How to Increase CBD Sales at Your Independent Pharmacy

Have you sat on the sidelines selling cannabidiol (CBD) products at your pharmacy? Or maybe you’ve taken action and ordered products that are really good at dust-binding. No matter where you are in your CBD journey, read on for tips on how to prepare your dispensary to sell these products, help patients, and increase profits.

Sold sexy

Patients pay for the items they want. While it seems logical that they should only pay for things they need, our brains don’t work that way. As a pharmacy owner, your job is to make patients want the products you offer. And you can convince them much more easily if you offer unique or exciting products.

You may think that all CBD products appear the same. So how can you offer something unique? Often it is how you present the products to your patients. Do you have exciting signage or pocket fillers? How about an enthusiastic staff member who can engage your customers in conversation about CBD? These marketing efforts alone can make a huge difference.

A quality product from a great company is a must. When speaking to potential suppliers of CBD products, ask what makes them special. Don’t just accept the typical answers of quality and compliance with minimum legal standards. These features should be self-evident and are not remarkable. What else do they offer?

Regardless of which CBD products and companies you choose, make sure they have an exciting, sexy hook that will make them easier to promote to your patients.

focus first

CBD is a clinically exciting product. It shows promise in many areas of medicine and has the potential to improve patients’ quality of life. Current and upcoming research is exciting but can easily become overwhelming.

Instead of creating a long list of ailments that CBD can treat, focus on just one area for initial improvement first, such as: B. sleep. Poor sleep affects a large segment of the population; This unfortunate fact means that as a pharmacist you have the opportunity to help many people in your community.

What does this focus look like? Make sure your signage, staff, social media posts, and other marketing efforts focus on the single benefit (e.g., improved sleep). When your community and patients see that you are focused on a problem, they will feel more comfortable coming to you with a request for a solution. People don’t like being sold to them, but they like being educated. Share sleep stats or healthy sleep habits; Show how much you know about their problem, then invite them to come by to evaluate the solutions you offer.

In addition, focusing on one topic also attracts those interested in other topics. If you keep talking about sleep, at some point you will be asked if a certain solution can also help with pain. Focusing helps the outside world see you as an expert. In addition, people feel comfortable when they come to you with other needs.

Activity creates profit

OTC products don’t just fly off the shelves by themselves. In order to increase CBD sales, all of your staff must actively participate. Have a team motto: “No opportunity is left behind.” Work on creating a habit so your employees look for the right opportunity to bring up your focused solution.

Communicate the “every patient, every visit” concept to your staff. We should offer solutions in every encounter. Someone always needs something. It could be lip balm or this CBD sleep solution. You’ll never know if you’re not actively engaging with your customers at every opportunity.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Do you offer unique dosage forms (vaginal, bath bombs, shampoo)?
• Do you have a pharmacy guarantee?
• Do you have a patient guarantee?
• Have you conducted clinical trials with your specific formula?
• How much and what kind of marketing or sales support do you offer?
• Do you sell direct to consumer or on Amazon or other sites?
• Are you familiar with the various state laws? (Pro tip: It’s a red flag when they automatically say, “We’re legal everywhere.”)
• What type of educational support do you offer to pharmacy staff?
• How is your CBD sourced and where from?
• Does it come from licensed industrial hemp farms?
• Are the plants ever “hot” (ie above the allowable limit for tetrahydrocannabinol)?