When you get clarity in your brand and know that this is being demonstrated through behaviours in your pharmacy, you can start to present marketing messages with some confidence that they will be accepted and understood by your customers. There are several channels you can use:

In store

Using the window to transmit a simple, clear message rather than a number of confused messages will be more effective. Have a schedule for changing the window regularly to keep the message refreshed and seasonally appropriate. Customers will notice.

Point-of-sale material can be used effectively to present messages to customers that are appropriate to the products they are looking at. Shelf-edge cards and posters can be produced with a desktop printer or obtained from manufacturers or buying groups. A simple blackboard can be used to highlight the focus for the day, or when a particular service might be available – for example, ‘NHS flu vaccination available 5pm–7pm today’. Find the team member with the best handwriting, and don’t forget to proofread.

Noticeboards can be used to list the services, or highlight a single service, provided in the pharmacy and how to access them. Again, take care to change these regularly.

Increasingly, flat-screen monitors allow pharmacies to project more engaging messages. While sophisticated packages can change the programme throughout the day to target different types of customers or use touchscreens to enable staff to use them as advice aids, simple computer presentations can run automatically and on a loop, so need little interaction from members of staff.

While link selling has a negative connotation for many, a pharmacy team that can link sell services to appropriate customers is providing good service when it informs them of products and services that may be of benefit.