Opinion
First impressions and first visits set the tone for the future client-veterinary team relationship. Last week, we shared how veterinarians are addressing patient and client care at end-of-life and euthanasia decision points in Death and other client kindnesses <Link>. We agree, EOL support IS an important set of services to offer, provide or outsource.
“It is good to do better by clients and empower them to implement an end-of-life plan that offers comfort, peace and reassurance,” says Jessica Vogelsang, DVM.
The time and effort committed to EOL services begs questions about commitments to new and existing clients who adopt new pets. Veterinary teams must consider giving as much or more thought to establish onboarding guidelines for the clients of tomorrow and reposition themselves to act on them.
We subject healthy pets and their owners to 20-minute first appointments often without setting expectations and them send them out with packets, samples and bags of information with minimal follow-up until the next appointment.”
Is it any wonder alternate channels are commanding more attention and preferences?
Source: Animal Health Digest. Link. It is past time to consider onboarding clients with new pets as a multi-step process adjusted for owner knowledge and experiences. Doing so requires breaking out of transactional relationship modes to provide more tailored communications, progressive education and building ongoing, long-term relationships with the owners. Deploying virtual tools, veterinary nurse-techs, trainers, boarding teams and others in the extended pet care community flows naturally from the onboarding commitment.
INSIGHTS: Connecting with clients, setting expectations, establishing priorities and next steps, plus discussing the dynamics and cost of adding a pet to the family has a lifetime value that could amount to $6,000 to $10,000 in business <Link>, healthier pets and happier clients.