That “Good morning sir, welcome to our store, how can I help you today?”
Every Tom, Dick and Harry using the same standardized “script” when handling clients, from the moment they enter the pharmacy to the time they leave.
“Goodbye, thank you for choosing our pharmacy, wishing you a quick recovery!”
Sounds strange, right?
If I am the patient, I will probably start asking myself, “Why are they being too nice to me?” They must be hiding something…
“They probably overcharged me or sold me short-expiry products,” so you think.
Because that kind of eye contact and politeness is not what you are used to everywhere you shop, everything suddenly feels uncomfortable. So, when you get home, you carefully inspect the medicines looking for anything suspicious. You even call another pharmacy to countercheck the prices.
What do you find out?
The prices are within the same range as competitors, and the medicines have long expiries.
What a relief.
There was a time we received two interns at our community pharmacy. I was assigned to show them around, train them, and ensure they were comfortable handling clients. By then, I had gained substantial experience and had become quite good at it.
Three weeks into the training, I noticed something I thought was very strange:
The interns were talking and acting just like me.
It suddenly hit me that I had unknowingly developed certain “scripts” that had now become a standard for someone else. I had never imagined that.
Most interns, I later came to learn, tend to copy their trainer and do things exactly the way the trainer does.
However, I have always felt that this is not entirely right.
What if the trainer has bad habits that are easily passed down?
I prefer an intern who has their own mind. Someone who can perform tasks the way they are taught, while still asking questions and thinking independently when necessary.
Scripts are not bad. They just need to be flexible, team-based, and customer-focused rather than robotic.
I noticed how the two interns struggled to become “me,” and it felt awkward. No one wants to become something they are not.
My recommendation is that scripts should be personalized.
There is nothing wrong with having procedures or guidelines for answering phone calls and handling clients. In fact, this is very important because it creates consistency in several ways:
- Clients receive the same high-quality and accurate information no matter who serves them.
- Everyone understands the standard flow for common situations.
- Standardized phrasing reduces miscommunication.
- Empathetic responses make patients feel heard and cared for.
These gains are usually difficult to notice, especially for someone working behind the counter. That is why many pharmacy professionals fail to see the importance of improving their customer service skills.
Simply because there is no direct reward.
Let’s use the example of an athlete.
During training, athletes know that they are preparing to win a prize once they win the race. And if they lose, they miss out on the reward.
Because of this, they put maximum effort into training since victory comes with something tangible worth fighting for.
On the other hand, pharmacy professionals who prepare themselves to offer better customer experiences rarely receive instant rewards. This makes many of them less motivated to care about “soft skills.”
But that is not the whole story.
Overwhelming workloads, staff shortages, and burnout force many pharmacy professionals to focus on survival rather than demonstrating polished customer service skills.
The identity of the pharmacy profession is also heavily centered on clinical expertise rather than retail-style service that depends on repeated customer-centered scripting.
On top of that, constantly dealing with impatient, rude, or entitled customers leaves very little room for scripts, especially in stressful retail settings where long waiting times are caused by larger systemic problems.
The key issue here is staffing shortages, which are very common in the pharmacy profession. When this problem is ignored for too long, emotional detachment slowly develops. Once staff members are exhausted and disconnected, generalized customer service programs begin to feel meaningless and unrealistic.
In the end, pharmacy scripts are not really about sounding fake or overly polished. They are about creating structure, consistency, and professionalism in an environment that is often chaotic and emotionally draining.
A good script should not turn pharmacy professionals into robots. Instead, it should act as a guide that helps them communicate clearly while still allowing room for personality, empathy, and independent thinking.
Patients may forget the exact medicines they bought, but they rarely forget how they were treated.
And sometimes, a simple “How can I help you today?” delivered sincerely can matter more than we think.