Staff who think selling is a dirty word miss the point about what selling in pharmacy really means.

Patient health outcomes are central to pharmacy values, yet many pharmacy staff shy away from “selling” and have a very narrow perception of what it actually means. As a pharmacy assistant, you only begin to help patients and customers when you ask them questions to understand their true needs.

We need to demystify the sales process and take away its negative connotations because you cannot help anyone until you ‘sell’ to them.

Selling in pharmacy is about asking questions and finding out about customers’ needs. The way that it’s done is unique to selling in other competitor retail environments. As an example, if you walk into any Coles and pick up five packets of Panadol, no one will ask you any questions in the aisle or at the check-out. However, in pharmacy it’s a different story. We start the selling process by asking patients questions...