Looking for Cash Patients? ​Add Pet Wellness

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:22:12

Samantha Pomeroy

Hello, everyone, And thank you for joining us today and our discussion about how to find those cash paying patients by adding pet wellness to your pharmacy. My name is Samantha Pomeroy and I am the director of pharmacy services here at Independent Pharmacy Cooperative. And today we have pharmacist Kendrick Smith with us. He is also the owner of Breed Wise Pet Provisions.

00:00:22:12 – 00:00:24:10

Kendrick Smith

Samantha Thank you for having me.

00:00:24:13 – 00:00:48:05

Samantha Pomeroy

Kendrick Here at IPC, we are always looking for ways to help our members bring in additional revenue streams and really grow their cash business. That’s so important. And we’re approaching a new year. You know, 2024 is just around the corner now, and many of our members are really looking for new opportunities and the pet business really seems to be booming.

00:00:48:06 – 00:01:06:05

Samantha Pomeroy

So one of the reasons I wanted to bring you in on on our discussion today is because you are a pharmacist and you worked behind the counter for many years and you too have looked for additional ways to to add add that revenue and cash business. And you really know the struggles that we’re having right now in our industry.

00:01:06:05 – 00:01:13:11

Samantha Pomeroy

So why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started in the pet space And and why.

00:01:13:13 – 00:01:38:13

Kendrick Smith

I grew up in Independent Pharmacy, and in 2017 I had the opportunity to buy a compounding pharmacy focused on men’s health. Women’s health ophthalmic supplements and veterinary health. Out of these, the fastest growing category was veterinary compounds. But there was only so much I could do to get new prescriptions. I wanted to be proactive. I didn’t want to wait on the prescription referrals.

00:01:38:15 – 00:01:56:07

Kendrick Smith

So I looked at over-the-counter non prescription ways to grow the business. I looked at my human supplement sales. This was a large category and several times a day I was already recommending supplements to human customers. I realized this was the opportune area for me to be proactive about pet health as well.

00:01:56:07 – 00:01:59:08

Kendrick Smith

Things I like about the supplement category.

00:01:59:10 – 00:02:16:07

Kendrick Smith

I don’t have to wait on a prescription. It’s a cash sale. I can advertise it on social media and my pharmacy website and then it build relationships with my human customers to show attention and focus on pet health. And seeing this opportunity I came up with the name Breedwise, Breedwise

00:02:16:07 – 00:02:33:01

Kendrick Smith

Breed wise would be how I communicate my pharmacy is devoted to pet health. As pet sales continued to grow, I thought other pharmacies might want to show their devotion to pet health as well. I’ve been in a lot of pharmacies over the years. I don’t remember any that had a significant pet section.

00:02:33:01 – 00:02:39:10

Kendrick Smith

I want to take my story of successfully growing my pet health over the counter and help other pharmacies do the same.

00:02:39:11 – 00:02:44:07

Kendrick Smith

Retail pharmacies are perfectly positioned to serve the growing needs of dog owners.

00:02:44:11 – 00:03:07:12

Samantha Pomeroy

I do agree and, you know, having built this line of pet products and really been successful catering to your to your dog patients in the pharmacy setting, how do you feel is best poised to offer some of these services? Can you give our members a few things to look for in their business to know if this would be a good opportunity for them?

00:03:07:13 – 00:03:23:13

Kendrick Smith

The things I’ve noticed over the last couple of years in pharmacies who’ve done well in the Breedwise program, typically they’re in the urban or suburban areas. They’ve got a frontend focus. They have a knowledge and competence of supplements. Many of them compound for pets already.

00:03:23:13 – 00:03:27:01

Kendrick Smith

And I found that a bonus is to have a drive through.

00:03:27:12 – 00:03:42:01

Samantha Pomeroy

I would agree. But the everyone always notices the dogs that are out there or the pets that the drive through. We all walk over to the drive thru just to see the pet. So good job noticing that you have an additional pace it patient out there in the car.

00:03:42:03 – 00:04:04:15

Kendrick Smith

Yeah whether it’s at the drive thru window at the point of sale or in the supplement aisle and talking with customers. I’ve noticed the top pain points of pet owners are anxiety to it. Health, skin and coat issues and dental health. So we build over-the-counter products aimed at those for pain points, the top pain point and our top selling product, our calming by soft chews.

00:04:05:00 – 00:04:08:10

Kendrick Smith

You’ll notice many of the ingredients we have for calming a dog or

00:04:08:10 – 00:04:15:09

Kendrick Smith

l-theanine and camomile and valerian root are aimed at relaxation and promoting calmness in the brain,

00:04:15:09 – 00:04:30:05

Kendrick Smith

along with chicory ginger chamomile that promote a secondary function on gut health and calming the stomach together. These five ingredients fit into a tasty, bone shaped treat. It’s easy to carry and give to your dog as needed throughout the day.

00:04:30:08 – 00:04:55:03

Kendrick Smith

Our other soft chew for dogs is aimed at older dogs, or, as I like to say, any dog that seven years or older will benefit from previous mobility. But mobility is aimed at the pain point of joint health. And again, you’ll recognize these ingredients in the products you already carry and recommend for humans on your supplement aisle Breedwise mobility bites are packed with premium ingredients and a formulation unrivaled by competitors.

00:04:55:04 – 00:05:00:09

Kendrick Smith

And again, these are in a tasty treat to make it a positive experience for the dog and the pet owner.

00:05:00:09 – 00:05:03:08

Kendrick Smith

And as we continue our conversations at the drive thru window,

00:05:03:08 – 00:05:21:01

Kendrick Smith

the point of sale and sudden it’s not uncommon. We hear about a third and fourth biggest bank which dental health and skin and coat issues. Three wise dental wipes have a great many fragrance and is built with solid ingredients to help keep your dog’s teeth clean and its breath smelling fresh.

00:05:21:01 – 00:05:39:06

Kendrick Smith

As for skin and coat, who doesn’t want their dog to smell better? Reba’s dog, body spray, or as I call it more and more. Reba’s pet perfume has a great scent of sweet pea vanilla plus ingredients that are healthy for coat and skin. And most importantly, I’m not met anyone who doesn’t like the fragrance of Sweet pea vanilla.

00:05:40:01 – 00:05:50:12

Samantha Pomeroy

Kendrick, can you tell us that you had you had shared this with me on on another call, but when you created the dental wipes, how did that come about? I love this story.

00:05:50:13 – 00:06:14:10

Kendrick Smith

Let’s see, probably at a drive thru window experience and I’m talking to a customer and I notice they have a dog and they’re out. I actually think about giving them a calming bite or mobility bite, but the customer actually mentioned how bad their dogs breath smelling and I thought, there’s my moment to connect with them and share with them a different product.

00:06:14:13 – 00:06:26:10

Kendrick Smith

Really hadn’t thought of of selling dental wipes through the drive thru window but that that interaction and that conversation led to me, you know, identifying the pain point that we had a solution for.

00:06:26:11 – 00:06:50:09

Samantha Pomeroy

Absolutely. The dog sitting there usually beside the owner, their heads right here, beside their face in the car, you know, looking at front for a treat. You got that bad breath. So that that’s great. You also have some really wonderful packaging and handy ways to kind of carry around the treats and stuff. So tell us a little bit about that, the tins here.

00:06:50:11 – 00:07:06:13

Kendrick Smith

Yes, we always try to think of the customer needs and our calming jars and all the competitor’s jars come in larger things that are a little bit cumbersome to carry around. So what are ways we can get in front of that and and make it more convenient to be on the go

00:07:06:13 – 00:07:10:08

Kendrick Smith

with your pet, especially if you’re at your side in your car.

00:07:10:09 – 00:07:21:04

Kendrick Smith

You know, it’s great to have something that you you can easily carry around, especially if you go to the park or anywhere like that. You can carry these conveniently in your pocket

00:07:21:04 – 00:07:29:00

Kendrick Smith

or just easily anywhere in your purse, anything like that makes it much more simple to to make it accessible.

00:07:29:02 – 00:07:30:06

Samantha Pomeroy

Absolutely.

00:07:30:06 – 00:07:44:06

Samantha Pomeroy

So can you tell us for our members that that might want to start a pet program or maybe they want to bring breed wise, you know, into their pharmacy? What are some steps that they can take to be successful.

00:07:44:13 – 00:07:54:00

Kendrick Smith

As we put it all together? My goal, like IPC’s goal, is for pharmacies to attract new customers and bring in more sales over the counter from your current customers.

00:07:54:00 – 00:08:07:04

Kendrick Smith

The whole staff can participate. I think that’s a big part of it as far as getting everyone connected and having conversations about these these pets that connect us and make our lives better.

00:08:07:05 – 00:08:26:15

Kendrick Smith

So of course we can do that through social media, We can do that through signage, but it’s mainly interactions with our customers at the drive thru at the point of sale. And the supplement isle additional things we can do with bag stuffers or sample program. But again, it’s that independent pharmacy touch that makes the difference.

00:08:27:01 – 00:08:32:11

Samantha Pomeroy

Absolutely. And the social media support that you were talking about, you know, receiving

00:08:32:11 – 00:08:52:06

Samantha Pomeroy

customized ads, all of that that’s wonderful that that, you know, that’s available. And for me, my time on social media, some of the most watched content is is animal content dogs. You know who doesn’t love to love a dog picture on social media. So, you know that’s a great way to to advertise.

00:08:52:06 – 00:09:10:13

Samantha Pomeroy

You’ve got wonderful, you know, in-store signage that you provide and ways to kind of display things in promotional materials. And then the point of sale display, I think is just modern. Your packaging is wonderful and you can kind of set it, set it right there

00:09:10:13 – 00:09:16:03

Samantha Pomeroy

beside the cash register and, you know, it looks great. So great job.

00:09:16:04 – 00:09:24:13

Samantha Pomeroy

Great job here for sure. So can you tell us a little bit about the offer that you have for IPC affiliated pharmacies

00:09:24:13 – 00:09:27:03

Samantha Pomeroy

and how they can how they can order?

00:09:27:04 – 00:09:57:05

Kendrick Smith

Well, IPC pharmacies certainly have that independent pharmacy touch that’s so important. So I’m just organizing that in a manner that’s can easily fit into any pharmacy, whether that be like we saw some examples of of a small order that that could sit at the at the pharmacy counter or counter or we can have an entire display that could be a great end cap or like this a dedicated pet section in a store.

00:09:57:05 – 00:10:25:08

Kendrick Smith

So with IPC we’re offering members 10% off in other types of promotions that they’re happy to ask me about and I’m happy to share as far as other programs and promotions and really other other other kits that we can, you know, can bundle things together and make things really work for their store. But overall, this this display is about an

00:10:25:08 – 00:10:27:14

Kendrick Smith

1150 typical.

00:10:28:00 – 00:10:39:14

Kendrick Smith

Typically when the pharmacy would buy this. But we have a discount with IPC that helps helps get a little bit more of an incentive to get started in the store.

00:10:39:15 – 00:10:52:13

Samantha Pomeroy

Thank you for doing that for us. And Breedwise has created a landing page specifically for IPC affiliated pharmacies. It’s linked here, so you can just click on that to get some more information and to get started.

00:10:52:13 – 00:11:18:06

Samantha Pomeroy

I really love this be the go to place for people and pets. Kendrick thank you so much for for chatting with me today and really being a wonderful resource, you know, for IPC and for our members and and a great example of a pharmacy owner that that’s on in his store, a love for patients both human and and pet patients.

00:11:18:07 – 00:11:39:10

Samantha Pomeroy

And they set out to take care of those needs as well as bring in some additional cash into your business. So really appreciate you talking to us today about breed wise and not just about breed wise, but about how we can take know opportunities that we see in the pharmacy and really kind of expand our cash business, which is so important today.

00:11:39:10 – 00:11:54:01

Samantha Pomeroy

So thank you all for joining us today. We really appreciate it. Kendrick and I both have our contacts and emails here on this slide for us if you need to reach out for any reason and we appreciate your time today. Thank you.

00:11:54:02 – 00:11:56:06

Kendrick Smith

Thank you.