Chapter 4 Managing Service Performance Chapter 4 slides for Marketing for Pharmacists, 2nd Edition

Learning Objectives  List some causes of poor pharmacy service.  Discuss what elements are necessary for a pharmacy to provide good customer service.  Describe the characteristics of good service employees.  Justify the link between internal marketing and business profitability.  Define the following terms: customer-oriented culture, service-profit cycle.  Design a continuous quality improvement plan for pharmacist services.

From personal experience, describe an example of poor service. Is there ever a valid excuse for poor service in pharmacy?

Most annoying words out of a salesperson’s mouth 1."Not my department. " (29%) 2."If it's not on the rack, we don't have it." (25%) 3."That's the policy." 4."I'm on a break." 5."Ask the person over there." 6."I'm new here." 7."You'll have to wait your turn." 8."The computer is down." Source: Associated Press 2005

Elements of Good Customer Service  Customer-oriented culture  All employees are committed to serving the customer.  Service leadership  Leaders set priorities.  Leaders communicate vision.  Leaders inspire and motivate.

Elements of Good Customer Service (continued)  Investment in training and development  Increases competence and confidence  Makes job more interesting and fulfilling  Enhances career mobility and opportunities  Teamwork  Helps deal with stress  Helps develop solutions

Elements of Good Customer Service (continued)  Selecting and keeping good employees (see Table 4-1)  Service attitude  Natural intelligence  Technical skills  Emotional intelligence  Internal marketing

Figure 4-1: Service-Profit Cycle Firm Profitability Quality Service Employee Satisfaction Internal Marketing Customer Loyalty Satisfied Customers Employee Retention

Quote "... Our first priority should be the people who work for the companies, then the customers, then the shareholders. Because if the staff are motivated then the customers will be happy, and the shareholders will then benefit through the company's success." MarketingPower.com" — Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin

Developing an internal marketing environment 1.Educate employees about concept and existence of internal employees. 2.Identify internal employees and their expectations. 3.Develop strategies to meet their needs. 4.Monitor with customer satisfaction surveys, exit interviews, complaints, et cetera.

Elements of Good Customer Service (continued)  Well-designed and well-run service systems (see Chapter 5)

What is quality improvement?  Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is a management philosophy that emphasizes system process improvement through 1. Simplifying the process 2. Eliminating duplication 3. Decreasing process time 4. Preventing errors.

PlanDo ActStudy Step 1: Plan a change Step 3: Study the impact Step 2: Do it on a small scale Step 4: Act on the results FIGURE 4-2 Steps in quality improvement

Pareto Chart Flow Chart Control Chart Cause & Effect Diagram Scatter Diagram Check List

Conclusion  Good pharmacy services require a lot of effort.  Leaders set forth a vision of excellent services.  Managers make certain that vision is followed through actions such as recruitment, training, and internal marketing.  Pharmacists provide good services day in and day out by working hard, paying attention to small details, and staying alert for ways to meet the needs of patients.

Questions?