EP17 - How to Improve Veterinary Client Experience

In this episode, we break down the real drivers behind client satisfaction in today’s veterinary landscape. From long wait times to uncomfortable cost conversations, small friction points can have a bigger impact on client loyalty than you might expect.

We dive into how modern pet owners—especially the next generation—are redefining expectations around convenience, communication, and overall experience. You’ll also learn how to approach treatment plans in a way that builds trust instead of tension, and why relationship-building in the exam room still matters more than ever.

If you’re looking to improve client retention, strengthen trust, and create a better overall experience in your practice, this episode will challenge assumptions and give you practical ways to rethink what your clients truly value.

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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:25 Do Clients Really Value What We Think They Value?
03:45 The Cost of Making Clients Wait
06:46 Handling Cost with Treatment Plans
10:17 Convenience and The Next Generation of Owners
12:29 Relationship Building in the Exam Room
13:56 Figuring Out What Your Clients Value
16:48 Outro 

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Okay, you ready?

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Do it.

Do Clients Really Value What We Think They Value?

SPEAKER_02 0:04

All right. Welcome to the Vet Practice Playbook, brought to you by Vet Practice Pro, where we talk all things veterinary leadership, management, clinic ownership, and more. I'm Dr. Emily King, and I'm joined by Caleb Biddles and Richie King today for another episode of the Playbook. Okay. Today, guys, we are going to discuss do clients really value what we think they value? Why are you laughing?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

I'm just going to go no.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

You're going to say no right off the bat, right? Kidding, of course. Um, because I think that there can be a discrepancy between what we think they value, or I guess when there is a discrepancy between what they what we think they value and what they actually value, then there's resistance. Right. And it comes across a certain way, like they don't want to follow through on our recommendations or whatnot. And so what do you guys think? Do you think that for the most part we understand what clients value? Are there things possibly that we forget about that may be of higher value than what I think everybody would assume, which is medicine and really good medicine?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

I think people pay for solutions. And I think that everybody's different. And I think it's really hard to lump everybody into the same basket because I think you have, you know, you have a hundred different people, you have a hundred different baskets, what they value, what they're what you know, what they're willing to pay for. I think generally speaking, people want a problem solved. So if you go in and your dog is itchy, you want to leave with your dog not itchy or something like that. I mean, so in that respect, I think that uh people are paying primarily for solutions. And then it's just a question of you know what how how much do they value those solutions or those recommendations and um and kind of go from there. I mean, some people are like, I don't care what it costs, do what you have to do, and other people are much more price sensitive. So it's kind of that, you know, that managing in between.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Yeah, I think that if you can I think the first hurdle is getting someone to accept your recommendation. And then once you get them to accept the recommendation, and then you have if you can solve the problem the first go-around, you're likely to have them as a repeat customer. Right. And they're likely to trust you moving forward significantly. So the question is like, how do you get them to trust you right off the bat? You know, when they may value and I think the point really is don't necessarily assume that everybody values what you do as a veterinarian, right? Which is things like clinical excellence and thorough diagnostics and gold standard care and advanced technology. That may not be the button that everybody is getting hit when you're, you know what I mean? Like as a client, yeah, that might be important, but they have seven kids and two of their kids just got on the bus and the other five are in the exam room, and they're gonna stab their eyes out if they're in there for 45 minutes. And so they would much rather have a 10-minute appointment than have a 45-minute thorough whatever, whatever, whatever. And so you need to be able to recognize those things in order to get them to follow through the first go-round. And then once you fix their problem, you know, now you've got buy-in and you're gonna have additional follow-through on the you know, on the next appointment, the next appointment, the next appointment.

The Cost of Making Clients Wait

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I think that has to do kind of the value proposition that goes with every transaction. I mean, whatever you pay, if you're satisfied when you leave, is I received more value than the cost of that value. So if you buy something for$5, but you got$6 worth of value, well, then it's a positive, it's a you know win-win. And I think that's where you run into trouble sometimes, is that you talk about time. If you go to a place and it's you've got a four o'clock appointment and it's 4 55 and you're still in the waiting room, you're like, okay, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

The value just is sliding down very quickly. And I think that's where where I would have been totally satisfied if I'm in the exam room at 401 and I'm out of there at 420 or whatever, you know. And but now, and I think that's operationally where you have to be careful because you could offer the best product. I may be willing to pay for that product. I'm I'm like, this is awesome. But if you make me wait uh in an inappropriate period of time, that value starts to slide, and then all of a sudden it's not worth what I would have otherwise paid for it. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I think that we had that saying at the clinic where three minutes feels like 15. Yep. And timely was one of our core values, or is one of our core values. So, you know, it was very important to us that we're the clients were seen on time, they were checked out on time. Like if if they had a 20-minute appointment, a 40-minute appointment, whatever it was, they were in and out within that time period. That's how important.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

We had to go in constantly and like update them. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

That helps so much. Yeah, communication is so big. Well, and that provides confidence in the provider, right? Right. You know, and that's also how you build the reviews that people are looking at and your reputation then and how people, you know, so how people talk about you again, which is all goes towards allowing follow-through the very first appointment.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

And I think communication is so huge because I've had situations where I've called and they're like, We're booked, but I talked to the doctor, we're gonna squeeze you in at 315. Right. And they come in there and go, okay, it may take a little longer because we're kind of squeezing you here, but we're gonna get to you as soon as we can. That's fine. You you accommodated me already. I know it's gonna take longer than I would have otherwise expected. So, and that's that's so huge. Because so often you'll just, I mean, they'll just throw you some. I mean, in in I've had cases where or consumer experiences where that's not the case and it erodes the value a lot.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Yeah, I mean, when they're waiting like that, it is you know, you're talking about like a downward slope. When you it when you know, if they're waiting too long and you're at the bottom of that hill, it's like pushing a sled up the hill to get them back to square one of like your like trusting you and listening to you and giving you their full attention, you know, like or coming back, or coming back.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

People don't understand is there are other people that could take care of the same thing that you do, yeah, and can and if you give them that opening to do it better, that's a problem. Yep. So you have to be really careful that you don't do that. I mean, that's any consumer experience, not just veteran.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Well, everyone, I mean, everyone time is so valuable. Like they're sitting there, they again, especially if they have kids in the room, they're like, just get me out of get me out of here. I gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

We all have appointments all day long, and yeah, so and there's that expect you know that the distinction between the expectation and what actually happens. If I expect I expect that if I've got a a uh an appointment at four o'clock, then I'll be within the exam room within a reasonable period of time. So I mean, I think it's really important. That's operational, it's much more operational.

Handling Cost with Treatment Plans

SPEAKER_02 6:41

So when clients um you know act surprised due to cost or act like cost is the factor that's keeping them from moving forward. What do you think are some other things that they could be thinking about like that really isn't pertaining to cost? Because I think that potentially having predictable, you know, conversations or systems to allow them to know to not be surprised. Like that's why we were we were so adamant about treatment plans and everybody knowing like it is not good if it's a surprise.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

No, like nobody should be surprised about anything. We had treatment plans for everything. I think it was like we set a rule of like$300 or more, everyone got a treatment plan, but I would say even I mean some clients need to be under that. Um, but there's no surprise. And if they can't afford it financially, that's fine. Let's go to step B and their treatment plan B. Um and that's fine, but we're gonna offer the highest standard of care. And if money is a concern, then there's other options.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

And I think people are willing to listen to that if you are transparent about you know, nobody likes that like bait and switch thing, nobody likes uncertainty.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Or if like doctor or the technician's making them feel bad because they can't afford it.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah. You hear that a lot. I've never experienced that. I don't know what that would even look like.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah. Yeah. One of the things that I learned early in my career was to try and tell people all the things that potentially could happen. Like, you know, so the uncertainty, so you minimize the amount of uncertainty so that if something did happen, then it's like, oh yeah, she said that. So like I remember the first time it dawned on me to do that was with a corneal ulcer. And I did not forewarn the person that, hey, listen, if this doesn't resolve, this can potentially happen, and then you're in this boat, and then this is what you got to do. And so I remember after that experience, and then being like, well, if I just would have known, I wouldn't have panicked. And it's like, all right, good point. You know what? I'm just gonna tell everybody. Like, I'm gonna forewarn, like, hey, listen, you know, if your dog doesn't stop vomiting, you know, this is our next steps, you know, or if it doesn't respond to this medication, you know, and we see this, or if you see this at home, it's you know what I mean? Like kind of just like eliminating some of the uncertainty, which then also I think creates trust. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

That's building trust because they're like, oh, okay, she told me this may happen. And if it does, this is the next step.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Yeah. Yeah. One of the greatest things that I think I've experienced is um a completely different industry. You go to the mechanic and you'll they'll say, You look, you can do this, but this will probably wait another 10,000 miles. I mean, I mean, I think that goes a long way to to helping them understand that you could put they could have pushed this, but you're like, uh, you know, you can wait until to do this here. Um, and just kind of um forming those relationships, like you guys say, building that trust. So that when you do recommend it, you're like, you really should do this. You're like, okay, I probably should do that.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Well, I think too, just even with the treatment plans, like you know, think of an annual wellness one. You know, if it's a two-year-old healthy pet and they can't afford the annual blood work, okay, let's skip the annual blood work to be able to pay for heart rump prevention, you know, like let's allocating funds. Yeah, and so I think that too builds trust of like, okay, they're not just forcing me to do all this because they're so money hungry, they want my money. Right. Um, it's helping them make the priority of what's best for their pet.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Yeah, that spectrum of care.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

And people do see through that. Yeah, they do see that perceived with whether it's intentional or not, I do think that that it's I could see how that perception could be formed pretty, pretty easily.

Convenience and The Next Generation of Owners

SPEAKER_02 10:12

I think also probably another factor, especially with the generation that's becoming the largest pet owner generation, is convenience. Yeah, is a major driver of don't you guys think?

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Oh, I think, yeah. I think I've always said don't make it difficult to transact. Don't make it so hard that I had a consumer experience last night. I went to website, I've already bought products from this website, and I go again and they change. I'm like, I don't know how to buy your stuff. I'm I want to give you my money. Right. But yeah, how to do anything. So it's kind of like, you know, it's that kind of thing. So make sure that that process is is uh is is operationally efficient and and you can save people time in that regard.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

I think even too, just thinking about how you schedule appointments. Yeah is it difficult for them? Right. Like, do you not ever answer the phone? Do you not have an electronic way for them to schedule? Yeah, online booking, like you do. Again, I'm gonna call you like probably on my lunch break in the middle of a busy day. Like, I want you to pick up the phone and I want to schedule an appointment in two minutes.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

There's a bunch of data that's been done because of now all the AI and online booking that's available in the in this generation. Harrison, what generation are you? Gen Z. The Gen Z generation wanting to do everything like after hours. Like, you know, so they want to be able to just go on there and book their appointment. They want to be able to leave a message, you know, this or that or whatever, request their prescriptions. You know, they want to be able to look at reviews because that's how they're deciding, right? How many times have we heard, oh, in our kids, you know, in this generation, oh, I'm gonna look at the Amazon reviews. There's a thousand Amazon reviews that have 4.7 stars or whatever. So they're looking at reviews. And so and Harrison just did an episode on social media. They want to see you on social media. Yeah, you know, that's another place they establish value.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I think I've provided one other of the podcast, but like my kids, even myself, I really don't use Google anymore. I'm using social media to search, to search. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Google's becoming, which is actually fascinating. It's becoming less and less important for me. I mean, because I can go and I'll I'll Google something, but then I'll get an AI response or something, and I'm like, this is more worth more than a static, just you know, whatever result that it gives you.

Relationship Building in the Exam Room

SPEAKER_02 12:24

So um another one, I think relationship building, yeah, right, is another thing that's social media? Which is a way of yeah, social media is a way of doing that. Who bends down to pet their dog? Who sits on the ground? I mean, I can't tell you the countless number of people who said that was something that made them feel good. Is I sat down on the ground and you know, or I talked to their kid.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

You actually even touched their pet.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

I touched their pet. Like, yeah, yeah, we heard that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Well, we heard that a lot.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Like, you actually like looked at my dog, and I'm like, what the what was happening in your other place of business that you went to last? Like, I'm like, what is happening?

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Like, you know, like Well and I've heard stories from friends too taking their pets, like one was even a euthanasia, and like she said, like the tech was great, like talked and like was sympathetic. The doctor literally walked in and like didn't say a single word, euthanized the pet, and was like, Okay, we're done.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

And so again, like she's like, I'm never going back there because of the doctor experience. Like, there's no relationship, no anything.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

Yeah, relationships really do build loyalty. I mean, that's what we've seen.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

And that's where really social media is play such a huge part because if you see somebody on social media and they do posts occasionally, you sort of get to know their personality, what they look like, how they talk, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Um we feel like you know them before you actually know.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

It's not you're not making that first impression the moment they walk in the door. And that's why it's so powerful, I think, for people to use social media in that context to try and give the public at least a little bit of familiarity with the people they're going to be dealing with.

Figuring Out What Your Clients Value

SPEAKER_02 13:51

So if somebody's trying to figure out what their clients truly value, right? Like how are we missing the mark or you know, are we are we doing a great job? Do we understand what clients value? I think there are a couple places they can look to determine that reviews, right? So read the reviews carefully, look for patterns in the reviews to say scared of the reviews. Don't be scared of the reviews, look and see what people are saying that's good, right? Like we never knew that there was such value behind opening the door until that's the main thing that gets mentioned on the reviews. It's like, oh wow. Okay, they value the door being opened. Like, I wouldn't have put that on top on the list.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

I just wouldn't have to start with but if you think literally everywhere you go, nobody's gonna open it a door anymore.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Nobody does it anymore. Nobody does it anymore.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

And you're do you're using those small differences to distinguish yourself from the competition. It's huge. And I think also another big thing to track are uh client referrals. Yeah, because they are walking billboards for your services. If you get zero client referrals, that could be a problem. I mean, so if you're not or you know, that's something we track that at the sources of of new clients and stuff, and it's it's a big deal. I mean, so something to watch.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

And then I would say like compliance patterns, right? Like so what the clients are doing in the exam rooms, um, what are they following through with, what aren't they following through with, like trying to establish one, are the patterns similar and are our processes across doc, especially when you're starting to when you you know, once you have more, in my opinion, more than three doctors, like you can have discrepancies between processes and follow through. And so, you know, looking for those things to see if there's any patterns there. Is there anything else you guys can think of that where they can kind of do some forensics?

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Well, are you growing?

SPEAKER_02 15:38

What'd you say?

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Are you growing? I mean, is the practice growing? I mean, if the same number of doctors have been there for the previous 24 months, I mean, what are your top line numbers look like? I mean, what do I mean how do you differentiate that based upon just price increases, the number of transactions? I mean that's that's one way to it's one thing to look at for sure for other reasons, but in that in that context for sure as well.

Outro

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Yeah, absolutely. The last thing I would add before we close is that I think we talked, and I don't remember if we talked about this the la last couple of podcasts or not, but I think that there's extreme value in not talking about cost but worth and value of things. So I think that clients there's yeah, there's their clients buy trust and clarity and confidence and emotional safety and convenience. Those are worth something, even though they don't have a dollar bill attached to them. And so talking about those things and with your staff and living those things, you know, with your clients, I think that's a huge place that you can then see follow-through or compliance increase. Right. Anyone have anything else to add? Uh no.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

All right. Well, we just encourage you guys to um check out our website, vetpracticepro.com, um, to look at all of our um courses and modules and workshops and consulting, all the time.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Every month we add something new to the library. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

So there's downloadables there too. So to help you guys with anything and everything uh vet related. And then also join our mailing list if you're not part of our mailing list, and also our circle community. So our circle community is a great resource for you guys for all vet professionals. Then you guys can get on there and vent, ask questions. We post some things on there, all of our podcasts are on there. So make sure to join that. And then um, but that's all for today's episode of the Vet Practice Playbook. We hope you got a few plays to use for yourself or for your clinic. If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with others, leave us a review, and check out vetpracticepro.com for tools and courses that can take your clinic to the next level. See you guys next week.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

I have a question about that.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

You guys like these types of episodes?