A lot of veterinary businesses are constantly fighting the battle between getting patients seen and problems being prevented, but what about achieving business growth? The difficulty in achieving business growth sometimes forces medical or veterinary professionals to focus on the numbers. In a veterinary business, we must remember it’s about the patients first and foremost. If you focus on the patient, you are naturally doing good business. Here are a few methods that can make a massive difference.
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Addressing Owner Expectations
The owner’s expectations need to be seen to, first and foremost. Your patient’s owner may have specific things in mind when it comes to addressing the underlying problems, so you don’t want to be seen to be putting a Band-Aid on the problem, only for them to return; you need to provide solid results with methodical practices. If a patient needs a digital X ray, but the owner is not so keen on having an X-ray for whatever reason, it’s important to remember that they will have specific expectations that may be at odds with what you really provide. Keeping that dialogue open and asking clients to say what they are thinking is essential because this will, in time, increase compliance.
Displaying Soft Skills
In the midst of stress, it can be difficult to display soft skills like empathy, however, we must remember that, for the sake of good customer service, we need to be clearer in our communications. The owners are going to be overwhelmed and anxious, and this is why we need to make sure employees are displaying soft skills like empathy and listening because it means that the owners will be more likely to follow your advice, which can make for a better working relationship.
Not Thinking About “The Numbers”
We may feel we’ve got targets to hit and this means the whole quality versus quantity debate comes up. If you feel you need to process a specific number of patients in a week, there can be that temptation to operate with a more conveyor belt approach. However, we must remember that when it comes to the numbers, it’s about ensuring that we get the basic needs met. A lot of the time, our attention is in the wrong place, especially when we are talking about building businesses. It’s not beneficial to think about the numbers, especially when someone is coming to the vet with their beloved pet on death’s door.
Effective Employee Feedback
To make sure that we focus better on the patient, we’ve got to remember that feedback is the most important tool. Learning how to give constructive feedback is going to make sure that employees know how to progress forward and deliver better service all around. Feedback is one of those things that needs to be done like clockwork. The best time to give feedback would be soon after a major mistake or event. Regular keep-in-touch sessions are going to help the employees feel like they are being listened to as well. Therefore, when employees are doing their best to give great service to patients, that sense of community and cohesion is vital so everybody can feel like they are on the same page.