EP20 - The 4 Moments That Define Every Veterinary Client Experience

In this episode, we break down the four key moments that define the veterinary client experience and how each one can make or break client trust, compliance, and long-term loyalty.

From the first impression at check-in to the exam room experience, checkout and financial conversations, and post-visit follow-up, every touchpoint matters more than you think. Small gaps in communication or workflow can lead to lost clients, decreased revenue, and lower satisfaction scores.

Whether you’re a veterinarian, practice owner, or veterinary team member, this episode will help you identify opportunities to improve your client journey and create a more consistent, high-quality experience.

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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:30 Why Client Experiences Matter
08:12 Key Moment 1 - First Impressions
13:03 Key Moment 2 - Exam Room Experience
16:07 Key Moment 3 - Checkout and Finances
18:49 Key Moment 4 - After the Visit
26:05 Summary and Outro

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:10

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 with John and Caleb Iddles. Hello. And today we're going to have some exciting conversation about how great medicine isn't enough and that you really do need to create a client experience that is going to drive loyalty.

unknown 0:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

So excited for this topic.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Yes, because it's all controllable. I love controllable things. Yes. Things that are in your control. Okay. Yes. So.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

So before we get into that, make sure you are checking out vetpracticepro.com where we bring you tools, conversations, and frameworks that help clinics move out of survival mode and into intentional leadership. Make sure you're on our email list, follow us on social media, and don't forget to join our circle community. Emily, you want to tell them about Circle?

Why Client Experiences Matter

SPEAKER_03 1:00

I can try. Circle is like a Reddit and Facebook and all together into one. You can post questions, you can solicit for information. You can talk about how bad your day was or how good your day was. Or if you want an opinion on something, like we just had someone ask an opinion about um Veg and working there. And so you know it's a great little community, and we're very happy about it. So join it. Absolutely. Okay, on to the main play. All right, so I'm gonna paint a picture here really quick. A client walks into your clinic, no one greets them right away. The phones are ringing, the team is busy, they sit down unsure of what to do next. The appointment itself. Well, maybe it was medically excellent. The pet gets great care. So I mean, isn't that what we're doing every day? We're just trying to get the animal the care it deserves and needs. But when they leave, when the client leaves, something just doesn't quite feel right. Something feels off. So here's the hard truth. Clients don't come back just because you practice good medicine. I actually just had a conversation with someone about this last night in the mastermind. And that this is a new grad who's been out almost three years now. And she was like, I did not realize how many other things you have to do besides just practice vendors. Not a little bit of a good idea. She was like, I did not, yeah, she was like, I did not realize how much work you have to put into the relationship building. And I was like, Yes. It is real, it is, it's way more than I think people know. And so um, so they come back because of how you made them feel. And that's what we were talking about last night as well. So today we're talking about how to create a client experience that actually drives loyalty, not just satisfaction, but the kind of loyalty that keeps clients coming back, saying yes to care and recommending your clinic to all the people that they know.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yep. Yep. So why does client experience matter so much? Um, so I think, you know, veterinary medicine medicine has changed some. Clients are expecting different things. Like you were saying, they don't just want good medicine, they want um an exceptional experience, they want convenience, they want communication, they want relationship, and they want to feel heard. So um, and you know, whether we like it or not, um, they're comparing us to every other experience. And we've talked about that at All Star all the time. Like somebody literally could have just came back from Disney World or Disneyland, had the best experience ever, and then they pick up the phone to call us for an appointment and we're nasty, we're mean. Like, you know, they're comparing us.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

They're comparing us, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Or Chick-fil-A, everyone always compares to Chick-fil-A. So they're always comparing us.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

And that's because at the heart of it, veterinary medicine is a service industry.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

Like, and so you can think you're in medicine, which you are, but some days that might feel secondary. Yeah. Because you really are serving the people that own the pets.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

And so they're comparing us to every service experience that they have.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

And I think too, even now, like online booking, um, everything's done online. They can order their food online, they're order their clothes online. So, how easy is it for them to get a hold of you know the clinic to schedule an appointment or whatever? So it's that's always a comparison game. So I think people forget that in the veterinary world of they just think it's a different, but they're comparing you to everything. Walmart, Chipotle.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Thankfully, human medicine has made it easy for us, and we look pretty good compared to human medicine. That is true. When they compare us to their doctor and they're like, Man, I wish you could be my doctor. You're like, no, you really don't.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

I do not want that. I had a customer experience situation this week that was so poor. Oh, I want to hear about it. I love so angry. So did Richie. Okay, I want to hear about it. Jesus. I went to another store next to it. Jesus made me go back in there and apologize for how I walked out. Because I said, I hope you sink, I hope your entire business sinks. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Did you really?

SPEAKER_00 4:58

But they really honestly they they were like, it's not like they broke something very expensive of ours, and they're like, it's not our fault, it's the machine's fault.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

They didn't do anything necessarily wrong. It was the the environment, the way they made me feel, and they had no respect. Most importantly, they had no respect for my time. They thought it was all about money, and they had zero respect for my time. So, as clinic owners, um, being expedient yet thorough uh is so important because some of these people, their time matters more than their money or even their pet, you know. Uh so I just wanted to say that because I just did it this week in a business that starts with the batteries and ends with a plus, but I won't say the name. I won't say the name with these two guys.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

Oh my gosh. You know, it's so fascinating to me. Yeah, I it's like it's still your responsibility.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Like it to ensure that the customer is taken care of. Like, I don't understand that.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

I took a key fob in real quick. I took a key fob in to get programmed, and it has the emergency key, and you have to cut it. Well, they didn't even check to make sure that their programming tool would program this key, and they started cutting the emergency key. Well, the key exploded in their machine. And they said, Hey, we annihilated your emergency key. We're gonna have to order you a new one, and then you're gonna have to go 45 minutes away to a different store for them to program it.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Oh my god. Oh, yeah, it didn't go well.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Oh no. So, anyways, good thing that I had my daughter with me. I had some conviction and went back in there and apologized for telling them that they were stupid.

SPEAKER_03 6:34

Sometimes, though, that's the only way you learn, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I mean, it's all right, everybody's happy.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

So you lost trust.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Yes. Yes, yes, you did, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

So, experience, if you have a good experience, you're gonna have trust. The clients are gonna trust you, and then trusting, you're gonna have compliance and loyalty. They're gonna take care of their pet the way they should be taking care of their pets. So um, they say yes to the recommendations, they come back consistently, they refer their friends. Um, so yes, make sure that client experience is good so they trust you and bring their friends. And I think people confuse it with being nice.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Like people say, you know, well, we're nice. It's like, well, that's not all that's if that's the bar, right? Like, like it's not a bit that's not a very tall bar to get over. Like most people are pretty nice. Like if you walk into a clinic and they're literally mean, like just turn around. Right. Like that's like you're way down here, you know. Like you don't need to put yourself through that type of like torture. You know, the nice is like zero on the scale. Like, you know, like you gotta go above that.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

I would say it's a good foundation to build off of yes, you gotta be nice before you can do anything else. Because if you're not nice about it, you can be competent. Yeah. But I will say in human medicine, I've had some doctors with the worst bedside manner ever. And the patients will tell you, and I'm like, hold on, but this is this is still the guy you want. Right? Yeah. Rather than the one that's really nice, but you wouldn't trust them with anyone, with anything. With anything. So they're nicess is a good foundation.

Key Moment 1 | First Impressions

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Yes, absolutely. All right, so we basically came up with four key moments um that define the client experience. So let's break these down. That we think these kind of really are like the things that matter most. So if you had to pick a couple of things, these would be picked from this list.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Yeah. And they're super easy to change.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

Okay. Number one, Kayla.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

First impressions. So, yes, starts with the before the client even walks in. So the phone, your front desk, how are people answering the phones? Um, are they warm and fuzzy or they you just know they're busy? I deal with this um, it's a secular business, it's not even a vet clinic, but I hate calling this place and I have to call them every week. And she's the customer service lady is so mean. And every time I'm like, why do I have to call this place? And so I'm trying to find business elsewhere because of how she answers the phone.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

And so be very mindful of there's that whole saying, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Answer the phone with a smile because like when you're smiling, like your tone, like I don't know, there's something about like if you talk like this, like, or if you smile, like it's different for whatever reason. When you smile, your tone changes.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, everyone always made fun. Well, you've made fun of me, and my daughter's made fun of me too, of like, you have such a like, why don't you talk to me like that?

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Oh, our marriage would be top freaking rated if she would just talk to me in her client service. Oh, there you go. Client service boy. Thank you for calling us our veterinary clinic. This is Kayla, and how may I help you? Oh, yeah. I just get what's for dinner.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

So, you know, what one of the things I'm really passionate about is getting phones out of the lobby. Yeah. And even in today's world, there's still clinics that have phones in their lobby, in their front reception area. And of all the things you can change right off the bat, that's one. Yeah. All you got to do is take somebody and put a phone in a different area and just pretend like there's, you know, like you don't need to have phones there. You can answer them someplace else because you are setting that person up for failure who's answering the phone. Yeah. They start their day and all they do all day long is disappoint someone. Yep. And and they get to choose who a lot of the time. But a lot of the time the person they choose to be do to disappoint is not very happy that they're disappointing them. So whether it's the client coming in the door and you're answering the phone, you can't say hi. Now the person's sitting there for five minutes because you got long-winded Linda on the phone, you know. And so, you know, or vice versa. You can't answer the phone for the emergency because somebody's walking through the door and you're greeting them. I'm just like, this is not rocket science. This is something very easy to change. Get phones out of your front lobby.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yes. Yes. That is hands down the number one thing I would tell people to do.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Mm-hmm. And my second thing would be if you really want to throw caution to the wind, get rid of your front desk.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yep. Get rid of the barrier desk.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Get rid of the barrier.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

You have people freaking out out there.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

You know, the barrier.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

That's what they hide behind it. Oh, it is. You hide behind it. That's what they hide behind.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Like, if you have the reception, you can't change that right away. At least make it a mandatory thing that the um receptionists stand up. Like that was one thing before we got rid of the desk of standing up. At least stand up. If you can walk around, um, we just hated that barrier. And again, you're all going back to the customer service. What are we doing that's exceptional outside of any other business? Um, so you're not just stuck behind that desk.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Yeah, because I think people feel instead of feeling greeted, which is why we ended up calling it greeting, they feel like they are an interruption to your day. If you come in and you're on the phone, you feel like you're interrupting the person on the phone.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

That is not the best way to start the customer experience.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

And I don't want to go down a crazy rabbit trail before we move on to the next point. But even if you get rid of your business phones at the front desk, you need to have a policy making sure you're also getting rid of personal phones at the front desk. About the time you do all this work, hire another person or two to answer phones to get them out of there. You you the same feeling comes of somebody scrolling on their phone or doing personal stuff on their personal phone.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Absolutely. Absolutely. So uh first impression set the emotional tone for everything else that follows.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

So those I think immediately you're gonna be like, oh, this is terrible. I'm just gonna leave. Or like, oh hey, they opened the door for me.

Key Moment 2 | Exam Room Experience

SPEAKER_03 12:27

Like, what is this place? All and that one feeling propels the entire exam. Like, you know, as far as follow through, as far as tell me more on what else is gonna happen when I'm here, you know. And so then what's the next oh, I'm I'm in an exam room? Oh, wait, who's coming in next? Oh, yeah, you're offering me whatever, water, yeah, coffee? Like, what's happening here? You know, you're giving my kid a coloring book? What shows too? I mean, like, you know, it's just like it's like a continual, like, you know, positive deposits in that emotional piggy bank. Absolutely. Okay, John, number two.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Number two, the exam room experience. Uh, this is where you build trust or lose it. This is where competency has to meet niceness, where customer service has to meet excellent, excellent clinical skills. And um, you really, really, this is where communication is key, where you have to be very clear explanations, but you have to the clients want clear explanate explanations. They want to feel heard. Half of communication is listening. And a lot of times I think in it's very easy to get caught up in the pace of things and wanting to go things real fast where they don't have time to answer their questions or feel heard. This is where trust is built or broken, in my opinion. You know, it can be at the front door, but you can do all this exceptional fluff around that doctor, around that tech. But if they're in the room and they don't feel like they're in a safe place for them or their pet, you're gonna break trust and none of that other stuff is gonna matter, in my opinion. You guys have things to add.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

I I was just gonna say your body cues, you know, like I was telling you guys about the one book, you know, and it's so relevant how you stand in the room. And Kaylee had mentioned in your notes, like sitting in the room, you know, so many clients had um talked to us about getting on the floor with their pets and how much they value like that showed and interest and what was truly going on. Um, but if you're facing the computer instead of facing the client, you know, um, you know, saying simple things like, I'm gonna put this history in. Um, so just give me just one moment so they know that you're not ignoring them and then turning around and giving all your attention to the Well and I think too, one thing I always thought of too is like again going back to the reception desk, because most exam rooms have like the L shape.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

So most technicians will just walk in and stop, but like getting outside of that barrier again and at least acknowledging the pet, getting on the ground, giving them a pet, um, and not just going in, standing and looking at the computer and start typing.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Right. Right. There's kids in the room, acknowledge the kids. I had to get out of the habit of standing with my arms crossed.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

I'm bad about that.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Um, which is a signal for like I'm not listening, you know, um, a body language signal. So, you know, I think there are if you can learn also about those things, I think, you know, it's a lot of people spend a lot of time thinking about why didn't they follow my recommendation? You know, um, and a lot of it can be the cues that we're giving off and the signals that we're giving off in an exam room that we don't even realize are a factor in terms of owners following through on our recommendations.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Yeah, and it may be something small, like a little skin issue that may not be important to you. And but if you act like it's not important to you, they're gonna feel like it's not important to you. And that's maybe one of the whole reasons they came in. Right. And so now you're trying to charge a premium fee for a premium experience and they're walking out feeling like what was important to them didn't matter. So even the things that you feel may not be that important or that much risk to the animal, if it's important to them, it needs to be important to you. That's a great point.

Key Moment 3 | Checkout and Finances

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Okay, number three, checkout and financial conversations. This one is probably one of the most stressful points for clients, but it's also one of the ones that's most overlooked. I think you can destroy a lot of what you build in the experience by not handling checkout and financial conversations correctly. And so what often happens is you're in a hurry or the technician comes in after the doctor leaves and they're like going through everything really quickly. And so um, there can be then confusion about the charges. So not taking the time to just sit for a second and ask, do you have any questions? You know, and financial conversations are awkward in general. Nobody likes talking about money. And so um, I think understanding that when you start the conversation is really helpful. And then again, being able to pick up on what that person is feeling by when you're talking to them is also helpful in terms of how you drive the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

I think too, if you're doing the exam room well, the client should already have an idea of how much everything is going to be. So checking out shouldn't be a surprise when you give them that final bill because they should have an idea.

SPEAKER_03 17:17

They should have already had a treatment plan. Um yeah, there should absolutely be no surprises.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

And then two, you know, going over each line item before giving the final. So don't just walk in there and be like, okay, it's$854 today. And then just give me your money. Like they need like, why is that$800? Like you did three things. How's that$800?

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Um that's so funny. And and not apologizing.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

So many people want to apologize for the cost of veterinary medicine, and I don't know why. I I rack my brain.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

This is all a comparison to human medicine, which could get really tricky.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

And into a big rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

But yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Um my biggest thing with what we changed was do not have reception checkout your clients. Yes. Again, one simple thing to take home is do all your transactions in the exam room. Um, we always have the technicians or assistant do it. Again, they're the ones doing the appointment. They know exactly what happened. They know what tests were done. There's no questions. Um, and if there are questions, you're in a private room, you're not out in the lobby when other clients are trying to come, the phones are ringing, the client's mad about their bill. Like again, you're setting on that reception up for failure. Um, so do it all on the exam.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

You can do it all right there. They can reschedule their the they can schedule their recheck, they can forward book, which you should all be doing.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

That's the next topic.

Key Moment 4 | After the Visit

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Oh, it is? Okay. So look forward thinking. Forward thinking. Oh my gosh. Yes. Okay. So should we move on to number four?

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Yeah. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

All right. After the visit. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So kind of what you mentioned, um, forward booking is so powerful. Um, one thing we always talked about was I'm gonna go ahead and schedule my next. So I'm there for an annual, I'm gonna go ahead and get them scheduled for their next annual. When it comes that time, I'm more than likely to just rearrange my schedule to show up for my annual. But when I get text reminders of, hey, your pet's due, I'm not calling. I'm really not. Like I got text for the dentist for like four days. I still haven't called.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

So um Yes, if you the appointments on the book, I mean, it is, it's so much more likely to happen. Yeah. And it builds your schedule out so that you have annuals, you know, like from a financial security perspective, you kind of can see where your revenue is going to be coming from as you look out into the, you know what I mean? So, like, oh my God, we have 15 annual appointments. We need to probably move. So then we came up with strategies to not put more than five annuals in the morning, five annuals in the evening for a doctor so that they would have sick appointment slots. But it helps you like organize the day that way so that you have workflow. Yeah. You're ahead of the wave. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Yeah. So like all rechecks are rescheduled. Again, they're not gonna call to get them in for a recheck in two weeks.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

And I think that it's the best medicine. You by not scheduling forward scheduling, people are like, oh, it's all about the money to forward schedule. And I'm like, why does everything have to come back to it's all about the money? Couldn't it also be that it's about making sure that the pet doesn't have a lapse in treatment? So, labrella, for example, it's best medicine for the pet to not go without labrella. So, why would I, as a practicing clinician, not want to schedule the pet every 30 days? Right. That's what I want. I don't want the pet to be miserable. You know, animals' brains, the way they work, they are painful on one day. That's all they know. Is they're not going, oh yeah, in three days I get my Labrella injection. I'm gonna be okay. That's not the way they're thinking. They're thinking I'm horribly uncomfortable today. I they don't think like people do. So I don't want them to have a lapse in coverage. That's good medicine. Oh, yes, and also it's good for the business because again, now we don't have to find a spot to work them in where then we have the chance of having a poor experience because now we're rushed. Yeah, or we forget something. Or, you know, so I think that um some of these strategies are are genuinely about better patient care. And I think it's all in how you talk about it with clients, with your staff, with everybody.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and then callbacks too are a big thing. Oh yeah. Yep. Um which again, you know, we've any rechecks, even annual exams. Sometimes we would call and just check on and see how their pet's doing. And you know, a lot of clients were like, Oh, like you're actually calling to check on me or my pet. Um, surgery follow ups, we had surgery even that night. Like if they went home, um, one of the doctors would call them that night and check on them.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Um Yeah, because the research shows they have the most questions the night they the the pet is discharged from the hospital. So then it's a text message at night through our app and So it's coming from the clinic. So they don't have to worry about using their own phone. And it's like, hey, how are they doing at home? Now that they're home after surgery, do you have any questions? And it's it's that's that's huge.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Right. So again, you're building that trust and relationship and making that client experience a good one. So they come back.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah. I wouldn't make sure that there's access to the clinical competency if the doctor's not the one making those calls that a person has something, that if they have questions or they have a concern that you have somebody to do something about it. Oh sure. Because we're talking about trust and we're talking about client experience. Why did you call me? Ask me if I have issues. I tell you my issues, and then there's nothing you could do. Nothing you could do about that is annoying. I've had this happen to me before, and I was in extreme pain, and there was nothing they could do. Call back tomorrow. Well, then why are you calling answering my phone? So yeah. And and I'm saying this because this has happened years ago and I remember it. And it's the way you make people feel, it's about your competency, it's about your trust. And I quit going to that dentist because of it. So, you know, those are the type of things on the consumer side that you really, really need to put yourself in their shoes and walk through it.

SPEAKER_03 23:10

Well, yeah, and that's why the doctors are the ones that text after surgery, because you're exactly right. What is a a technician's gonna have to reach out to a doctor? So let's skip the step.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yep. Now it's a second phone call, now you got to call me back, all these different things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Yeah. And you know, and then the next thing people listening will say, Well, that's just gonna burn out veterinarians, right? Like, oh, now they're working at night. And I'm like, these are five minute interactions. You send home three surgeries, it's three messages. Yep. And it is, and I don't think that at some point you're a physician. Like those are the obligations, you know. Like now, if you don't want that experience for your clients, that's totally fine. I totally get that too. You know, I'm just talking about building an exceptional client experience. These are the things that you do to build an exceptional client experience.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

They at least need to call them the next business day.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Oh, absolutely. At a minimum.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

If you don't want to do the evening thing, that's fine, but at least reach out to them to see how they did overnight.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Another thing that burns out veterinarians is three or four different next day follow-up appointments unplanned over questions that could have been addressed from home or the night before that they got to try to work in. So there's so many different angles you can look at that. Right. That veterinarian can go to bed knowing that, hey, their patients and clients are taken care of, their questions are answered. End of a day, let's go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

Yeah. Yeah. It's great. And if something happens the next morning and and that that client is like all in. Yep. If you're like, we need to recheck the kidney values, I'm not happy with how he's feeling. And there could have been something that they're all in. Yep. Yep. They're all in. They're not, you know, like so it it does so much to further your ability to practice medicine.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

You're in a win-win. If you catch one of their concerns by the follow-up call and you address it, you win. If there's no concerns, but you still call to follow up, you win. You win. You don't lose by doing that.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Yeah. Yeah. I I love the callbacks when on sick patients. Yes. You know, because the other advantage to that is you as the clinician seeing the results of your care. Yeah. So as you, as and this was extremely helpful for me as a practicing veterinarian in the first half of my career because we practiced medicine a lot like what's happening now. So spectrum of care, meaning like people didn't have money for diagnostics necessarily. So we were guessing that we might treat this way, and then we would see response to treatment. Well, you don't know unless you call and talk to them. And so then you start to build patterns. And so then you can recognize patterns and go, okay, the last 10 patients I had that were like this, this is the what I did, and this worked, and then this was the outcome.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

And so then that really helps with, you know, this type of situation we're in helps explain to the clients why you want to do XYZ. And so, like over the years, I've noticed, you know, these things worked.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

So Absolutely.

Summary and Outro

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Okay. So I think really we gave him what four, four good things. So really we just encourage them to pick one thing this week to hopefully change, um, whether that's greeting clients faster, moving the phones away, um, doing callbacks, anything like that.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

So um I love what you wrote about training your team one simple phrase. Yes. What would you say that simple phrase is we we made ourselves do this over and over and over and over again. And it was the only thing allowed to come out of people's mouths.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Yep. I'd be happy to help you with that. So every phone call, every client that came in is instead of yes or okay, sure, let me see.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Let me check on that. Let me see, let me check.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Yep. It was nope, I'd be happy to help you with that.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

I'd be happy to help you with that.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

And that could be you actually helping them. Yeah, it was kind of like a Chick-fil-A pleasure thing. Um, but again, that client experience is like, oh, okay, they're gonna take care of me. Whether it's me personally taking care of them or going to get somebody to help me take care of it.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

Yes. That is it, right? They're calling with a problem typically, whether it be they're scheduling an appointment or they have their pet has an actual problem or they just need to leave a message, they have a problem that they need solved. So by saying that, I'd be happy to help you with that. You solve the problem.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Right.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

And even people will be like, oh, do we say that for a euthanasia? You know, yes, you do.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Yep. And again, it's just a reflection of your voice. You're not gonna be like, oh gosh, I'd be so happy to help you with that. Like, I mean, we I mean, yes, we talked about satisfied. Yes, yes, we did talk about that. Change your tone of voice and the reflection, like you're not gonna be excited to say that to them.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

But oh my gosh, that's so true. So clients may forget what you said, but they will never forget how your clinic made them feel.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

And that feeling is what drives loyalty, and loyalty is what builds a thriving, sustainable veterinary practice.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

We made it sound simple.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

I know.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

If you have questions about it though, throw it in the circle group. We'll be happy to group.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

I mean, there's just so many ideas that, yeah, I mean, we could talk on this for hours.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

I know it's one pot topic I think that we're very passionate about because we were able to see the fruits of the labor, right? I mean, it just really did transform. And I think it made a better employee experience.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

I think what's wild is once you do this and you do it well, whether, you know, if you implement it as part of your practice, the way you measure customer experience in the world changes forever. You can tell who has it and you can tell who's not even close. You can tell who's trying and still failing, you can tell who's getting there. Yep. And it's a lot of times you won't notice it until somebody that changes ownership or changes leadership. And you'll walk into a place that used to be abysmal at best, and it's like, how can I help? What can we do? Okay, now you got me. I'm back. You know, and there's there's just there's so much that opens your eyes when you can really get a hold of it. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 29:02

Here's my one PSA. If you're looking for a job in a veterinary clinic, go sit in their lobby for 10 minutes. Yeah. And you right? And see of these four things, how many you see? Because that will tell you a lot, a lot about the culture. Yep. And so that is I get asked that all the time from the students. How do I know if a clinic's a good go sit there. Just be an observer. Show up early for your appointment, 10 minutes early, and just sit there and watch what happens. The five senses. Yeah. Go check that out on Vet Practice Pro. That's absolutely thankful.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

All right. So that's it for today's episode for the vet practice playbook. Um, we hope you had 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. We'll see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Have a great week.