Outstanding customer experiences are undeniably important. A business that outshines the competition can expect higher revenue, repeat traffic, and more referrals through word of mouth. Just to name a few. (25 Must-Know Customer Experience Statistics [2023]: The Benefits Of A Positive Customer Experience - Zippia)
There are many different factors that influence and impact the customer experience. They span much further than traditional concepts of customer service. From perception and ease of accessing information before the customer ever interacts with your team, all the way to how they feel following or in-between interactions.
For every different facet of the customer experience, there are multiple ways to make it amazing. And lots of different tools to help you along the way. One such tool is point-of-sale, which can help you in every stage of the customer experience. Before they walk into the store, during their shopping experience, and between visits. Here’s how.
Awareness & Accessibility
The customer experience often starts with awareness. Initial awareness might come from word of mouth, from driving by your store, from social media or your website. Or it could start with a need. Specifically, a need for items that your store carries. This is where your point-of-sale system can play a big role. Both in making potential customers aware of your store & products, and in making it crazy-easy to find and access them. Point-of-sale systems that integrate with Pointy from Google can keep real time accurate information about the products you have in stock up to date on Google. Automatically uploading product, pricing and stock information so that people searching for products and services in their area will find your store. Paired with your Google My Business Account, this can be a powerful tool. What’s better than needing something, doing a quick internet search, and finding it at a local store?
In-Store Experience (Or Delivery!)
During a customer's visit to your pharmacy, your point-of-sale system has 1 super important job. To make the interaction crazy easy. This is 1 big job that has a bunch of supporting factors. Like pricing in the system that matches what’s on the shelves and inventory that’s well stocked because you replenish as you sell or order based on min/max quantities. Perception also matters. A clean, clutter-free front counter is important, and your point-of-sale system should reflect a clean, modern aesthetic. And your point-of-sale system should contribute to a fast checkout process, wherever that checkout process needs to be. It might be at the front counter, it might be in the aisles, or in a counselling area. Or it could be curbside or at the patients front door. Wherever you’re serving your customers, the point-of-sale process should be intuitive for staff and for customers and help you keep wait times down.
Stickiness
The customer experience doesn’t end when your interaction is complete. At least it shouldn’t if you’ve done enough to create value and nurture a non-transactional relationship. Your goal is to create a relationship that keeps patients coming back, because you’re offering so many things they can’t get anywhere else. Again, the point-of-sale system can help. Processes and programs executed during an in-store visit can create a lasting impression afterwards. For example, nutrient depletion triggered supplement recommendations made at the register can help patients with overall wellness, and keep them coming back to your pharmacy for that program, product, and expertise. If you offer a customer loyalty program, printing coupons for future visits right on the receipt can incentivize repeat future business. And something as simple as making sure they got every prescription they needed because prescriptions were bagged together for easy checkout might not make the short list for a lasting good impression, but it will prevent a negative one.
While point-of-sale isn’t a necessity to accomplish all these things, the right system, used to its full potential makes cultivating a standout customer experience so much easier, leaving you and your team to focus on great patient care and customer service.
