NEW CLIENTS: The Lifeblood of Your Practice

I spoke with a DVM new practice owner recently that was simply following the Òbuild it and they will comeÓ business adage and painfully waiting for new clients to arrive, all the while his practice expense meter ticked away in the background! A nail-biter? Absolutely. A couple of things needed correcting with this situation…
The viewpoint of the owner. It’s too passive.

01- Fact: Simply hanging out your shingle or just physically being there is not sufficient enough in most cases to attract the right amount of attention to your practice. New Clients are the life blood of your practice. You need 30–40 of them each month for each full time DVM. Don’t ever forget this. (If you have lots of new clients and are the only game in town, then just wait until you get some new hot-shot DVM move in.) So don’t wait! You need to pro-actively market (I.e. do things to turn up the spotlight on your practice and drive new clients in.) Your external marketing division is one of your key 7-divisions of practice management.

02 - Your marketing needs to be effective in bringing in new clients. Effectiveness is the key word here. I am not against Yellow Pages or any other form of advertising or promotion if they are effective. So how do you know if your promotion is effective?
Count the number of new clients separately from your regular transactions. Track where they come from. Ask them “Where did you find our phone number to call us today?” You may be very surprised.
Remember: A healthy practice should be bringing in 30 to 40 new clients a month for each 40 hour per week DVM.

03 - An effective marketing program creates a strong emotional response in potential clients by “pushing their button.”
A button is something you push that produces a response. The response you want is obviously for new clients to choose you as their veterinarian. What’s not so obvious is if you fail to properly align even one aspect of your marketing & presentation—your pricing, positioning, quality, presentation, design, staff friendliness and so on—you won’t hit your client’s button. These buttons can vary within different communities. There’s not just one standard method. You have to do your own market research for your area.
If you are at all interested in learning more about this subject, then consider signing up for our 2010 Online New Client Builder Workshop. It’s a 3-part workshop that gives you an excellent overview of veterinary external marketing and a step-by-step program to follow.

“How to write effective company policy is a great tool to make things run smoothly in our organization and people are not waiting for the orders for every situation and jamming my lines.

Policies would be in place for all aspects of the business. The staff would know it that they exist and they need to be followed strictly. This prevents staff from setting their own policies and taking wrong decisions which are counter productive and causing chaos.

It prevents my lines from being jammed all the time. Staff does not have to run to me for approval of every decision out there.”

Manjit Jammu, DVM; Practice Owner

Clearwater Animal Hospital; Windsor, ON

Planning & Policy Course

“This was a very good course. It was enlightening to see why so many plans just don’t happen. And now – hopefully that will not continue top happen in my practice.

I especially liked understanding how to get a special project going. This has been a mistake in our clinic and now I can correct it to get things going.”

Candy Stables, DVM; Practice Owner

Bow Valley Veterinary Clinic; Brooks, AB

Planning & Policy Course

“What an amazing course! What I thought I knew and when I was finishes, what I learned was incredible.

Will use this information at work but also as an individual.

I love statistics!”

Althea Caveney, Practice Manager

Lakeside Animal Hospital; Tilton, NH

Formulas for Business Success Course

“This is a fantastic course. There is so much extremely reliable information in this course. Using the tools learned in this course are no doubt going to be extremely well received by my staff; because their course will be much clearer for them. They will also immediately see the fruits of their work.”

Ruth Doe, DVM; Practice Owner

Nob Hill Cat Clinic and Hospital; San Francisco, CA

Management By Statistics Course

“This MBS course and its implementation have given me hands-on control of so many areas of my practice. It has shown me, through the application of the condition formulas, that there is always something that can be done to turn around a slump or to reinforce a positive trend. For years, before contacting VPS, I would get to year end, look at my plateaued statistic (VSD) and think that if I would just work harder next year I could get out of this stalemate. But it never happened until VPS showed me how to take control and analyze each week’s statistics, allowing for immediate control of any down statistic. Management by Statistics has been one of the major forces in the transformation of our practice.”

Tom Wiles, DVM; Practice Owner

Pittsburgh Spay & Vaccination Clinic; Verona, PA

Management By Statistics Addendum

“The Ethics for Business Survival course is the meat and potatoes course that uses our foundation courses and explains in detail what is needed to determine what, where and how to survive in the business environment. The skills learned here will be used to manage in a way that will produce the expansion every business needs to survive.”

Evelyn Bock, DVM; Practice Owner

Southwick Veterinary Hospital; St. Louis, MO

Management Basics Implementation Program

“The Client Compliance Builder Course gave labels to put on situations that are already happening in my practice. I now have the tools and knowledge to move [clients] through the steps of the sale to reach "closing" and "delivery" of my treatment plans. I never thought of myself as a sales-person but after taking this course I realize life is a series of sales and closing the deal.

This course has shown me that I can be an advocate for the pet by "selling" clients that right treatment plan. We all win!"

Dr. Beth Neuman, DVM

Client Compliance Builder Course

“This course helped me to get a better handle on good solid ways to make plans, and then more importantly the way to see it through.

I think this info will be very helpful in the future if we expand or renovate our facility, as well as the smaller day to day issues at the clinic."

Wes Wood, DVM, Practice Owner,

Breaking The Code Course

“So much of my life up until now has been a series of dreams, plans; so many of which have failed to come to fruition. Now I know why.

All I had were plans, without the actual structure or series of necessary steps to make those plans a reality.

I am excited to utilize these tools; whether they be applied to a goal of cleaning out the garage, making sure I have the garden this summer, that vacation, lifestyle, clean office or secure retirement. I just have to work through each step, one-by-one and finally get there."

Janelle Walker, DVM, Practice Owner

Best Friends Veterinary Medical, Portland OR

Policy and Planning Addendum

“Wow – I was intimidated at first glance through the workbook but really had fun with this course. I learned a lot about myself through the drills – some of it being that I already had some skills in place. Addition of the other skills made me feel great. I want to be a good listener and I want to be heard. I want to be a good gatherer of information. This course gave me some pretty handy tools to help me achieve my goals. This course was fun and I’ve already used a couple of techniques back at the clinic...”

Nina Ferguson, Director of Administration

Kamloops Large Animal Veterinary Clinic

Improving Business Through Communication Course

Practice Tip 24 – External Marketing for your Christmas Open House

External Marketing and Your Christmas Open House…

With Christmas just around the corner comes an opportunity to widely promote your practice. In addition to this yearly occurrence the recession may have people watching their pennies but everyone is tired of clamping down and ready to have some fun! The tool to use to capitalize on this opportunity is your practice Christmas Open House.

This 4 hour event, held usually on the first Sunday afternoon of December is your No. 1 external marketing tool to promote your practice into your community and give thanks for their support over the last year as well and introduce yourself to potential new clients.

Here are some basic rules:

1. Book well in advance. 6 weeks is best. The first Sunday afternoon from 1 – 4pm in December is often a good time as it is ahead of all the other parties.
2. Get your staff involved. Assign the event to your Director of Public Relations and Marketing. Let him or her have at least 6 hours a week to plan
3. Let your clients know. Get out postcards, emails, ads in the paper etc…
4. Tie it in with a good cause such as proceeds from pictures with Santa going to the local shelter (many in big trouble financially with the flood of unwanted pets given up during the recession)
5. Make it fun. Have pictures with Santa and the no 1. activity – bobbing for Turkey wieners!
6. Call the press – they are always looking for great stories
7. Serve nice refreshments like hot apple cider and eggnog.
8. Make sure ALL (no exception) pets are on leashes.
9. Have all your clients bring a friend.
10. Offer a discounted Christmas service such as dental cleanings and grooming discounts over the next 3 weeks.

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.

“‘Formulas for Business Success’ was an awesome course. It really lays out how to apply the formulas to our conditions and utilize them to make the statistics improve. I got a bit more comfortable with interpreting our statistics and changes in them over time. I feel confident I can apply the formulas in my business and in my life!”

Gayle Roberts, DVM; Practice Owner

Northwood Animal Hospital; Irvine, CA

Formulas for Business Success Course

“This course really started to gel with me the fact that the statistics and evaluating conditions are vital to running a business. No wonder I used to feel like I was spinning my wheels trying to accomplish things based on what I though was going on. It brings peace of mind knowing that having factual statistics and applying conditions and their formulas will in the end simplify the process and truly create growth in the business.”

Ed Womack, DVM; Practice Owner

Cascade Veterinary Clinic; Wenatchee, WA

Formulas For Business Success Course

“The Client Compliance Course was interesting, fun and useful! This was very practical. It allowed me to practice selling techniques that work. It allowed me to understand the theory behind selling, all while putting it into practice. This definitely will help me in the future! I was able to see the mistakes I was making previously, so I am now very excited to go back home and apply these new proven techniques. This was a good course!!”

Diane Grede, DVM; Practice Owner

Animal Hospital Of Oshkosh; Oshkosh, WI

Client Compliance Builder Course

“Wow! Wow! Wow! (Did I mention “Wow!”?) :)

I truly feel more equipped than I ever have before! I am confident that our goal of creating a more efficient and successful practice is an attainable goal! Thanks to “Formulas for Business Success”, I now have the tools to maintain up statistics and can work through down statistics. Additionally, I feel that I can more closely manage my staff and equip them with the same knowledge that they are in fact in control of reaching success. I suddenly can’t imagine managing the business any other way. I can hardly wait to get back to the practice to implement this valuable knowledge.”

Julie Camberg, OM

Northwood Animal Hospital; Irvine, CA

Formulas For Business Success Course

“Are you ever totally finished with the Management Basics Implementation Program? This is a program that continues to build and refine the things learned in class at VPS. It is a way to put mass to what you’ve learned as you continue to practice and do the things you’ve read about. And it is not over-whelming. Rather, as you are doing each week, the process makes more and more sense to you and your staff. Your business improves; your organization improves.”

Evelyn Bock, DVM; Practice Owner

Southwick Veterinary Hospital; St. Louis, MO

Management Basics Implementation Program

Practice Tip 23 – Client Service and the Standing Ovation Practice™

Client Service and the Standing Ovation Practice™

Despite the “economy” and all the doom and gloom there is no question that some people still have money to spend on their pets. However, often there exists a certain fear and restraint about picking up the phone and calling a veterinarian. The result? Uncontrolled floods of clients and patients into our offices when, out of desperation, they finally decide to call in and use our services. This lack of control (Remember the definition of control as your ability to proactively speed something up or slow it down, change it’s direction etc…) results in unplanned high CPMs (Clients Per Minute) that can drop our efficiency, increase our staff over-time costs, and ultimately douse the flames on a Standing Ovation Practice™. What’s a Standing Ovation Practice™? This is the highly efficient practice that runs like a Swiss watch, that delivers the highest quality care in a fun and genuine manner, that results in clients that are happy to hear from us, happy to return, and give us the ultimate applause (acknowledgment) – the referral of their friends, family and neighbors. The problem with the floods of unplanned clients is that our normal friendly efficient staff can get overwhelmed, started making needless goofy mistakes (I.e. wrong meds, not giving estimates...) and be not quite as friendly as they normally are. Your good clients may tolerate this BUT they won’t necessarily give you the standing ovation compliment of a referral.

Fact: You need to exert better control on the arrival of clients and patients to build a Standing Ovation Practice™. Obviously you can’t predict when an emergency will occur BUT here are some simple things you can do for the everyday things:

1. Book every departing client with their next visit in your calendar – this gives you some prediction of client and patient flows in the future…
2. Book ample time for appointments – 30 mins is a good place to start…
3. Don’t book BIG elective surgeries on typical high traffic days (I.e. Mondays…)…
4. Always call 12 hours before to remind them of their appointment…
5. In busy times protect the friendliness and good client communication by getting the incoming phone calls off the front desk by having someone in the back take calls. This will allow uninterrupted communication with your client that will have them leaving happy and likely to refer friends and family…

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.

Interested in more information?

Attend the “SECRET TO THE STANDING OVATION PRACTICE” Free Webinar

This course was exciting to me...

“The ‘How to Make Planning Become an Actuality’ was a really good course. It pointed out the fundamentals of Planning through the use of programs. This course reflected a bit on leadership and how good leadership allows a business to prosper and grow.

Overall this course provided the “know-how” to get programs into place, how to execute them and how to do it “right” with success. This course was exciting to me, and I feel will be useful at my practice.”

Jen Beaulieu, DVM, Practice Owner

Lakeside Animal Hospital; Tilton, NH

How To Make Planning Become an Actuality Course

A great tool to make things run smoothly in our organization...

“How to write effective company policy is a great tool to make things run smoothly in our organization and people are not waiting for the orders for every situation and jamming my lines.

Policies would be in place for all aspects of the business. The staff would know it that they exist and they need to be followed strictly. This prevents staff from setting their own policies and taking wrong decisions which are counter productive and causing chaos.

It prevents my lines from being jammed all the time. Staff does not have to run to me for approval of every decision out there.”

Manjit Jammu, DVM; Practice Owner

Clearwater Animal Hospital; Windsor, ON

Planning & Policy Course

One of the major forces in the transformation of our practice.

“This MBS course and its implementation have given me hands-on control of so many areas of my practice. It has shown me, through the application of the condition formulas, that there is always something that can be done to turn around a slump or to reinforce a positive trend. For years, before contacting VPS, I would get to year end, look at my plateaued statistic (VSD) and think that if I would just work harder next year I could get out of this stalemate. But it never happened until VPS showed me how to take control and analyze each week’s statistics, allowing for immediate control of any down statistic. Management by Statistics has been one of the major forces in the transformation of our practice.”

Tom Wiles, DVM; Practice Owner

Pittsburgh Spay & Vaccination Clinic; Verona, PA

Management By Statistics Addendum

I can have a positive effect on the staff or with the staff...

“Through this course I think I can successfully handle any communication problem that may arise either with clients or with staff. It will also help me in communicating with my children and anyone in my personal life. I have always thought that I was pretty good with my communication skills but with this course it gave me some additional techniques and also made me feel like I can have a positive effect on the staff or with the staff at the clinic.”

Colleen Davis, Practice Manager

Emery Animal Health; Castle Dale, UT

Improving Business Through Communication Course

I’ll be using all of this material every day...

“Communication is an essential tool in the creation, development and maintenance of most endeavors. These aspects of this communication course; what communication is made up of, what one can do to enhance communication and practicing use of tools to enhance communication, are as useful in handling clients and staff, as they are in communicating with family members. I am sure I’ll be using all of this material every day.”

Paul Hunter, DVM; Practice Owner

Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC

Improving Business Through Communication

Practice Tip 23 – Client Service and the Standing Ovation Practice™

Client Service and the Standing Ovation Practice™

Despite the “economy” and all the doom and gloom there is no question that some people still have money to spend on their pets. However, often there exists a certain fear and restraint about picking up the phone and calling a veterinarian. The result? Uncontrolled floods of clients and patients into our offices when, out of desperation, they finally decide to call in and use our services. This lack of control (Remember the definition of control as your ability to proactively speed something up or slow it down, change it’s direction etc…) results in unplanned high CPMs (Clients Per Minute) that can drop our efficiency, increase our staff over-time costs, and ultimately douse the flames on a Standing Ovation Practice™. What’s a Standing Ovation Practice™? This is the highly efficient practice that runs like a Swiss watch, that delivers the highest quality care in a fun and genuine manner, that results in clients that are happy to hear from us, happy to return, and give us the ultimate applause (acknowledgment) – the referral of their friends, family and neighbors. The problem with the floods of unplanned clients is that our normal friendly efficient staff can get overwhelmed, started making needless goofy mistakes (I.e. wrong meds, not giving estimates...) and be not quite as friendly as they normally are. Your good clients may tolerate this BUT they won’t necessarily give you the standing ovation compliment of a referral.

Fact: You need to exert better control on the arrival of clients and patients to build a Standing Ovation Practice™. Obviously you can’t predict when an emergency will occur BUT here are some simple things you can do for the everyday things:

1. Book every departing client with their next visit in your calendar – this gives you some prediction of client and patient flows in the future…
2. Book ample time for appointments – 30 mins is a good place to start…
3. Don’t book BIG elective surgeries on typical high traffic days (I.e. Mondays…)…
4. Always call 12 hours before to remind them of their appointment…
5. In busy times protect the friendliness and good client communication by getting the incoming phone calls off the front desk by having someone in the back take calls. This will allow uninterrupted communication with your client that will have them leaving happy and likely to refer friends and family…

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.

This will direct a company toward expansion...

“This was a great course. By implementing an effective company policy based on experience and success, it outlines how this will direct a company toward expansion, eliminating chaos and confusion due to improperly directed orders. It makes it obvious that without effective company policy you cannot expect staff to be correctly guided toward a common goal.”

Mike Doe, DVM, Practice Owner
Good Samaritan Veterinary Hospital; San Leandro, CA
How To Write Effective Company Policy Course

We can begin to attain our production goals...

“This gave me the tools to begin the process of writing effective programs, properly targeted. We need to get more of these written programs in place so we can begin to attain our production goals.”

Shelagh Morrison, DVM
Queensway West Animal Hospital; Kanata, ON
How To Expand Your Company By Making Planning Become Actuality Course

There is so much extremely reliable information in this course...

“This is a fantastic course. There is so much extremely reliable information in this course. Using the tools learned in this course are no doubt going to be extremely well received by my staff; because their course will be much clearer for them. They will also immediately see the fruits of their work.”

Ruth Doe, DVM; Practice Owner
Nob Hill Cat Clinic and Hospital; San Francisco, CA
Management By Statistics Course

I can successfully handle any communication problem that may arise...

“Through this course I think I can successfully handle any communication problem that may arise either with clients or with staff. It will also help me in communicating with my children and anyone in my personal life. I have always thought that I was pretty good with my communication skills but with this course it gave me some additional techniques and also made me feel like I can have a positive effect on the staff or with the staff at the clinic.”

Colleen Davis, Practice Manager
Emery Animal Health; Castle Dale, UT
Improving Business Through Communication Course

You are being given the tools to organize, evaluate and correct...

“Basic Hat is exciting because as it goes along you see that you are being given the tools to organize, evaluate and correct the basic structure of the business.There is a lot to learn but as these tools are refined, operating the clinic should be possible.”

Paul Hunter, DVM; Practice Owner
Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC
Basic Hat For Employees Course

“The Ethics for Business Survival Course was a reaffirmation of how things should be handled in a business.
If applied properly it should create growth & expansion.
It also applies to life equally as important.”

Colin Mikkelsen, DVM
Ethics For Business Survival Course

“What an amazing course! What I thought I knew and when I was finishes, what I learned was incredible.
Will use this information at work but also as an individual.
I love statistics!”

Althea Caveney, Practice Manager
Formulas for Business Success Course

“1) I learned a simple way to do financial planning – spend less than you make!
2) Very importantly – I used to be the evil ‘hatchman’ always wanting to economize and cut. Now I realize income planning is much more important than trying to economize on everything!
3) I learned how to make equipment be cared for better by assigning each piece to an individual by name, which will save on replacing and/or repairs of equipment.
4) I learned how every purchase can be evaluated by its value to grow the business.
Awesome!”

Brad Gehrt
Financial Planning Course

“This course covered areas that are often hard for me. While it still may not come natural, I do understand how to make it easier and successful. I will continue to work on them and make it more a part of who I am.”

Glen Jensen, DVM
Hiring & Handling Personnel Course

“I can now more comfortably approach staff with orders, knowing I have their respect and enthusiasm and be able to expect follow through. I also know that the survival of those staff and the organization depends on me seeing all that through.”

Ed Womack, DVM
Effective Leadership Course

Practice Tip 18 – 4th Quarter Slide

Warning! The “4th-Quarter-Slide” is almost upon you!
Don’t get caught...

Fact: Whether you want to confront or just pretend it’s not going to happen again this year, 80% of practices will experience a drastic drop-off in business starting on the September long weekend. How long does this drop last? Left to its own devices, this slide typically lasts a good 3-4 months, finally picking up again in early to mid-spring. The result: Untold lost thousands of dollars of income and a practice that may have to dig into reserves and credit lines to pay suppliers and make payroll. Stressful? You bet.

What can be done about it? Lots!
1. Take a positive pro-active approach to promoting high standards of pet care to your community. You will need to take on a professional marketing approach to your practice and reach out to clients where you may not have in the past. Unprofessional? Sure, if done unprofessional, but don’t do that! Your marketing reflects who and what you are. So everything that goes out to your community must be as professional as you are. Hire a professional marketing firm if you need to.

2. Start promoting NOW. It typically can take up to 6-weeks to see a response to your marketing. Don’t expect instantaneous increase in clients coming in.

3. Make a marketing plan. The old business adage “If you fail to plan - you plan to fail” is never more true than in the next coming months. Make a marketing plan that includes promotions to both new and existing clients and something that focuses on your profitable back-end services such as dental exams and cleaning, geriatric pet wellness work ups, etc…

4. Activate your existing clients by scanning your data base for any client who has not been in within the last 12 months, create a script, and call them up!

It has been one of the major forces in the transformation of our practice.

“This MBS course and its implementation have given me hands-on control of so many areas of my practice. It has shown me, through the application of the condition formulas, that there is always something that can be done to turn around a slump or to reinforce a positive trend. For years, before contacting VPS, I would get to year end, look at my plateaued statistic (VSD) and think that if I would just work harder next year I could get out of this stalemate. But it never happened until VPS showed me how to take control and analyze each week’s statistics, allowing for immediate control of any down statistic. Management by Statistics has been one of the major forces in the transformation of our practice.”

Tom Wiles, DVM; Practice Owner
Pittsburgh Spay & Vaccination Clinic; Verona, PA
Management By Statistics Addendum

With this course it gave me some additional techniques...

“Through this course I think I can successfully handle any communication problem that may arise either with clients or with staff. It will also help me in communicating with my children and anyone in my personal life. I have always thought that I was pretty good with my communication skills but with this course it gave me some additional techniques and also made me feel like I can have a positive effect on the staff or with the staff at the clinic.”

Colleen Davis, Practice Manager
Emery Animal Health; Castle Dale, UT
Improving Business Through Communication Course

This allowed things to become more clear...

“This course was enabling for me. I have viewed myself as a good leader but it was trying to lead by example and hope that everyone followed. Not the case. This allowed things to become more clear that I must not only show but make sure they follow by effective administration.”

Ed Womack, DVM, Practice Owner
Cascade Veterinary Clinic; Wenatchee, WA
Effective Leadership Course

This was a very good course...

“This was a very good course. It was enlightening to see why so many plans just don’t happen. And now – hopefully that will not continue top happen in my practice.

I especially liked understanding how to get a special project going. This has been a mistake in our clinic and now I can correct it to get things going.”

Candy Stables, DVM; Practice Owner
Bow Valley Veterinary Clinic; Brooks, AB
Planning & Policy Course

A very informative course...

“Basic Org was a great course. It shows you how to organize your business as well as your own personal life. It teaches you of the importance of properly training your personnel and making sure that the posts are filled are operating properly to attain your final product. A very informative course.”

Cindee Burns, AHT
Bow Valley Veterinary Clinic; Brooks, AB
Basic Organization Course

Practice Tip 5 –New Clients

NEW CLIENTS:
THE LIFE BLOOD OF YOUR PRACTICE...

I spoke with a DVM new practice owner that was simply following the “build it and they will come” business adage and painfully waiting for new clients to arrive, all while his practice expense meter ticked away in the background! A nail biter? You bet. A couple of things need correcting with this situation.

First is the viewpoint of the owner. It’s too passive.
Fact: simply hanging out your shingle or just physically being there in most cases is not sufficient enough to attract the right amount of attention to your practice. New Clients are the life blood of your practice. You need 30 -40 of them each month for each full time DVM. Don’t ever forget this. (Note: If you have lots of new clients and are the only game in town, then just wait until you get some new hot-shot DVM move in…). So don’t wait! You need to pro-actively market - I.e. do things to turn up the spotlight on your practice and drive new clients in. Your external marketing division is one of your key 7-divisions of practice management.

Secondly, your marketing needs to be effective in bringing new people in. Effectiveness is the key word here. I am not against Yellow Pages or any other form of advertising or promotion if they are effective. So how do you know if your promotion is effective? Count the number of New Clients separately from your regular transactions. Track where they come from. Ask them “where did you find our phone number to call us today?” You may be very surprised. Remember: A healthy practice should be bringing in 30 – 40 new clients a month for each 40-hour a week DVM.

And thirdly know this: an effective marketing program creates a strong emotional response in potential clients by “pushing their button”. A button is something you push that produces a response. The response you want is obviously for new clients to choose you as their veterinarian. What is not so obvious is if you fail to properly align even one aspect of your marketing and presentation – your pricing, positioning, quality, presentation, design, staff friendliness and so on - you won’t hit your clients’ button. And these buttons can vary with different communities. So there’s not just one that is standard. You have to do your own market research in your area.
If you are at all interested in learning more about this subject then consider signing up for our 2010 Online New Client Builder workshop. It’s a 3 part workshop that gives you an excellent overview of veterinary external marketing and a step-by-step program to follow.

A great tool to make things run smoothly...

“How to write effective company policy is a great tool to make things run smoothly in our organization and people are not waiting for the orders for every situation and jamming my lines.

Policies would be in place for all aspects of the business. The staff would know it that they exist and they need to be followed strictly. This prevents staff from setting their own policies and taking wrong decisions which are counter productive and causing chaos.

It prevents my lines from being jammed all the time. Staff does not have to run to me for approval of every decision out there.”

Manjit Jammu, DVM; Practice Owner
Clearwater Animal Hospital; Windsor, ON
Planning & Policy Course

You provide a perfect environment...

“Students are rarely taught “how to study”. Your system of learning helped me see that the process of learning can be broken down into overcoming three simple barriers.You provide a perfect environment and system for studying and learning new skills that anyone can master.”

Brad Gehrt
Animal Hospital of Oshkosh; Oshkosh, VT
Study Skills for Life Course

I am sure I’ll be using all of this material every day

“Communication is an essential tool in the creation, development and maintenance of most endeavors. These aspects of this communication course; what communication is made up of, what one can do to enhance communication and practicing use of tools to enhance communication, are as useful in handling clients and staff, as they are in communicating with family members. I am sure I’ll be using all of this material every day.”

Paul Hunter, DVM, Practice Owner
Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC
Improving Business Through Communication Course

"I really enjoyed this course..."

“I really enjoyed this course. It taught me a lot about how to communicate with people in certain situations that may be difficult. It was a lot of fun as well!”

Lynn Armstrong, Dir Admin
Didsbury Veterinary Services; Didsbury, AB
Improving Business Through Communication Course

"one can help our staff achieve great success"

“This course gives us concrete tools we can use to bring about change to ones statistics and also a means whereby one can help our staff achieve great success.”

Rob MacPherson, DVM; Practice Owner
Rutland Veterinary Clinic; Rutland, VT
Formulas for Business Success Course

Practice Tip 18 – 4th Quarter Slide

Warning!
The “4th-Quarter-Slide” is almost upon you!
Don’t get caught with your...

Fact: Whether you want to confront or just pretend it’s not going to happen again this year, 80% of practices will experience a drastic drop-off in business starting at the September long weekend. How long does this drop last? Left to it’s own devices, this slide typically lasts a good 3-4 months, finally picking up in early to mid-spring? The result: Untold lost thousands of dollars of income and a practice that may have to dig into reserves and credit lines to pay suppliers and make payroll. Stressful? You bet.

So what can be done about it? Lots!

1. Take a positive pro-active approach to promoting high standards of pet care to your community. You will need to take on a professional marketing approach to your practice and reach out to clients where you may not have in the past. Unprofessional? Sure, if done unprofessional, but don’t do that! Your marketing reflects who and what you are. So everything that goes out to your community must be as professional as you are. Hire a professional marketing firm if you need to.

2. Start promoting NOW. It typically can take up to 6-weeks to see a response to your marketing. Don’t expect instantaneous increase in clients coming in.

3. Make a marketing plan. The old business adage “If you fail to plan - you plan to fail” is never more true than in the next coming months. Make a marketing plan that includes promotions to both new and existing clients and something that focuses on your profitable back-end services such as dental exams and cleaning, geriatric pet wellness work ups, etc…

4. Activate your existing clients by scanning your data base for any client who has not been in within the last 12 months, create a script, and call them up!

Questions? Give me a call.

I will now carefully consider complete planning...

“The ‘How to Make Planning Become an Actuality’ course has created a feeling of control over cause that I have never achieved in twenty-eight years of clinic ownership. As I plan programs for our clinic, whether large or small, I will now carefully consider complete planning technology to ensure successful outcomes.”

Tom Wiles, DVM; Practice Owner
Pittsburgh Spay and Vaccination Clinic; Verona, PA
How To Make Planning Become an Actuality Course

It really opened my eyes...

“Formulas For Business Success was a great course. I feel like I have a substantial tool to take back to the practice. This tool will give me the basic fundamentals to truly have a successful business. Although I see that applied correctly I can have financial success personally too.

This course really made me want to take it back and apply it. I see so many areas that will improve with its application. It just really opened my eyes to so many possibilities becoming realities.

I think we are finally on our way for our practice to have a sound foundation to build upon.”

Colleen Davis, Dir Admin
Emery Animal Health; Castle Dale, UT
Formulas For Business Success Course

This course was exciting to me...

“The ‘How to Make Planning Become an Actuality’ was a really good course. It pointed out the fundamentals of Planning through the use of programs. This course reflected a bit on leadership and how good leadership allows a business to prosper and grow.

Overall this course provided the “know-how” to get programs into place, how to execute them and how to do it “right” with success. This course was exciting to me, and I feel will be useful at my practice.”

Jen Beaulieu, DVM, Practice Owner
Lakeside Animal Hospital; Tilton, NH
How To Make Planning Become an Actuality Course

Do what you believe is the right thing.

“I felt that this course was very interesting. It made me realize how important it is to go with your gut feeling. Not to let anyone persuade you in any other way. Do what you believe is the right thing.”

Lynn Armstrong, Dir Admin
Didsbury Veterinary Services; Didsbury, AB
Personal Integrity Course

Each step of this course gave more and more clarity...

“I now have the tools to create the programs and targets needed to really get going with my practice and my division responsibilities. Each step of this course gave more and more clarity in the steps and processes needed to carry out programs to completion and really move the practice forward.”

Ed Womack, DVM; Practice Owner
Cascade Veterinary Clinic Inc.; Wenatchee, WA
How To Make Planning Become an Actuality Course

Practice Tip 01 – Team Efficiency

TEAM EFFICIENCY IN THE VETERINARY PRACTICE
...and lost income.


Depending on how well your team works together you’ll have wide swings in efficiency. Efficiency is defined as: “the ratio of total input to effective or useful output in any system”. In your practice this would equate to, how many staff hours or wages does it take to deliver and collect your invoiced services? Think about it – you and your team are a system, much like an engine creates power. In many practices the output – I.e. the physical moving of staff around delivery of medical services correlates poorly with the input, i.e. the revenue collected. This is why you can have those oh-so busy weeks with poor revenue (you know the ones, right?).

An inefficient team will have poor understanding of its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - the agreements on how your practice runs - and will spend a good portion of its time handling mistakes and confusions (i.e. upset clients) and other non-invoicable activities and experience a good degree of frustration. The efficient team on the other hand follows its procedures closely, has minimal mistakes and good moral. These well thought out SOPs allow you to focus on the task at hand – the delivery of high quality veterinary medicine into the hands of your clients.

The biggest source of lost income in any practice is from poor efficiency.

Solution:
1) Get your Standard Operating Procedures defined
2) Get them agreed upon by all staff members
3) Compare you output (Staff hours / wages) to your Input (Money collected)
4) Work out and track your Practice Efficiency Index

If you would like some specific help in this area, then please give me a call.

"This was very practical"

“The Client Compliance Course was interesting, fun and useful! This was very practical. It allowed me to practice selling techniques that work. It allowed me to understand the theory behind selling, all while putting it into practice. This definitely will help me in the future! I was able to see the mistakes I was making previously, so I am now very excited to go back home and apply these new proven techniques. This was a good course!!”

Diane Grede, DVM; Practice Owner
Animal Hospital Of Oshkosh; Oshkosh, WI
Client Compliance Builder Course

This course is large and in depth...

“Super course!! This course is large and in depth and it expanded on what I had learned in previous courses. Thanks to a decent gradient I was able to grasp the concepts and understand them... This course gave me tools to work with. It has armed me to speak to do a better job.”

Nina Ferguson, Dir Admin
Kamloops Large Animal Veterinary Clinic; Kamloops, BC
Formulas For Business Success Course

Taught me so much about organizing...

“The Basics of Organization taught me so much about organizing. I look forward to going home and getting the org board in place and the posts in. All the parts of this course point up deficiencies in my practice but offers excellent solutions of repair.”

Evelyn Bock, DVM, Practice Owner
Southwick Veterinary Hospital; St. Louis, MO
Basics of Organization Course

It will succeed because I planned for the success...

“This course solidified the concepts of organization and the importance of clear planning for any enterprise to succeed. It helped me to see that I am the captain of the ship and that it will succeed because I planned for the success not because of the luck or chance.”

Ellen Colwell, DVM; Practice Owner
Sykesville Veterinary Clinic; Sykesville, MD
Financial Planning Course

I am sure I’ll be using all of this material every day...

“Communication is an essential tool in the creation, development and maintenance of most endeavors. These aspects of this communication course; what communication is made up of, what one can do to enhance communication and practicing use of tools to enhance communication, are as useful in handling clients and staff, as they are in communicating with family members. I am sure I’ll be using all of this material every day.”

Paul Hunter, DVM; Practice Owner
Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC
Improving Business Through Communication

The Client Compliance Builder course was excellent...

“The Client Compliance Builder course was excellent. It showed me that the barriers clients put up are natural and should be expected. I learned that I should engage the client with questions instead of listing out facts. I plan on working on this and making our Average Client transaction numbers go through the roof.”

Jolie Davis, Senior Tech
Pequot Lakes Animal Hospital; Pequot Lakes, MN
Client Compliance Builder Course

I am feeling myself grow as a person...

“The Ethics for Business Survival has been great. The time with Michele was extremely helpful. I have put some issues into perspective. I would greatly recommend the ceremonial shredding of the overts! I am feeling myself grow as a person and my energy level rise. Thanks!”

Jennifer Jackson, DVM;
Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC
Ethics for Business Survival Implementation Program

Here's to getting along...

“After completing this course I have a defined insight into the basic mechanics of personal relationships both successful and failed. ...I feel I’m able to evaluate a failed relationship with a valued long term past employee, and seek to establish a new reality... Here’s to getting along.”

Paul Hunter, DVM, Practice Owner
Columbia Summit Veterinary Hospital; Kamloops, BC
How To get Along With Others Course

It is so simple, it is brilliant...

“Management by Statistics was a good course that helped ingrain into me the conditions and formulas and statistical logistics by which to run a business. Statistics don’t lie. They can and should be used individually and to compare with other stats to see where you have been and what you need to do to get what you want. It is so simple, it is brilliant, yet so easy to overlook. This course drilled home the facts that managing by statistics is the easiest, yet most trustworthy way to run my business.”

Diane Grede, DVM; Practice Owner
Animal Hospital of Oshkosh.; Oshkosh, WI
Management By Statistics Course

It brings peace of mind...

“This course really started to gel with me the fact that the statistics and evaluating conditions are vital to running a business. No wonder I used to feel like I was spinning my wheels trying to accomplish things based on what I thought was going on. It brings peace of mind knowing that having factual statistics and applying conditions and their formulas will in the end simplify the process and truly create growth in the business.”

Ed Womack, DVM; Practice Owner
Cascade Veterinary Clinic; Wenatchee, WA
Formulas For Business Success Course

Practice Tip 22 – Shared Decision Model

The Share Decision Model and Veterinary Medicine

I ran across this buzz word, the “Shared Decision Model”, the other day while having a coffee and reading a USA Today article. I laughed! The article was in reference to the human medical profession that is now having to discuss and handle objections (whoa!) to expensive treatment options with their patients! It quoted a man who brought his Addisonian wife into the ER with stomach pain and his request for only a cortisone injection and not the $1000 (his co-pay) MRI to rule out other abdominal ailments. He was met with contempt by the attending physician, who huffed off yet finally “compromised” to the husbands request and gave the injection.

It’s not that the MRI is in any way shape or form a bad recommendation. On the contrary - it’s good medicine and we offer similar services as veterinarians on a daily basis. The “out-point” or incorrectness is the physician’s attitude on having to “stoop down” and discuss the case and share the decision. As veterinarians, I am proud to say, we do this every day in private practice, right? Now, how well we do this can make a big difference in the standard of our medicine, our euthanasia rate, and importantly, our Average Client Transaction (ACT) and profit of our practice. We call this shared decision model and the area that goes along with it Client Compliance.

Fact: Clients have the right to know what the costs of their pet’s care. We have the obligation to the pet to offer what is optimal care. Some times what we recommend can exceed their financial qualifications and we have to down-shift and create a new treatment plan. But many times, the client is qualified but just has some concerns or fears (objections) about our plan. This is where our client compliance communication skills come into play.

So before you start dropping your standards of care or giving away free medicine, empower your clients with these simple steps:

1. Present what you feel is the optimum treatment plan before you create the estimate…
2. Create the estimate that fits the clients understanding and wishes…
3. Walk through each line item on the estimate, handling concerns, comments, and objections as they come up.
TIP: Do NOT drop your interest level when the client voices their views!

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.

Interested in more information?

Attend the “SECRET TO BUILDING CLIENT COMPLIANCE” Free Webinar

I feel confident I can apply the formulas...

“‘Formulas for Business Success’ was an awesome course. It really lays out how to apply the formulas to our conditions and utilize them to make the statistics improve. I got a bit more comfortable with interpreting our statistics and changes in them over time. I feel confident I can apply the formulas in my business and in my life!”

Gayle Roberts, DVM; Practice Owner
Northwood Animal Hospital; Irvine, CA
Formulas for Business Success Course

The process makes more and more sense...

“Are you ever totally finished with the Management Basics Implementation Program? This is a program that continues to build and refine the things learned in class at VPS. It is a way to put mass to what you’ve learned as you continue to practice and do the things you’ve read about. And it is not over-whelming. Rather, as you are doing each week, the process makes more and more sense to you and your staff. Your business improves; your organization improves.”

Evelyn Bock, DVM; Practice Owner
Southwick Veterinary Hospital; St. Louis, MO
Management Basics Implementation Program

I suddenly can't imagine managing my business any other way...

“Wow! Wow! Wow! (Did I mention “Wow!”?) :)
I truly feel more equipped than I ever have before! I am confident that our goal of creating a more efficient and successful practice is an attainable goal! Thanks to “Formulas for Business Success”, I now have the tools to maintain up statistics and can work through down statistics. Additionally, I feel that I can more closely manage my staff and equip them with the same knowledge that they are in fact in control of reaching success. I suddenly can’t imagine managing the business any other way. I can hardly wait to get back to the practice to implement this valuable knowledge.”

Julie Camberg, OM
Northwood Animal Hospital; Irvine, CA
Formulas For Business Success Course

One would have the ability to control the direction of conversations...

“If one could have the discipline and presence of mind to take the skills from the Improving Business Through communication course and apply them even half of the time to your daily life, the world would be a better place. One would have the ability to control the direction of conversations and communication; one would be able to clearly discern the meaning and intent of the messages we receive; and one would have the gift of leaving people in a conversation on an ‘up’ note.”

Darlene Donszelmann, DVM; Practice Owner
Chinook Country Veterinary Clinic Ltd.; Olds, AB
Improving Business Through Communication Course

A great start to learning...

“This course really gave me structure that I can apply to the management of our clinic. It allowed me to feel “at cause” over situations that previously I felt I had no control over. A great start to learning how to better run our business.”

Julie Maarhuis, OM
Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic; Chilliwack, BC
Formulas For Business Success Course

Practice Tip 20 – Optimum Client / Patient Flow

Optimum client & patient flow –
An issue of control…

Ever have those wild days where a whole week’s worth of clients and patients showed up and left you and your staff stressed out and leaving late? Then, on top of that, had the rest of the week open? Many of us have experienced these crazy ups and downs in client/patient flows and the ensuing frustrations of increased staff. Over-time expenses and general confusion result in larger than we can handle flow. Some practices experience seasonal fluctuations of as much as 40 – 50 % leaving a practice incurring high over-time expenses in the high season and laying people off in the low season.

Underneath this phenomenon is an issue of control. The definition of control is “your ability to proactively increase or decrease something under your care”. In this case, it’s your ability to proactively increase your number of clients and patients flowing into your practice at any given time. Now I am NOT saying you can control everything. You still will have urgent care cases coming in and last minute drop-offs. But you can use your scheduling and activation marketing to exert a controlling influence to some degree.

Here’s how:

1. Define your high traffic day(s) by looking back over your schedule for the days during the week that were uncommonly busy. Mondays for example are often a very busy day from handling the backlogged weekend problems. Designate this as your “High Traffic Day”.

2. Don’t book elective surgeries on your high traffic day, but instead push these further out into the week when you have more time.

3. Book wellness exams (internal marketing) on non-high traffic days and at times when you are not swamped. Early afternoon is often best. Don’t book first thing in the morning or late afternoon.

4. Block off enough time for procedures. The best way to do this is to define each procedure by 15 minute blocks of time and cross these off in your appointment book or program. Tip: Block off more time than it actually takes you to do the procedure and you’ll end up with extra time to handle the urgent care drop-offs.

Summary: A practice running with poor client/patient control is a stressful practice that costs you money both from incurring over-time expenses and then having staff the next day sitting around with little to do. On top of this, practices running at optimal client/patient flow have fewer missed charges, less mistakes, and a higher Average Client Transaction. Put some control into your practice and you’ll find your optimum client-patient flow.