Your AHD team enjoys sharing Dr. Adam Little’s Exponential Vet posts. His focus about disruptive technologies and their impact on the future of veterinary medicine continues. He expresses concerns about the lack of flexibility in the veterinary hospital model. Source: Veterinary Advantage, November Digital, 2016, page 16. Practices need to be able to adapt and that requires … [Read more...]
Commit to really listening
We are more distracted than ever. Whether you are a veterinarian, retail associate, hospital staff member or sales representative, listening skills take effort and development. Too often, we get so busy or pushed that even skilled listeners just go through the motions. Dr. Moffett shares how to manage listening. Source: Veterinary Team Brief, April 2015. Genuinely listening … [Read more...]
B2B buyers want more than a discount
The mindset of B2C black Friday deals is pervasive. “This culture of cheap mindset also impacts the B2B world,” says Paul Reilly. “Buyers no longer request discounts, they demand them.” This culture-of-cheap mentality can make animal health pros believe they have little to no pricing control. They may believe that discounts are required to please customers. Source: … [Read more...]
Help keep pets safe during the holidays
There are never too many reminders to help keep pets safe during the holidays. Purina makes the effort simpler with a quick video, five tips and a downloadable template to mark hazardous items as “non pet-friendly.” There’s something here for clinic websites, blogs, counters and literature racks. Source: Purina, November 30, 2016. Purina vet, Dr. Zara, shares her tips for a … [Read more...]
Call groups help after-hours conundrum
Employees today don't want to work as many hours as they used to, points out Kyle Palmer, CVT. He thoughtfully discusses a call-group solution to after-hours service requests in equine practices. Source: DVM 360, October 11, 2016. Equine practitioners are stuck with whatever comes their way: colic, dystocia, traumatic injury and more. They’re often knee-deep in disaster … [Read more...]
Direct talk about discounts
Hilal Dogan, BVSc, doesn’t mince words. She calls for veterinarians to let their charges reflect their real value and quit discounting to receive warm fuzzies. Her approach and reasoning is direct and hits hard at self-worth. Source: Vetted, November 9, 2016. As a young new vet coming into this working world, I still have respect for the way things were done and greatly … [Read more...]
Approach conversations from your customer’s point of view
As veterinary professionals, we understand the importance of compliance and are committed to achieving that goal with every customer. Unfortunately, that perspective is often the biggest barrier to achieving our goal. Approaching these conversations from our customer’s point of view, rather than our own, will yield greater results. Source: Vet-Advantage, Livestock Edition, … [Read more...]
Effective strategies for winter calf raising
Winter weather is coming any day now. Luciene Ribeirio offers recommendations for improving results when raising calves in the winter. This content could be used in newsletters, blogs or websites. Veterinary clinic staff members and sales representatives can consider identifying a target group of customers where winter problems are well-known. Then, send the article by e-mail … [Read more...]
Winter brings lousy conditions, literally
“Lice are the forgotten winter parasite,” Jerry Bertoldo said. “They tend to ‘bloom’ during the initial surge of cold weather. Lice will be more obvious after calves are weaned, although their exposure may have happened as early as the calving pen,” he said. Source: Dairy Herd Management, November 10, 2016. Bertoldo said visual diagnosis of lice is challenging because they … [Read more...]
Editorial – Assemble a top-notch crash cart
Maybe I spent too long in marketing, sales and sales leadership. For any distributor representative, this article provides an awesome opportunity to have a targeted discussion about being prepared with veterinary hospital team members. Source: Veterinary Team Brief, August 2016. Preparation is key to performing well in any emergency situation, and nowhere is preparation … [Read more...]
Mobile greatly influences searches, purchases
Price transparency is truly in-hand, according to a recent survey that investigates how U.S. consumers use their smartphones in stores. 47 percent plan to use their smartphone to search for competitors' prices 36 percent will look up product reviews 30 percent will sign up to receive in-store promotions 28 percent will take pictures for future reference 16 … [Read more...]
Develop effective elevator pitches
Presenting yourself effectively is an important skill. Whether networking, interviewing for a job or meeting with clients, being able to concisely communicate what you do is a critical success skill. Source: Personal Branding Blog, November 3, 2016. Outplacement organizations tell clients that in order to be prepared for different kinds of circumstances; they must have both … [Read more...]
Mobile, tablets conquer desktops, laptops
And, that just happened. Last month was the first time more web pages were viewed on mobile and tablet devices than laptop and desktop machines. Source: Quartz, November 1, 2016. And, while the global smartphone market is slowing, manufacturers are still shipping about as many smartphones in a quarter as computer makers send out desktops and laptops in a year, and it’s … [Read more...]
Hispennials represent tremendous opportunity
Almost 60 percent of the 55 million Hispanics in the United States today are millennials or younger. Their shopping and buying habits are different than their non-Hispanic counterparts, according to the latest HispanicLink™ findings from IRI, a marketing research firm. Convenience and ease of shopping are important, as are online deals and in-store engagement associated with … [Read more...]
Spending on pet supplies drops
Pet owners were spending more on their pets last year. However, the supplies category suffered. Now, treat and premium food spending bodes well for assertive veterinary practices and retailers who focus on engaging their customers about nutritional value and overall wellness for animals. Source: Pet Product News, October 5, 2016. John Gibbons speculates that the big rise in … [Read more...]
How millennials are changing distribution
Distributors are re-examining their strategies as millennials become a populous and educated segment of the workforce, Michael Wilson writes. Their online purchasing preferences are reviving the need to practice consultative selling as distributors shift to meet customer preferences. Source: Industrial Distribution, October 4, 2016. Consultative selling refers to a method … [Read more...]
It’s dog food revolution
A series of three articles addresses the abundance of new dog foods and claims that now proliferate the diets marketplace. Why human food trends are changing how your dog eats – it’s a revolution. Should you really feed it to your dog? – demystifying life stage dog food. We demystify the lingo on dog food packaging and labels – no this, not that! Source: Dogster, … [Read more...]
Editorial – Carrier rate hikes will affect cost of goods
Minimum orders used to be commonplace in the animal health business. Not so today. In general, we have swallowed the costs of delivery in animal health supply chains. This is not true for those shipping products ordered from websites. In fact, it is common to see charges for shipping and handling on internet orders. The current boom of internet sales affects shippers, … [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...]
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...]
Pet foods questions need science-based answers
Pet owners sometimes blame pet food for causing an overweight pet. Pet obesity discussions generally follow one of two main themes: that many pet owners are in serious denial about their pets’ weight or that pet food may play a role in the pet’s obesity. Both lines of thinking originate because some pet owners don’t understand pet nutrition or the ingredients in pet food. … [Read more...]
But, I don’t want to sell
Ed Blach, DVM, MS, MBA, reminds us that veterinarians don't believe that 'sales and marketing' should enter the decision process for providing care that patients need in any way. But, if this is true, how should veterinarians communicate what they have to offer and what they recommend to their clients? Source: Is My Practice Healthy?, September 5, 2016. To help make the … [Read more...]
September is Animal Pain Awareness Month
The second annual Animal Pain Awareness Month is being sponsored this month by the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM). The IVAPM is a multi-disciplinary organization dedicated to promoting, enhancing, and advancing pain management in animals. Scheduled to coincide with human medicine’s Pain Awareness Month, its theme is “Because their pain is our … [Read more...]
Routine use of dry cow therapy under investigation
USDA National Animal Health Monitoring Survey data shows more than 80 percent of U.S. dairy herds managers treat 100 percent of their cows’ quarters at the end of dry off. Plus, almost all herds treat a majority of all quarters. This practice is now undergoing a reexamination of the use of antibiotics on dairies with the goal of using them responsibility and only for animals … [Read more...]
Catheters suspect in hospital-acquired infections
Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections most commonly originate from IV catheters and should be suspected in any patient with an IV catheter that develops systemic inflammatory response syndrome without an extravascular infection source. Adoption of hospital-cleaning protocols and standard operating procedures for clinical tasks enables all members of the veterinary team to … [Read more...]
Alternatives to in-house product sales
Alan Newport reviews the trend of product sales moving to sources outside of clinics. Though directed to livestock veterinary practices, the key points are valid for all practices. Source: Beef Vet, Fall 2016, page 24. Newport addresses three choices: Stop actively marketing drugs and supplies Write prescriptions to be filled from an online pharmacy Partner with … [Read more...]
Apply customer service principles to your vet business
Glenn Muske, North Dakota State University, looks at a veterinary businesses as a combination of retail store and service center. He suggests that emphasizing customer shopping assistance and customer service outside the exam room is worthwhile. Source: Beef Vet, Fall 2016, page 14. Muske tells people that helping a customer who walks in the door is tough without asking the … [Read more...]
The impact of pet food purchase frequency
Veterinary teams and retailers often struggle with managing pet food marketing opportunities. In addition to space and inventory concerns, ensuring the product moves out is critical to getting margin on sales. David Sprinkle shares that the frequency of pet food purchasing is a key factor to pet food retailing and target marketing. Frequency of purchasing affects everything … [Read more...]
Inventory availability critical to distributor relationships
Eric Jensen shares his thoughts on how customers value distribution based on a survey of wholesale distributors. The results place inventory availability nearly as important as relationships. Technical support ranked third, while delivery time and price ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Source: Industrial Distribution, August 12, 2016. If you are a distributor, while … [Read more...]
Staph: old problem, new threat
Staphylococcal infections have gained national media attention recently because of growing resistance to antibiotics. This lecture reviews the basics of staphylococcal pyoderma in dogs and cats. Resistance mechanisms are also discussed. Source: VetFolio, July 26, 2016. Broadcast Dates: August 1 - 14, 2016 (On Demand). Suggestions regarding how to answer your clients’ most … [Read more...]