How to Talk to Your Clients About EuthanasiaApril 19, 2016Not only is euthanasia one of the hardest conversations a veterinarian will have with their clients, it’s one of the most common. Most veterinarians will find themselves faced with helping clients determine whether euthanasia is their clients’ best option several times a week or even multiple times in any given day. While nothing will make that conversation easy, there are several steps veterinarians can take to ensure that making the decision to euthanize, and then dealing with the aftermath, are as easy as possible for the pets, the clients and themselves. Dr. Patrick Mahaney, a small animal veterinarian in the Los Angeles area, believes that for many of his clients, in-home euthanasia is best. But he stresses that even veterinarians in hospital settings can take steps to provide the same comforts to patients coming to the clinic. Take Plenty of Time Deciding to euthanize a beloved pet is never an easy decision, but often times it truly is the best or most humane option available to clients. Mahaney advocates for giving clients a quiet space where they will not be interrupted or …
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Clients Like to Travel? Why You Should Talk to Them About Pet-Friendly DestinationsApril 18, 2016Is your veterinary practice ready to educate clients about including their pet in a family vacation? They’ll appreciate your help with tips for planning ahead to get the most from the experience. Many of your clients reduce the number of trips they take because they worry about boarding their pet too often. That’s true even when an outstanding boarding facility is available. Of course, the quality and attitude of lodging businesses vary a lot. Your practice can become a hero by guiding them through steps they can take for locating places where their pet will be treated with love and respect. Don’t miss this opportunity to make clients know, like and trust your practice even more. How to Help Your Clients Plan Ahead Preparing to take your pet on vacation is not an overwhelming task. But there are several smart planning moves that can easily be overlooked. Here are a few things you can remind clients to do. ID your dog. That means microchipping and ID tag on a collar. Health status. Carry a written record of current examination, vaccinations and parasite preventatives. A list …
How Receptionists Can Market a Vet Practice and Improve Patient CareApril 15, 2016You want clients to experience five-star service so your veterinary hospital stands out from the ho-hum help they get elsewhere. Because receptionists start and finish every client interaction, they can significantly influence compliance and buying decisions. Receptionists should constantly reinforce your standards of care—they are not upselling pet owners on services or products they don’t need. Here are everyday tasks that can enhance patient care and get the cash register ringing. Improve Phone Greetings Your phone rings hundreds of times a day. Have the receptionist introduce a new service or promotion. For example, to encourage feline visits, your hospital earned certification from the American Association of Feline Practitioners as a Cat-Friendly Practice. Let every caller know about your initiative. Say, “Thank you for calling <your veterinary hospital>, where we are a certified Cat-Friendly Practice. This is <your name>. How may I help you?” The greeting created awareness for a client who called to schedule her dog’s checkup but then decided to also bring in a cat that hasn’t seen a veterinarian in two years. An adult cat owner spends $140 for an exam, three-year rabies vaccine, FVRCP vaccine, FeLV vaccine, intestinal parasite screen and heartworm test, …
AAHA Study: Culture Can Make or Break Veterinary Practice's SuccessApril 13, 2016The culture and relationships within a veterinary practice may have a significant impact on its overall success. That’s according to survey data that was revealed during the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) 2016 State of the Industry presentation. The AAHA 2016 State of the Industry, which was presented during the AAHA Austin 2016 Yearly Conference, examined data from a fall 2015 survey AAHA conducted with the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver that studied organizational culture in veterinary practices. AAHA Chief Executive Officer Mike Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (C/F) shared the survey results along with an update on economic data from IDEXX Laboratories. The culture study surveyed more than 1,000 veterinary hospitals to study the qualities of organizational culture in veterinary practices, evaluate the overall and specific subcultures in veterinary hospitals, and determine how culture affects veterinary practice metrics. Key findings of the culture survey include: Perceptions toward training and career development as well as staff relationships with veterinarians are positive. Perceptions toward institutional fairness and communication as well as rewards and recognition can be improved. Less positive perceptions of culture are held by employees with little decision making power …
7 Ways to Make Your Millennial Employees Happy in the Vet PracticeApril 11, 2016Reprinted with permission from Smart Flow Sheet. Many define the "Millennial Generation" as those who were born sometime in the 1980s through the 90s. This generation is used to instant results, changing technology and an attitude of working smarter, not harder. This generation is used to instant results, changing technology and an attitude of working smarter, not harder. In certain definitions, I find myself part of this generation although I do remember my childhood rotary dial phone, waiting for my favorite song to play on the radio so I could tape record it, researching papers using encyclopedias and using a pager. Most Millennials, however, do not know a world without text messages, Google, Facebook or Mp3 players. We're finding this generation taking over the population of many businesses, including the veterinary world. They have a bad rap for being lazy, but honestly they just work differently than Baby Boomers and Generation X. Here is how you can use them to your advantage: 1. Work Smarter, Not Harder. This could very well be the anthem for the Millennial generation. They are accustomed to a world of technology and it making their life a …
Two of My Employees Don’t Get Along With Each OtherApril 11, 2016I am the sole owner of a small practice and don’t have a practice manager. Two veterinary technicians on my team just don’t get along. One of them has been with us for about a year (“Lisa”), and the other about two months (“Jane”). Things were good in the beginning, and they got along very well. I think they quickly became friends out of work, but now they are not getting along. They say they are still friends, and I hear from other team members that they see each other outside work, but there has been a lot of tension between them at work and it’s affecting everyone. For example, Lisa will come to me with minor errors that Jane has made and vice versa. When I have approached Jane to give her feedback, she blamed Lisa and took the opportunity to vent to me about her work ethic and client service. Jane is also not happy about taking direction from Lisa, and she has complained about being delegated menial tasks or the manner in which Lisa speaks to her. I spoke to each team member about this individually …
4 Tips to Productive Meetings with Your Veterinary StaffApril 6, 2016Reprinted with permission from Smart Flow Sheet. If you've ever had to host a meeting, you understand how terrifying it can be. Will people show up? Will they listen? Does anybody care? Here are a few tips to keep people from mindlessly staring at their phones and engaged in your meeting. 1) Make Sure There is Food Nothing gets people more pumped up at meeting than food. The only downfall is that it can be somewhat distracting, but definitely not as distracting as a cell phone. 2) Keep the Conversation Moving Forward The best meetings run smoothly because there is an agenda, they are organized and it moves forward. If your meetings have a habit of getting off track, set a timer per topic and then move on. Make sure you have a form of accountability to keep you on track. 3. Come Armed with Possible Solutions to Your Concerns (Otherwise You Are Just Whining) In a meeting where you need to address some issues or negativity among your team, always bring a solution. It is great to make the team aware of issues, but make sure you include several solutions to turn …
Why Listening is an Important SkillApril 5, 2016When I was in the third grade my teacher wrote on my report card that I talked too much. I adopted that identity and became quite a “talker.” In fact, I enjoyed being an expert in various categories and loved talking about what I knew. I saw myself as an educator. It wasn’t until many years later when I took a course in listening that I learned that a) I didn’t have to do all the talking, b) I could learn a lot from others, c) listening really is a skill, d) listening opens others to listening and learning and e) this skill has the power to lead to deeper understanding and relationship building. The first time I tried this new skill, I met a little girl who told me that she was going to have her tonsils out. Before I took the course, I would have said, “Oh, that’s too bad,” or “Now you’ll get to have ice cream when you’re in the hospital.” Instead I said, “Oh, really?” She looked up at me and said hesitantly, “Yes, and I’m really scared.” Courtesy Lee Golpariani Anxious little girl: Dahlia Golpariani That was the evidence I needed that there …
Are Fear-Free Veterinary Practices Practical?April 4, 2016Jill Breitner, a professional dog trainer and author of the Dog Decoder app is telling pet owners that fear-free veterinary clinics as the "only way to go." In an article for our sister Dogster, Breitner recommends fear-free clinics because pets are "unnecessarily traumatized." As she writes: "What goes on behind closed doors in some veterinary practices is not a pleasant topic to talk about, yet it needs attention. It needs attention because of the lack of education most veterinarians and their staff have in how to read and handle signs of stress and fear in dogs. There are no required courses in veterinary school that teach body language, behavior, or safe handling of animals, so they are not to blame. With limited time to get the veterinary tasks done, our pets suffer needlessly. Thankfully, though, as we continue to be a more aware and educated society regarding our dogs, veterinarians are being called upon to learn better practices." The fear-free movement is a growing trend in the veterinary world, with veterinarians like Marty Becker, DVM, and
Veterinary SEO Quiz: How Do You Rank?March 30, 2016Are your clients finding what they need and want on your practice’s website? Is your site following basic search-engine best practices? How findable is your veterinary practice’s website for new and prospective clients? Test your knowledge with this quick and fun quiz! 1) How many pet owners who regularly visit the veterinarian also go online for more pet health information, either before or after their visit? 1 in 10 3 in 10 4 in 10 6 in 10 Answer: D, 6 in 10.1 According to a survey of more than 1,000 pet owners in the U.S. who regularly visit their veterinarian, 6 in 10 are researching their pet’s health online in addition to going to the veterinarian. 2) True or false: When I perform a search for my practice website or pet-health issues in Google, I’m seeing the same results my clients are. Answer: False. Google and other search engines provide individualized search results based on a number of factors, including location, personal search history, social connections and more — even in private mode.2 In other words, while you and your clients are probably seeing similar types of results …
