Q: We’re seeing a slowdown in growth and appointments at our small community clinic. I’m considering offering the next 20 new clients a free pet exam to generate word-of-mouth. Any other suggestions on getting new clients?
A: Proximity and accessibility are always top when someone chooses a new business or service, followed by suggestions, reputation and alignment with needs, budget and value. You’ll note that nowhere on that list was “free visit.”
I would avoid discounts and free exams or services if you’re trying to grow your practice. In addition to being profit-busting moves, they tend to attract clients interested in veterinary care at the lowest cost rather than high-quality or excellent service. When you give away services, many recipients have long memories and often expect “free” or “discounted” forever.
My go-to growth tactic is to host an open house. Our first one occurred a couple of months after the hospital opened, and it became an annual tradition. Many people were curious about what we had to offer but weren’t willing to bring in a pet to learn more. Others were loyal to their “old” veterinarian and needed an excuse other than an office visit to see if we were a better fit.
Another tip is to evaluate and enhance your website and social media. Loads of veterinary marketing companies are ready to meet your needs and budget. An online presence is still the best bang for the buck.
I’ve also had tremendous success working with local media to generate guest posts, serve as a news source and provide commentary on animal health issues. You’ll see new patients if you position yourself as your area’s veterinary expert.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you to focus on your current clientele. We sometimes miss the most obvious opportunities when we follow flashy trends. Social media, newsletters, website refreshes and improved reminders can reengage poorly compliant clients.
Finally, targeted marketing can reignite routine care revenue. Many distributors and companies provide those services at low or no cost, so don’t be afraid to ask.
Q: My team’s poor work ethic and willingness to exceed their paid time off have gotten out of hand. We’re already short-staffed, so everyone suffers when a team member calls out sick or demands unpaid time off. One employee said we’d have to close the day before a holiday because she wouldn’t work then. What’s a practice owner to do?
A: A lot is happening here, and I understand your frustration. I’ll start by dispelling the notion of expecting employees to be as dedicated to their work as the owners are. Expecting hourly wage earners to miss important events and potentially harm their health for a paycheck is unrealistic and unreasonable. As the owner, you shouldn’t be surprised when employees object.
A team’s “poor work ethic” can often be traced to stressful work environments, intergenerational clashes, inequitable pay structures, inadequate career paths, misalignment of core values and poor communication.
Discuss the problem with your team, provide facts and figures on employee absences, and ask for suggestions. Understanding the reasons for the excessive days off is essential to solve the problem.
Also, ask yourself:
- Are my team members constantly working overtime?
- Do they want or need schedules that are more accommodating?
If chronic absenteeism is pervasive, you might have a workplace culture that places little value on the success of the practice and staff. If so, provide your employees with tools and resources that promote a healthy work-life balance, such as fitness training, therapy, meditation or dietitians. Revisit your team’s performance evaluations, roles and responsibilities. Finally, rebuild the culture to emphasize a dedication to work while valuing individual well-being.
Taking extra time off might be due to an overwhelmed, overstressed and underpaid team. If an employee looks at a paycheck and concludes that staying home would be better, that’s an existential threat to your practice. I’m not saying give raises without merit, but you should analyze your wages and employee benefits to ensure everything is adequate and competitive.
Regarding being short-staffed, many veterinary clinics share your pain. Inadequate staffing is a perennial problem, so I strove to run our practices “one employee over.” By combining superior pay and benefits with a nurturing workplace, we attracted and retained the best team through tough times. Can you add staff positions?
I know many readers will say, “But we’re veterinary professionals! It’s hard! That’s the job!” I’ll remind you that veterinarians and veterinary technicians are experiencing record levels of burnout, dissatisfaction and mental health crises. Our profession’s employees deserve much more elevation, respect and protection. We need to provide more flexible schedules tailored to individual needs when feasible. Thinking, “That’s the job,” doesn’t seem to help us.
Q: I discovered that we frequently undercharge clients or enter the wrong items on invoices. Should employees who do it contact the client or reimburse the clinic, or do I just eat the losses?
A: Years ago, the phone rang as I returned home from a hardware store. The retailer had charged me for only one of the four pieces of lumber I purchased. The sale happened before you could pay over the phone, so I jumped back in the Jeep and paid what I owed.
Everyone makes mistakes, but the good news is we can learn from and fix them. Don’t fret just because an employee slipped up. Instead, focus on correcting the problem and moving forward.
First, the hardware store I visited identified the error and had trained the cashier to act quickly.
Second, the store had a protocol for dealing with such inevitable blunders. The clerk calls the customer, and they sort it out. The cashier remarked that most customers were apologetic despite not being at fault.
Finally, the store had no choice but to write off the difference if a customer refused or couldn’t be reached.
I applied those tenets to my veterinary practice nearly 30 years ago, and they hold up today. If you see frequent charging errors, it’s time to retrain and perhaps develop better protocols. Bar code scanners and thoughtful PIMS organization and categorization can solve most data entry errors, and technology can assist in inventory management and billing. In addition, daily and weekly invoice and medical record audits can spot subtle mistakes and pick out problem areas (or people).
Don’t fear contacting mischarged clients. Many of them are happy to make things right. I can count on one hand the number of disputes I encountered, and for those, we let it go (with a note in the medical record).
Some businesses set an amount they’re willing to forget. However, the problem with establishing monetary thresholds is you risk minimizing the seriousness of charging errors. Every undercharged dollar requires about $4 to $5 in new revenue to compensate for the lost profit.
I suggest doubling down on training and improving your processes. I typically criticize systems before people.