Pharmacy Pet Healthcare Training Programme

A fresh approach to Pet Medicines

Making the most of pharmacy pet healthcare

• How to have confident conversations with customers about pet medicines.• Learn to create a highly visual and interesting pet healthcare category.• How to maximise the opportunities available in pet health care.• How to make effective recommendations for FRONTLINE Spot On.• Win a trip to Rome!

In this interactive module:

Pharmacy Pet Healthcare Training Programme

Welcome to this second module in the series – looking at making the most of pet healthcare in the pharmacy. You spend much of your time helping your customers to stay healthy, or treating their illnesses, but what about their pets? Pet medicines can be an undervalued addition to the pharmacy offering, so why and how do we maximise it? With over half of UK households now owning more than one pet1 that is a large proportion of your

customers who could benefit from easy access to pet medicines in your pharmacy and your expertise in key pet healthcare areas. There is another module in this series, called ‘Managing fleas and ticks’. If you haven’t seen it and would like a copy, either visit our website at www.pharmacypethealth.co.uk or call our training helpline on 01284 718924.

WIN a trip to Rome!Accompanying this module are some ‘test your knowledge’ assessment cards.

All successful entries will be sent a certificate of achievement and entered into the draw to win one of three trips to Rome for 2 people plus 5 runner’s up prizes of a year’s supply of FRONTLINE Spot On for pharmacy staff (up to 2 pets).

For more assessment cards plus terms and conditions see our training website at www.pharmacypethealth.co.uk.

www.pharmacypethealth.co.uk Training helpline: 01284 718924

FRONTLINE Spot On kills fleas and

ticks on contact with the skin; it isn’t

carried in the pets’ bloodstream.

ActivityDo you feel confident in discussing fleas and ticks with your customers? Can you explain how pets get fleas and recommend the best treatment? Refer to the other module ‘Managing fleas and ticks’ to refresh your knowledge.

Pet healthcare presents a great opportunity for pharmacy: it’s convenient and accessible and pet owners can get expert advice from healthcare professionals and purchase appropriate treatments. You provide advice for your customers’ health needs, so why not for their pets?

Pharmacy can support the treatment and management of parasitic infections. • Ectoparasites live on the animal

e.g. fleas and ticks.• Endoparasites live in the animal

e.g. roundworms and tapeworms in the gut.

It’s an important public health issue: animals can carry parasites that affect humans, so by helping to keep our customers’ pets healthy we help protect human health too.

• Failing to deworm pets regularly is a risk to pet owners as humans can be an accidental or intermediate host for many worms, including Echinococcus spp.

• Not treating for fleas can lead to the home becoming infested and humans and pets being bitten.

• Ticks can carry Lyme disease, which affects both humans and animals.

The opportunity

NFA-VPS medicines (e.g. FRONTLINE Spot On) – these may be supplied by vets, pharmacists and suitably qualified persons. They do not require a clinical assessment or a prescription, but require the pharmacist to oversee the sale, products are not kept on open display – like the P medicine category for human medicines.

AVM-GSL medicines – these may be sold by any retailer with appropriate storage and handling requirements.

Did you know

So what products should we consider for the pet health category?

• Flea and tick management products, such as FRONTLINE Spot On.

• Products for roundworms and tapeworms.

• Products to control flea infestations in the home.

To help your customers find the products and drive awareness that you stock pet healthcare products, some visibility in the pharmacy is needed, for example:

• information leaflets

• window stickers

• posters

• display cards

• counter mat.

To build customer loyalty through the service you deliver, you need to be prepared to do more than just sell the products.

• Create a pet health category with flea and tick management, worming and similar products together.

• Position products on shelf behind the counter, visible enough to raise awareness of the category.

• Make use of shelf trays to support the products and make them easy to see.

• Include leaflets and navigation aids on the shelf.

The challenge

www.pharmacypethealth.co.uk Training helpline: 01284 718924

FRONTLINE is the world’s best selling animal health brand and 80% of pet owners know FRONTLINE

by name2.

Did you know

NFA-VPS pet medicines are not available for self-select but you can create an eye-catching pet healthcare category with:

• clip strips in store using product cards

• customer leaflets in the prescriptions collection area

• acrylic display units

• posters or display cards inviting customers to ask for information.

Order supporting point-of-sale material by calling 0870 6000 123.

The challenge is to help our customers see pharmacy as a place to go for their routine pet parasite treatments, so we need to make it obvious that it’s something that we offer.

ActivityFind out from your wholesalers what pet medicines are available and then decide which of these should be stocked in your pharmacy. Agree where would be the best places to display them – remember the packs should be behind the counter, so consider how to make the pet section visible.

Behind the counter

Away from the counter

Good customer service is about good communication, so be prepared to ask questions and listen to the answers. For example, if you find out that a customer has a cat, you could ask:

• How long have they had it?

• Where do they currently buy their pet medicines – if they buy any?

• Is the cat wormed and treated for fleas routinely – how often?

• Are they aware that you stock these types of products as part of your pet healthcare service?

• Is this something they would be interested in now, or in the future?

Consider the information you need to make a recommendation for a product to prevent flea infestation, think about the WWHAM questions we use for pharmacy medicines – we can use something similar for pet medicines too, such as:

And always ask if any other products are required, such as environmental sprays or worming tablets. As pets should be treated for fleas, ticks and worms on a routine basis, it’s worth making the customer aware of this. Most pet owners are happy to invest in their pet’s health and with good customer service, will hopefully return on a regular basis to your pharmacy for their pet health products.

And don’t forget... …you could be a winner too, with the competition for a trip to Rome courtesy of FRONTLINE Spot On. Just complete the assessment that came with this module and return it to the address on the card to be entered. All successfully completed forms will also receive a Certificate of Achievement to display and promote your pharmacy’s pet health services.

The pet health conversation

What type of animal is being treated?

Weight of each animal?

Health of each animal?

Age of each animal?

More advice required?

hugyourpet.co.ukhugyourpet.co.ukPOWERED BY

FRONTLINE Spot On – supporting pet health in pharmacy

You can view online versions of both

modules in this series plus complete

an interactive assessment sheet. Just

visit www.pharmacypethealth.co.uk

Did you knowActivityConsider the following situation: a customer asks you where he can find the products to get rid of fleas and ticks for his dog.

How would you deal with his request in such a way that you provide good customer service? Write down your thoughts. What materials would help?

TV campaign runs from May-September 2012. Full range of POS material available. Call 0870 6000 123.

A fun and engaging consumer website with lots of information on fleas, ticks and pet health.

FRONTLINE® Spot On contains fipronil NFA-VPS .®Registered Trademark. For further information contact Merial Animal Health Ltd, CM19 5TG, UK. ©Merial Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.

1. Mintel, March 2011 2. U&A Sept 2011 Ipsos Health.

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