Personal Selling as a Form of Marketing Communication in the Public Institution Pharmacy

In addition to medicines, pharmacies also market other ** products** that fall into the category of ** cosmetic** ** products, ** dietary ** supplements** and ** medical** ** devices. Proper counselling about them requires additional knowledge, which pharmacists acquire through training during the work process. For the sale to proceed well and for both parties to be satisfied at the end of the sales process depends on many factors. On the topic of ** marketing communication in the implementation of personal selling in the public institution of pharmacies, a ** customer satisfaction survey** was conducted. The obtained results were analysed in detail and it can be stated that users are very satisfied with the services and counselling as well as the products offered, and that there is a strong connection between customer satisfaction and the correct sales approach using successful marketing communication.

Problem

In addition to medicines, pharmacies also market other ** products** that fall into the category of ** cosmetic** ** products, ** dietary ** supplements** and ** medical** ** devices**. Proper counselling about them requires additional knowledge, which pharmacists acquire through training during the work process. The same applies to sales.

During their education, sales methods and sales approaches are hardly mentioned at all, as the primary ** task** and ** mission** of ** pharmacists** is ** counselling**. Thus, the approach to the customer and marketing communication are left to the individual approach of each person. Personal selling thus gains importance, because in the flood of products it is very difficult to choose the one that would be most suitable for alleviating problems.

The qualities that a pharmacist must have are ** self-confidence, ** individuality, ** empathy** and ** eagerness to learn**.

Solution and Method

For the sale to proceed well and for both parties to be satisfied at the end of the sales process depends on many factors. These are just some of them. Public pharmacy institutions in Slovenia generate almost 20% of their total annual revenue from the sale of goods and services on the market, whilst the remaining 80% comes from the provision of public services, where the payer is the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia.

The Slovenian market is amongst the smaller ones in Central and Eastern Europe, but is at the same time the most developed. In the diploma thesis, through research, they wanted to examine what influence proper communication has on sales ** success** and whether ** organisational** ** structure** influences different approaches to sales, which was verified through interviews amongst employees in a public institution and a private pharmacy institution.

Results

On the topic of marketing communication in the implementation of personal selling in the public institution of pharmacies, a ** customer satisfaction survey** was conducted. The obtained results were analysed in detail and it can be stated that users are very satisfied with the services and counselling as well as the products offered, and that there is a strong connection between customer satisfaction and the correct sales approach using successful marketing communication.