy to get buried in the business and very difficult to work on the business. I have often heard a story of dissatisfaction followed by the comment “I don’t have time to do anything about it”. Committing to an annual review of all vendor relationships can payoff both financially and in the satisfaction level with the service provided, so it is absolutely necessary to make the time.
Changing vendors can be a daunting and costly process, so why not be certain about what your current provider can do before jumping ship? Technology providers, credit card processors, wholesalers, etc. should all be willing to spend time reviewing service plans and answering questions. If they aren’t, it is time to question whether they are the right partner for your business.