After several years of overloaded appointments, many practices are facing same-day openings. Because full schedules ensure healthy profits, your client service representatives (CSRs) should aim for zero empty slots. While a waitlist will fill last-minute openings, contact clients with overdue pets to ensure full schedules. Use a combination of calls, texts, and emails to reach clients who got sidetracked on their pets’ preventive care. Lapsed patients that have not received care in 14 to 18 months represent an average of 20 percent of a practice’s active patient count.1 After 18 months, it is challenging to get them back. An uptick in overdue pets indicates your patient base is shrinking and clients need to reconnect with your hospital. Remind clients of your primary role in their pets’ preventive care and how much they mean to your practice. Increasing client retention rates by five percent can lead to a 25 percent to 95 percent rise in profits.2 Clients need a series of notices to prompt them to return to your hospital for wellness services. Recalls are messages sent to clients whose pets are due for care but have not yet scheduled appointments. Send clients up to five scheduling recall notices. Your goal is to get most clients to respond before due dates. Start your re-engagement program when patients are 30 days overdue for wellness services (Table 1). Recall notice When sent Method 1st scheduling recall 60 days ahead Text and email 2nd scheduling recall 30 days ahead Text and email 3rd scheduling recall 14 days ahead Text and email 4th scheduling recall On due date Text and email 5th scheduling recall 30 days past due Call, text, and email Focus on newly overdue patients Do not run a report in your practice information management software (PIMS) of pets overdue 14 to 18 months for wellness services and ask CSRs to call thousands of clients on the list. This overwhelming task will get poor results. If you have not seen patients in 18 months, you may never see them again.3 The veterinary-client-patient relationship is likely over, and clients have moved on. Target clients with pets 30 days past due because they recently received four notices. Your practice will still be top of mind. Call clients with overdue pets daily CSRs need a manageable list of clients to call—just a day’s worth. For example, run a report in your PIMS on May 1 for patients overdue for wellness services on April 1. If you have 12 clients on the report and four CSRs, each will call three clients—an easy task. If you talk to the client, say, “This is calling for the doctors at . is now overdue for an exam, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and preventatives. We’re worried about his/her health. Our next available appointments are <date, time 1> or <date, time 2>. Which do you prefer?” The phrase “calling for the doctors” communicates your veterinarians are aware of the pet’s overdue status and are genuinely concerned. Present the next two available appointments, using the two-yes-options technique to lead clients to book now. Do not ask, “Do you want to make an appointment?” because you give clients the option to say no. When describing overdue preventive care, highlight four categories: Exam Vaccines Diagnostic tests Preventatives Clients may hesitate to schedule if you describe too many services. Simply say the pet is overdue for diagnostic tests rather than specifics of an intestinal parasite screen, heartworm/tick screen, and senior early detection screen. If you get the client’s voicemail, leave this message: “This is calling for the doctors at . We are concerned that is overdue for an exam, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and preventatives and may now be unprotected. Please call us this week at 555-555-5555 to schedule an appointment. I also will text you a link to book online.” The warning “may now be unprotected” is a call to action. Asking clients to return your call this week gives them a deadline and creates urgency. Be aware of your tone of voice. Expressing compassion will get clients to return your calls. If business has slowed or CSRs have extra time, call clients with pets three to six months overdue; however, your team may not experience the same number of successful responses compared to newly overdue patients. Follow up with texts and emails Because 67 percent of people do not listen to voicemails, send texts as backup communication.4 Your text should include a reminder about the overdue visit, payment plans, and options to book an appointment (Figure 1). Figure 1. Grab readers’ attention with all caps, which are like shouting in a text or email. Because emojis can increase open rates by 56 percent, use a syringe emoji to illustrate vaccines.5 Get free emojis of dogs, cats, mosquitoes, pawprints, pills, veterinarians, syringes, stethoscopes, and more at https://getemoji.com. Use a colored button to highlight the action you want clients to take first. Buttons increase click-through rates by 15 percent over hyperlinks.6 Buttons offer yes-or-yes choices of “Book online now,” “Call to schedule,” or “Remind me later.” If clients choose to be reminded later, send them another text and email in seven days. Wellness plans with monthly payments remove financial obstacles and may motivate clients to return. A study found 55 percent of wellness plan members visit practices more often, and 47 percent have a higher average charge per transaction.7 Wellness plans are a smarter business strategy than discounts to lure clients back. After getting the “sale price” by returning for preventive care, pet owners may delay future services until they get the next deal. Because 62 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices, have a short subject line with a call to action such as “Your pet is OVERDUE Book immediately.”8 To fit the subject line on mobile view, stay within 30 to 40 characters, including spaces. Have a stethoscope or vaccine emoji to boost open rates. “Book immediately” or “book now” will increase urgency. Email messages between 50 and 125 words have the best response rates of 50 percent or higher.9 Improve readability with bullets or numbered lists. Buttons will lead clients to click and act (Figure 2). Figure 2. Reach out two more times Once you reach the fifth reminder at 30 days overdue, schedule two automated texts and emails to clients with lapsed pets. Follow up a total of three times once pets become overdue. If you contact clients more than three times, you risk becoming a nuisance and creating the impression that “it’s all about the money.” Get support from vendors At 4th Street Pet Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., virtual medical assistants help its team make outbound calls about lapsed patients and answer incoming calls. (See: “Short Staffed? Virtual assistants can fill the gap”). Engagement platforms for automated workflows let practices send email and text campaigns to clients with lapsed pets. You can customize pre-built templates (Figure 3). Clients choose from buttons of: “I want to schedule an appointment” takes them to online booking tools. “I have moved and/or switched providers,” sends an autoresponder a message, “Thanks for letting us know. If you need your pet’s medical records in the future, please contact us.” “This pet has passed away,” sends a reply, “We are deeply sorry to hear of your loss. We will update our records.” Figure 3. Client retention is more important than acquisition. Studies show attracting a new client can cost five times more than keeping an existing one.10 Your hospital manager can lead re-engagement initiatives and track client retention rates as a key performance indicator. Re-engagement programs are critical to patient and practice health. Wendy Myers, CVJ, knows the right words will lead clients to accept your medical advice, driving patient and practice health. As founder of Communication Solutions for Veterinarians, she teaches practical skills through online courses, conferences, and onsite consulting. Myers’ experience as a partner in a specialty and emergency hospital helped her understand issues that owners and managers face. Learn how she can train your team at csvetscourses.com. References Ekola K. How to Stop Your Patients from Lapsing. VetSource. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://vetsource.com/blog/stop-patients-lapsing/. El Bahr O. Five Strategies to Improve Customer Retention. Forbes. Published Sept. 6, 2023. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2023/09/06/five-strategies-to-improve-customer-retention/. Zirkle K. How Veterinary Practices Can Fix Their Leaky Bucket and Retrieve Valuable Lapsing Patients. VetSource. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://vetsource.com/blog/how-veterinary-practices-can-retrieve-valuable-lapsing-patients/. 22 Business Phone Statistics. Numa. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://www.numa.com/blog/22-business-phone-statistics. The Real Scoop on Email Emoji in Subject Lines. Campaign Monitor. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/the-real-scoop-on-email-emoji-in-subject-lines/. Data on file. Otto. https://otto.vet. Myers W, Young Z. Webinar: Staying Competitive in the Digital Age. Broadcast on Oct. 29, 2024. Data on file at Otto. Infographic: The Ultimate Mobile Email Open Statistics. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://easysendy.com/blog/mobile-email-open-statistics/. Renahan M. The Ideal Length of a Sales Email Based on 40 Million Emails. HubSpot. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/ideal-length-sales-email. Mathur N. Why Customer Retention Is More Important Than Acquisition: Insights for 2024. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://www.nector.io/blog/why-customer-retention-is-more-important-than-acquisition-insights-for-2024.
