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The Truth About Client Service

Katherine Dobbs, RVT, CVPM, PHR

Last Friday, I attended a workshop at our local human association on compassion stress. During the workshop, there was a point made that I found applicable to veterinary practice as well. Basically, if we don’t provide quality client service, we won’t be able to help the animals that we feel compelled to help.
 
In the shelter environment, this concept was presented in the scenario of the admission process, when families are giving up their pets for adoption. If the employees of the shelter prejudge these families and already determine that they are “bad” for surrendering their animals, this will be evident in the level of respect they show during the admission procedure, which could be no respect at all.

If that happens, the clients may not feel comfortable giving all the information about their pets, which could lead to a more difficult time re-homing those animals. A person might even lie altogether, and say they found the pet as a stray and know nothing about the animal. This would be a disservice to all involved, especially the pet, because information is crucial for potential new owners to consider when choosing the animal’s next “forever home.”

In veterinary practice, the same concept applies. If we walk up to a client with any sort of negative prejudgment—the pet owners must not have any money based on how they look, the pet owners don’t care about their pets based on how the pets look, and more—we may exude an air of superiority that causes pet owners to hold back on what they know, and don’t know, about a pet’s condition.

If they feel you will look down on them if they have forgotten heartworm prevention, they may not admit it and then the practice doesn’t know to be on the lookout for a positive test result. A pet owner may skew the symptoms or nature of the pet’s health, or how long a pet has been sick, worried about our opinion. If we prejudge their ability to pay, we may not offer the top-of-the-line choice of care, which would adversely affect the pet.

The truth is, most of us came into this profession for the animals, and our desire to help them live better lives. But the other truth is, there is a person at the other end of that leash, and how we treat that person can directly affect the quality of life for that pet. This not only includes the time spent in the veterinary practice where you have direct contact, but also the time in between visits when the pet’s health is monitored at home. Keep an open mind, and an open heart, for those who seek your help…in the end the pet wins the most!

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The Truth About Client Service

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