[dropcap color=”White” background=”black” style=”rectangle” size=”big”]M[/dropcap]anaging a small business is a challenge. Pharmacy is no exception to this rule, and because it is one of the few (possibly even the only) retail business that has virtually no control over what it charges for most of what it sells. Watching the bottom line often resembles an event at the X-Games.
Being savvy when it comes to money is important. A great example is the satellite radio that may be in your car. Experience has shown that the company selling the subscription for this service is willing to take less than their advertised rates for the service, so why pay more? One only has to ask (and maybe it doesn’t hurt to threaten to cancel the service along the way) to be offered a better rate. Pharmacy owners can, and should, leverage this approach with a variety of venders. Consider some of the successes seen by my stores over that last few months:
- When approached by a software vender for a required upgrade on my almost new (2 year old) system, the vendor wanted almost $3000. Asking the appropriate questions and escalating the issue resulted in a very substantial drop in the price to update.
- When my prescription vial supplier cold-called me and asked how things were going, I was honest: things are hard. I then immediately asked for a larger rebate based on my volume. While the sales rep was not expecting this, I was able to secure real savings (in the form of additional rebates) within a few months of starting the conversation.
- Secondary wholesalers regularly call with offers of pharmaceuticals at prices lower than my primary wholesaler offers. Why accept their first offer? Asking “how low can you go?” regularly results in better opportunities.
- The employees wanted a water cooler for the break room. They presented a single quote to us. A few calls later, we had both companies bidding for our business, resulting in a much lower overall cost for the service in the end.
- Buying groups provide rebates that help a pharmacy’s bottom line. Things in pharmacy change so rapidly, with prices dropping and soaring for products seemingly every minute. If a buying group contract has not been updated in a while, it cannot hurt to approach them for a better rebate rate, at least until the buying group updates it contracts to keep up with changes.
Overall, in business, it cannot be reiterated enough: “If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.” In today’s business environment, one cannot simply accept the first offer for any service or product. One needs to leverage competition and loyalty with vendors to enhance the bottom line. Not asking for better pricing means possibly not being in business this time next year.