Go into any shop on the high street and you may be surprised to see the way some businesses treat their customers. In some it is clear that customers are at the heart of their business, but in others you may be forgiven for thinking that customers are the last thing they really want to see.

You may have direct personal experience of this. Some businesses deal with their customers as if they were an inconvenience and life would be much better and simpler without them. The reality, however, is that without customers there are no sales for your pharmacy. Without sales there is no profit and, by definition, no business.

Finding new customers and retaining existing customers is one of the most important things you can do to ensure the long-term prosperity of your pharmacy. This section will help you with some simple common sense advice that we hope will act as an incentive and stimulus to you to commit to your customers – over and above everything else you do.

Whether you are a pharmacy manager in a small or large multiple, own your own pharmacy or are a locum pharmacist, you can take the concepts outlined in this section and apply them to your own situation. Remember: ‘If you don’t take care of your customers then someone else will.’