5 Ways to Recognize a good Pharmaceutical Distributor
Whenever you’re shopping for a distributor in ANY industry, knowing what to look for is key. We can definitely help with that. Pharmaceutical distributors in particular act as the vital link between the manufacturer and the pharmacy, hospital, clinic, or dispensing physician. According to the Healthcare Distribution Alliance more than 22,000 independent pharmacies count on their services every day nationwide.
Drug Topics wrote,
“The reciprocal business relationship between pharmaceutical distributors and the independent pharmacists they serve is a great resource in an industry that grows in complexity with each passing year.
Distributors should be expected to do their due diligence to ensure that their inventory is safe and that the services they provide will help pharmacies better provide for their patients. At the same time, it’s incumbent upon the pharmacist to ensure that they’re working with a partner that’s fully compliant with all industry laws and regulations.”
Availability and Accessibility
The ideal pharmaceutical distributor is a firm you can contact easily with clear expectations of business hours and response times. That’s not just good business sense, but it also allows customers to know that urgent orders will be treated with urgency. It is only with open communications channels and reliable partnerships that you are empowered to bring any issues that need addressing to your distributors attention. Indeed, having these problems corrected in a timely fashion can quite literally be a matter of life or death.
Reasonable Rates
In the business world you need to make sure that your bottom line makes sense! You can provide the best customer service the world’s ever seen, but if you aren’t profitable, you’re not going to be in business long enough for the customers to appreciate it! That’s the reason why everything that your pharmacy distributor offers, like low prices, sufficient volume and even loyalty rewards are a high priority. Your distributor should want to grow WITH your business, not grow off the back of it.
Production Capabilities
Most distributors understand the necessity of looking for suppliers who can actually manufacture the product they need. In fact, many pharmaceutical distributors focus so much on production capabilities of a prospective supplier that they overlook other vital considerations.
But vetting out a supplier’s production capabilities is harder than simply talking to supplier representative you found on LinkedIn. A quality supplier should be able to consistently manufacture a product that meets your requirements and have the receipts to prove it.
Good Customer Service
One of the most important qualities of reliable pharmaceutical distributors that define the retailer’s character is great customer service. A pharmaceutical distributor who understands the customer’s requirements clearly says that he will be the best pharmaceutical distributor. Satisfied customer service offers you the highest level of customer satisfaction, satisfaction, and fulfillment.
A Solid Pharmaceutical Distributor has Deep Roots and Legitimate Connections
The fact that a distributor supplies valid, known drug brands does not grant a business it’s legitimacy. It’s not possible to tell the legitimacy factors by googling a distributor’s business licenses or trusting a BBB review. This is something that you can establish by conducting background checks, consulting friendly peers in the market or reliable industry publications. Avoid distributors who have had their reputations damaged by negligence or malfeasance in the past but remember controversy isn’t always the enemy. How a company responds to an issue is just as important as avoiding issues in the first place. We’re all human, it’s crucial to know who you can count on when the chips are down.
The firm you choose to use should have an honorable record, the right equipment, and the right people. Above all, they should be real human beings, not driven exclusively by profit to the detriment of all else.
In Summary
The importance of working with the right pharmaceutical distributor for hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and physicians cannot be overstated. In the recovering economy as COVID19 lockdowns ease and as states lift mask mandates and restrictions ramping a practice back up to nominal operations is a race against time for survival. Too many old and venerable businesses and practices have shuddered their doors for the last time in the last year or so. Don’t let yours be counted among them, instead: know the qualities you need in a distribution partner, make informed decisions, adapt, overcome, grow and survive.
Apotheca Wholesale Pharmaceuticals is well equipped and ideally suited to help your business wade through the uncertain changes that 2021 will bring. We have all of the qualities you’re looking for in a Pharmaceutical distributor and we’re in this together.
Contact us today at Customerservice@apothecainc.com or call us at 602-252-5244.