Key Question:
A: Technology has its biggest impact at two specific times in the sales cycle: the customer order point and the delivery point. Make a list or draw a flowchart of what a customer does in placing an order with your business. This is a customer who has already made the buy decision, and knows what (s)he wants.
How arduous is the process? How long does it take? Can you make it easier and/or faster with an automated phone order system or a website allowing for online ordering? If so, what would be the cost and the anticipated benefit? What are your competitors doing? Work through this analysis for both the sales order process and your service delivery model and then act on the results of your analysis. Technology is here to stay. You don't have to be the first to "cross the chasm" but it will probably hurt your business to be the last. Careful analysis and evaluation of alternatives will position you well in maintaining or improving your competitive advantage through the use of technology.
Think about it
What should be your next technology implemention?
Clip from: Navarro Discount Pharmacies
Miami: In this city, a destination for new Spanish-speaking Americans, finding somebody who understands you, knows and feels your pain, is a seismic relief. With a profound empathy, this family's business is committed to service and to solving very big problems for their customers.
With an abiding willingness-to-serve, this family's business is one of the most profitable per square foot of any retail store in the USA. When we taped this story there were 12 locations generating $160 million in annual sales and jobs for nearly 600.
So many new medicines are announced every day, it is almost impossible for anyone to keep up. But, those new Americans with a limited command of English, and our elders who are taking multiple medicines, have special challenges.
This family has always been committed to serving their customers. Eighteen-hour days, seven-days-a-week -- whatever it took to get the job done and keep their customers in good health -- these people have done it.
In the process, they have created a first-class business.
Opened in the United States in 1961, the two sons became pharmacists; and today, with 600+ employees, they have become the most productive pharmacy per square foot in the USA and they are a force for good that is helping to reshape Miami as a world-class community.
A classic family business, three generations of compassionate people are involved at every level of the operations.
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Navarro Discount Pharmacies
Jose Navarro, CEO
5959 NW 37th Ave
Miami, FL 33142
305-633-3000
Visit our web site: http://www.navarropharmacies.com
Office: 305-633-3000
Business Classification:
Retail, Pharmacy
Year Founded: 1961
Use Technology To Dazzle Customers
HATTIE: (Voiceover) Sergio Campo is using technology to bring Navarro to the world.
SERGIO CAMPO: There's two ways of communicating with the pharmacy. One is with our interactive voice response system, which will--which integrates to our RS6000, our host system, on to each one of the pharmacy systems.
So the actual customer can call the store, and is prompted by this interactive voice response system and their order gets placed. Refills, new orders. Even the pharmacy assistant can call the doctor for you if you get--if you run out of refills. The same service is offered to the Internet. If through the Internet you actually request a prescription, it basically goes into the same field queue integrated in all the stores. It goes from our main system that holds the Internet application or the Internet program and actually communicates automatically to each particular store where your client profile sits. Or you can actually request to pick up their order at the store level.
HATTIE: OK. Or you can mail it to me, or whatever?
SERGIO: Or we can put it on--or we can put it in the mail for you.
HATTIE (In the Studio) : If you don't have regard, respect, admiration and appreciation for your customers, you'll never build the kind of loyalty we see from the customers of Navarro Pharmacies.
