Most years, an average of 14 percent of your hospital clients will move. One percent will die and one percent will get seriously ill. Job loss will hit another 1.25 percent and 1.5 percent will divorce. Combined with a natural, annual attrition rate of almost 20 percent, it is important to prioritize how you will attract new customers. Unfortunately, that attention to new … [Read more...]
Editorial – Manage product deliveries efficiently
Amazon will soon deliver to businesses and homes. If we accept that a 2 full-time DVM equivalent veterinary hospital places 10 orders weekly to replenish its inventory, then it is likely that those orders will arrive in 20 to 25 different boxes. Some of these boxes come via UPS, FedEx, U.S. Postal Service and some from distributors or manufacturers. This can add up to three … [Read more...]
Be visible and contribute to your community
Ed Blach, DVM, MS, MBA, believes relationships matter and community visibility is important for veterinarians. He discusses trust, millennials and relationships based on his experiences. Source: Is My Practice Healthy?, September 26, 2016. Building trust with your clients is crucial to developing loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, and return visits to your clinic. … [Read more...]
Remember names with practice
Remembering names can be a challenge. Some remember faces, but struggle to put names with them. Still others seem to always know the person and name. Nicolas Cole shares his name recall strategy which is basically conscious repetition to affect short term memory. Source: Inc., September 27, 2016. What makes remembering someone's name so hard? Well, it's usually because … [Read more...]
Dr. Leah Dorman talks about antibiotics
Dr. Dorman shared a few insights on how producers can effectively talk with consumers about antibiotics ahead of the 6th Annual NIAA Antibiotics symposium. Her comments provide reasoning for handling antibiotic discussions. Source: NIAA, September 29, 2016. Dorman is the Director of Food Integrity and Consumer Engagement of Phibro Animal Health. In this role she provides … [Read more...]
Satisfy 2 clinic customers
Ed Blach, DVM, MS, MBA, reminds us of the dichotomy of servicing both humans and animals as veterinary clinic customers. The same is true of retail associates who deal with the public. He says veterinary teams must love to service humans as much as they love dealing with animals to be successful. Source: Vet Advantage, September 2016, page 20. The client experience is … [Read more...]
Payne talks about Compassion-First Pet Hospitals
John Payne, founder and CEO of Compassion-First Pet Hospitals, discusses the Mayo Clinic-like approach to veterinary care he envisions. This vision includes exceptional care for animals and the need for a positive experience for both the client and referring veterinarian. Source: Vet Advantage, September 2016, page 24. We have to be good listeners. Rather than thinking we … [Read more...]
Debate sparks help for interruptions
Trying to have a conversation these days is a challenge. Interruptions seem constant. The recent presidential debate is a prime example. Interruptions are familiar behavior on sports and news panels, in the workplace and at home. The question is, how do you even talk to someone who won’t let you get a word in or finish a pair of sentences? Source: Science of US, September … [Read more...]
You’re not free to move about the country
Stress-free flying sounds like an oxymoron. Consumer Reports’ Mandy Walker addresses the frustrations of high prices, endless fees, cramped seats, long lines and crazy connections. She shares strategies to fly saner, safer and cheaper. Source: Consumer Reports, October 2016. See: Secrets to Stress-Free Flying: Fed up with endless fees, cramped seats, long lines, and … [Read more...]
Medical nurses weigh in on veterinary technicians
The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) recently announced they have initiated the process of having a nationally standardized title of Registered Veterinary Nurse. However, the title change met opposition from medical nurses in Pennsylvania. Therefore, NAVTA initiated a study of medical nurse perceptions of veterinary technicians. Our team … [Read more...]
JAVMA, October issue now available
We have been linking to the table of contents for JAVMA for your convenience. It is also easy to access an abstract of one of the articles. Check the box next to the article Then at the bottom of the table of contents page – click this link: View highlighted abstracts on one page The abstracts matching your selections will be visible to you for your … [Read more...]
The latest from VetFolio can help connect reps with prospects, clients
VetFolio brings together the best educational material in the industry through the combined efforts of the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). They provide a one-stop resource platform for professional and personal advancement under a new way of learning—Continuous Education. Source: VetFolio, September 22, … [Read more...]
Kick your inner critic in the pants
In the post Self-talk is worth understanding, we offered two resources to address the inner self-talk that sometimes occupies and weakens our thinking. Dan Rockwell assertively approaches this topic by giving the inner critic a persona. He says, “Your inner critic believes you’re a failure and wants you to stay that way.” Various resources state humans have as many as 70,000 … [Read more...]
Self-talk is worth understanding
The responses to information about managing ourselves, teams and relationships continue to top the list of most-read posts at AHD. Bob Stahl explains how paying attention to your internal dialogue can free you from you self-doubt and help you become familiar with your own personal brand of autopilot. Source: Mindful, September 12, 2016. When you begin to bring mindfulness … [Read more...]
Vet tech coming. Plan now.
Tony Bennett recorded “Who Can I Turn To” in 1964 when it hit the top five on the Adult Contemporary chart. Like Bennett’s recording, veterinary technicians are a hit practices worldwide. They are essential and the primary point of contact with clients. Without them, who would our industry turn to? National Veterinary Technician week is October 16th to 22nd. Plan time to … [Read more...]
DVMs lie to themselves
Veterinarians lie to themselves, according to Dr. Andy Roark. He says, “There’s one particular lie that undermines the way we practice, communicate and provide patient care. It affects how we educate veterinarians and how we operate our clinics.” Here’s the lie: If we just tell average pet owners what’s best for their pets, they’ll do it. Source: Dr. Andy Roark, August 27, … [Read more...]
Manage the pressure to discount
A longtime, good customer you cannot afford to lose suddenly asks, “Can you get me a better price?” Now what do you do. In our experience, price discussions are really about value. This customer doesn’t perceive the value equals the price you are asking, has forgotten the value he’s already getting or has read the latest book about negation. Source: Harvard Business … [Read more...]
Avoid email time traps
Email is not dead, according to Jocelyn K. Glei, but it does kill our productivity. Recent projections suggest that worldwide email usage will grow by 12 percent in the coming years. Let’s look at the numbers and then learn how to manage this invasive digital necessity productively. The average person checks their inbox 11 times per hour, processes 122 messages a day, and … [Read more...]
Let’s talk discounts
This topic parallels our editorial - Toot your own horn. A growing number of veterinary practices and independent dealers or retailers are using practice or business managers to monitor the delivery of services and their residual profits. Discussing discounting behaviors is challenging. Tanja Mimica, of ConsultMates, believes there are four key things that make discounting … [Read more...]
OUCH! Prevent needle sticks.
The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center says more than 80 percent of U.S. farmworkers have accidentally stuck themselves with a needle while vaccinating animals. A study in Australia published in 2009, showed around three quarters (75.3 percent) reported suffering at least one needle-stick injury (NSI) in the previous 12 months, while 58.9% reported suffering … [Read more...]
5 tips to help you negotiate with liars
Research tells us that people tell one or two lies every day. Additional studies report that half of negotiators will lie when they have motive and opportunity. Even more studies tell us we can only correctly identify lies about half the time. Fortunately, scientific examination tells us that we can conduct conversations in ways that make it difficult for our counterparts to … [Read more...]
Editorial – Toot your own horn
Every day in a large percentage of veterinary practices, product is “given away.” Depending on the practice, most of these products are not recorded as a “sale at no charge.” This behavior contributes significantly to inventory shrinkage. As important, the value of the free goods is not realized by the client or by hospital staff. Additionally, hospital owners give away … [Read more...]
Number of AAHA-accredited practices continues to rise
The AAHA Standards of Accreditation were created to help standardize and promote excellence in care in the veterinary profession and for veterinary practices. Since 1933, these standards have been updated to reflect evolving industry standards. The enhanced standards were developed to keep these practices at the forefront of advanced veterinary medicine. Standards are … [Read more...]
A wink is not just a wink
Not everyone can wink. Whether using an emoji or contorting your face to drop an eyelid, winks are one of the most wide-ranging, ambiguous behaviors there is. Bottom line, you can’t really control how your wink is interpreted. Source: Science of US, September 19, 2016. The most popular interpretations: The wink was meant as a way of communicating thanks, or it was a sign of … [Read more...]
Veterinary medicine, lynchpin for One Health
One Health Day is taking place November 3, 2016. The campaign is designed to engage as many individuals as possible from as many arenas as possible in One Health education and awareness events, and to generate an inspiring array of projects worldwide. Veterinary medicine is the only profession that routinely operates at the interface of the three main components of One … [Read more...]
Find out if you’re a jerk
We don’t typically ask ourselves, “Am I jerk?” That’s because most people tend to know themselves relatively well. We know if we’re talkative or quiet. We know if we’re creative. Yet, we don’t yet have a full understanding of jerkitude. There is no scientific designation that matches the range of the application of the term “jerk.” It’s hard to determine if the guy who cuts in … [Read more...]
Real empathy is not about you
In our self-centered society, empathy seems like an outdated concept. Even caring individuals often get it wrong when trying to be empathetic to another’s situation. Genuine empathy is difficult because it is all about the other person – not you. Source: Gordon Tredgold, August 1, 2016. This is something that I still struggle with because as a confident person when I put … [Read more...]
National Wellness Week in progress
National Wellness Week wraps up this Saturday. It was launched to inspire individuals and communities to incorporate the eight dimensions of wellness into their lives. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration supports embracing these dimensions — emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual — to achieve … [Read more...]
Smiling depression is real
A subscriber sent this and commented, “This goes along with all the talk of suicide in our industry.” Smiling depression includes appearing happy to others and smiling through pain, keeping inner turmoil hidden. It is a recognized depressive disorder with atypical symptoms. As a result, many don’t know they’re depressed and don’t seek help. People with smiling depression are … [Read more...]
Dynamics of a practice going defunct
This is a very thought-filled piece about the times a corporate buyout goes bad. Christopher J. Allen, DVM, JD, offers many things to think about, including patient records, liability, controlled substances and more. Take special note of the discussion about whose name is on the orders for controlled substances. Source: DVM 360, August 5, 2016. Allen suggests that if a … [Read more...]