Practice Tip 11 – Client Compliance and your quality of care…

THE FINE ART OF CLIENT COMPLIANCE
AND YOUR QUALITY OF CARE…

You may have heard the joke about the veterinarian who won the lottery - they practiced till the money ran out, right? At first glance this may seem amusing but without some skill in the art of client compliance there is some sobering truth to it.

Fact: Many veterinarians do what we do for the interest and activity of the medicine and surgery and with only a secondary regard for financial remuneration. When faced with client objections to our treatment plans we 1) take procedures off the quote and lower the quality of care, 2) don’t charge for procedures, or worse, 3) try and charge for them with out the client’s go a head (dangerous).

These actions ,if unhandled, can leave a practice that is delivering less than optimum medicine and dangerously close to insolvency. Euthanasia of pets with treatable conditions can increase as well (just look at Emergency Medicine these last couple of years). With out some skill we get trapped between what is best for the clients’ pocket book and what is best for our patients needs. So what is a solution? Enter the fine art of Client Compliance.

First realize that there are clients who DO want to and WILL spend money at your practice when they FULLY understand what you are trying to do. But in recession economies there is a lot of fear associated with spending any money not deemed absolutely necessary. Client compliance is the tool to use to remove invalid objections (I.e. the client is financially qualified but resistant to spending money) to your treatment plans and keeping your quality of medical care high. This starts with you being interested in your client and what the problem is.

Client Compliance Rule #1:
BE INTERESTED IN THE CLIENT IN FRONT OF YOU.
When you are in the exam room keep your attention there, not on things happening outside. Thousands of client surveys have told us that the number one reason they chose their veterinarian is they are interested and the care.

Client Compliance Rule #2:
DO NOT CONFUSE THEM WITH MEDICAL JARGON WHEN PRESENING YOUR TREATMENT PLAN.
A confused client will not understand what you are trying to do and will be unable to make a good decision. More often than not the decision they make will be to not go ahead with your treatment plan.

Client Compliance Rule #3:
HANDLE OBJECTIONS WITH MORE COMMUNICATION.
To do this takes time and you must block off enough time, ideally 30 minutes, for each client presenting a major problem with their pet. A detailed estimate in simple words will do wonders to explain everything that you are doing and will add value to your services in the eyes of the client. Work on getting agreements with the client for each of these steps. If the client is not confused and sees good value and they are financially qualified they will go ahead with your treatment plan.

So try this next time you go into the exam room:
1. Give yourself and the client enough time… a 30 minute consultation...
2. Be interested in your client…
3. Communicate clearly about what is happening with the case… Do not use ANY large medical terms that will confuse the client. Keep it simple!
4. Always print and work off a detailed estimate that breaks things down...
5. Get the client’s agreement on each step of the estimate…

If the client is financially qualified watch them give you the go ahead
And keep your quality of care high!


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

Questions? Give me a call.

Do the VPS Client Compliance Builder course.