Tricks and Treats for my friends in the Lehigh Valley

Hey everyone,

Thank you so much for a great time at your manager's meeting (and big hat's off to Mary Ann 'MAZ' Zakeski of Merial for pulling it all together!)  I hope you found the material interesting and worthwhile.  As promised, here is additional information to help you and your practice succeed!

Cool video on monthly wellness plans for your clients.

Build SCRIPTS for your client service team members!  Here are two to get you jump started.  One is on diarrhea and another one on fleas.

Also, remember we talked about the NOLO worksheet available on Vetpartners?  Here's the link.  Just go to the page and click on the PDF on 'Avoid being a practice worth less'

I look forward to seeing all of you soon.   I'll be at Valley Central Veterinary Referral on January 26th for another discussion on Key Performance Indicators.  Also, keep an eye out for our Internet Marketing Wet Lab date with Brenda Tassava.  Internet marketing is no longer an option, it's a MUST and doing it effectively is your practice's only real chance of staying in the running with an increasingly competitive industry.  We will not let you leave until you've moved a mouse across a screen, Tweeted a Twitter and Rumbled a Tumbler.  Best of all five other industry experts will be on hand to lead small groups of five through the basics and best of how to optimally use these powerful tools.  Feel free to share any questions that you have regarding our last CE date (or any questions really).  I'm available here.

You don't need your training program

Outrageous?  Really?  Ask yourself, what is the goal of your training program?  If you’ve never asked yourself this question, yet gone on and created a training program anyhow, I’d argue it’s probably okay to toss it.  

I often call veterinary practices and ask them about fleas, diarrhea, euthanasia, you name it.  Invariably I get a client service representative determined to talk to me about the issue itself, but with no clear through line to the conversation.  It’s as though I ended up calling the Wiikipidia of veterinary medicine.  This is not the goal of your training program.  Your goal is this:  instruct your team members how to perform aspects of their job while advertising your mission statement in their words and actions.  Secondly, teach your team members how to educate clients that your products and services address their concerns and needs. 

All the brochures, all the reminders, all the infomercials we ‘train’ our team members to provide our clients are not the goal of any training program.  These are tools to achieve our ultimate goal:  demonstrating how our services and products answer client and patient need.  As you look through your training program, make sure that it does not end with a body of veterinary medical information…the life cycle of a roundworm, the vector for heartworm disease…but how these facts can edify a discussion on why a client should take advantage of the great service and the great medicines your practice offers.

Effective Client Communication at Pittman Animal Hospital in NJ

I'm an idiot.  I had the camera in my bag and didn't take a picture of practice, so you're going to have to take a look at this place using this link.

I was there yesterday.  It's one of those practices that screams service, great management and a progressive outlook even from the distance of the parking lot. 

The inimitable David Tanz of Merial was my sponsor and the Pittman gang my loyal, enthusiastic audience for a discussion on Effective Client Communication.  You know how you often encounter those 'silent' groups, unwilling for whatever reason to weigh in on a topic?  Not this group...even the medical director, Dr. Robert Harris, was in attendance (isn't it great when these busy practice leaders  acknowledge the importance of CS representatives and their work by attending these meetings?) and a vocal contributor.  

Discouraged by your current practice's culture?  If I lived in this area, I would high tail a cover letter and resume to this group.  This is the kind of practice the experts write about in the magazines.  I doubt openings make themselves available too frequently, but it wouldn't hurt to start a discussion with their practice Administrator, Judy, for future consideration.

Please make sure you contact me for more information on  my 'Effective Client Communication' lecture; a fun and engaging discussion that emphasizes our practice goals with every phone call and every client interaction.  My contact information is here.  Work strong fellow veterinary folk!