To message effectively to your customers, you must first know the profile of your current customer base. You can quickly find this out by creating a tally sheet and determining which customers you'd like to draw into your store.

        ∗ Design a simple check-off sheet for your clerks that includes categories, such as gender and age ranges, such as 18 to 34, 35 to 55, and senior. Ask your clerks to discreetly check a category for each customer. After two weeks, you'll have an approximate profile of your current customer base.

        ∗ Which new customers would you like to attract? To determine this, create a customer survey. Develop a short questionnaire for customers to complete. Questions should capture shoppers' gender and age range, as above, and explore the reasons why they shop with you — such as service, selection and convenience — and new products or services they would like. 

Build Your Target Customer Base

Once you have profiled your current customers, you're ready to identify the ways your marketing can help grow your business. To get started, consider these four primary opportunities to grow your revenues.

1. Maximize sales to your current customers. Ask how you can better meet their needs. During prescription counseling, tell patients how easy it is to order refills Use On-Hold Messaging to remind shoppers about sale prices and your services. Look for specialized, health-related products and services your community needs - diabetic supplies, home healthcare and durable medical equipment, compression hosiery, etc. Consider other categories like gift items and convenience services like bill payments

2. Increase traffic with events.Community health-promotion events, such as cholesterol screenings and flu shots, are a powerful way to build a reputation for caring service while drawing regular and new customers into your store.
   
   
3. Focus on unique products. Is your pharmacy the only place in town for a particular product or service? If so, target people who need it. For example, one pharmacy developed a lucrative business in selling uniforms for healthcare providers.
   
   
4. Expand your base by attracting new customers. Consider groups that would complement your current customer base. Focus on identifying groups of people in your community, such as new mothers and empty nesters, that require a higher level of personalized care.
   
   
   
   

Match the  New Patient Profile to a Marketing Activity
List the categories of new patients that you would like to attract and how you might reach them through your current or new marketing activities.