In the competitive world of healthcare retail, pharmacies across Europe face the challenge of maintaining operational efficiency while delivering truly human-centered experiences.
For Pharmacies BENU, one of Switzerland’s largest pharmacy networks and part of the Phoenix Pharma Group, this was the challenge: to redefine service excellence through people.
Mag summary
- From sales resistance to Trusted Advisor: a human-centered pivot
- The solution: a scaffolded Blended Learning Journey
- The rollout of a multilingual learning initiative: globally consistent, locally relevant
- The facilitation team makes a difference
- Measurable success: results that go beyond metrics
- A flagship for future learning
Faced with a critical shortage of pharmacy professionals and rising customer expectations for empathetic, personalized care, BENU knew that its transformation had to start with the frontline.
The goal? Not just more knowledge — but a shift in identity: from transactional dispensers of care to trusted advisors who build real human connection.
From sales resistance to Trusted Advisor: a human-centered pivot
BENU initially explored traditional sales coaching models. But they hit a wall: their pharmacy staff resisted “sales training” — not out of unwillingness, but because it clashed with their purpose. They saw themselves as healthcare providers, not sellers.
The company listened.
That insight gave rise to the Trusted Advisor Blended Learning experience, co-designed with Cegos Swiss. Rooted in the reality of the pharmacy floor, it was built to empower teams — not by imposing scripts or selling techniques, but by unlocking their empathy, communication skills, and sense of mission.
Employees felt listened to — and they embarked on the journey.
“It’s not about selling. It’s about becoming a better version of myself. The company showed me that it believes in our value as people.”
(from a learner feedback form)
The solution: a scaffolded Blended Learning Journey
The design of the learning experience was built with and for the learners, using an agile process. Rather than imposing a top-down solution, the learning team engaged directly with pharmacists, assistants, and managers across Switzerland. Interviews, on-site visits, and even mystery shopper exercises were conducted to understand both staff and customer perspectives, challenges, and expectations.
This process was critical — not only to bring real-life insights into the learning content, but also to demonstrate openness and build trust, increasing learner adoption from the very beginning.
From these insights, the learning team shaped the journey around three core learning moments:
- The Trusted Advisor Role: establishing a shared understanding of identity and purpose. This moment built the foundation by valuing their strengths and leveraging their purpose as a platform for growth.
- Key Moments of the Customer Journey: building consistency across pharmacies and turning each interaction into a meaningful experience.
- The Art of Advising: bringing it all to life in real-world scenarios, embedding service excellence into daily practice.
Two core learning principles guided the learning design:
Scaffolding Learning
Guiding learners step-by-step from awareness to skills to performance, supported by structured practice, facilitated on-the-job application, and peer coaching support. This empowered learners and increased ownership of learning outcomes.
Spaced Learning
Spreading learning moments over time and creating consistent learning routines. This allowed experimentation, reflection, and feedback — helping learners progressively integrate new habits.
The rollout of a multilingual learning initiative: globally consistent, locally relevant
In Switzerland’s culturally diverse environment, localization was non-negotiable. The Trusted Advisor Learning Journey was fully localized in French, German, and Italian — ensuring inclusion and contextual relevance.
To deliver a consistent experience, the Cegos LearningHub served as the digital backbone, providing multilingual content access, communication, tracking, and guidance across all regions.
The blended learning experience included:
- Virtual kick-off workshops: launching the journey with clarity on purpose, content, and outcomes while connecting learners across locations.
- In-person experiential workshops: enabling self-reflection, real plays, and lots of practice.
- Self-paced digital learning: eLearning modules, interactive videos, curated content — enabling learners to personalize and deepen their experience.
- On-the-job challenges: weekly workplace assignments that turned learning into behavioural change.
- Peer coaching system: structured, facilitated support for mutual feedback and accountability.
- Action planning: 7-30-60-90-day frameworks for sustainable learning transfer and impact.
This purposeful combination of learning moments, modalities, and spaces maximized relevance and impact.
The facilitation team makes a difference
One of the most cited success factors by learners was the quality of facilitation.
Cegos Swiss curated a team of experienced facilitators combining expertise in customer service, knowledge of pharmacy culture, and mastery of facilitative learning.
Through a rigorous Train-the-Trainer certification process, facilitators were equipped to create safe and empowering learning spaces — where real transformation could take place.
Measurable success: results that go beyond metrics
The impact of the Trusted Advisor learning experience was not simply measured by participation, but by the outcomes it generated — both quantitative and qualitative.
- 96% completion rate of the full journey, including workshops, action plans, and assessments
- Skill and confidence growth measured via Profiler assessments
- Sustained engagement through continued digital platform use and peer coaching activity
- Cultural shifts observed through stronger team alignment and a shared vocabulary of service excellence
Learners reported immediate application of new practices — from creating memorable moments at the counter to reframing their professional identity. Many expressed renewed pride in their role and deeper loyalty to the company.
A flagship for future learning
Today, the Trusted Advisor Blended Learning Journey is a strategic pillar in Pharmacies BENU’s transformation roadmap.
It’s more than a learning initiative — it’s a blueprint for cultural evolution, activating purpose, confidence, and service excellence across the network.
Co-designed. Multilingual. Behaviourally anchored. Proudly awarded a Silver Brandon Hall Award for Best Use of a Blended Learning Programme.
If you’d like to explore how Cegos can help you build transformational learning experiences, we’d love to hear from you.
