Bashing off to another VHMA Conference!
By Dash Halow

From the moment I stepped into the Legal Symposium at the start of this year’s VHMA conference, I knew I was in for an amazing experience.  Led by renowned, industry attorneys, America and Canada’s most eager managers sat for an entire day of learning about human resource law. For those of you that have never attended a symposium (this was my first), this is a day-long immersion in the finest details of law regarding hiring, firing and interviewing, but the best comes in the last half of the lecture.  After they pack your brain with all of the particulars on federal and state labor law, they present actual case studies that happened to practice owners and managers!  Everyone has a chance to work in groups with other attendees to figure out what you would do and then the instructors guide you through the correct way each case was ultimately handled.  In attendance were some of my very best VHMA friends, Ronald Sells, Marvin Roeder and long time friend Debbie Hall.  Thanks to VHMA executive director, Charlene Shupe for a knock-out-of-the-park day of learning.

As I mentioned above, the Program Committee tacked the Symposium onto the front end of the VHMA Conference as a way to lower costs for attendees and WHAT a conference!  Now I’m not privy to the survey that attendees turn in at the end of each lecture (those are collected by VHMA veterans Jason Cunnington and Martin Doyon), but the word I had from friends was that the technology, emergency referral, and owner-manager lectures that were presented on Saturday morning were a huge success.  I can endorse the reviews for John Nash’s lecture on the owner-manager relationship that included one of the most lucid explanations of the Mission/Vision explanation I have ever heard.

But the weekend was not all work.  The CVPM harbor cruise anchored the success of Saturday (anchored the success…oh I tell you…sometimes I just have to hug myself!) as one of the all-around best days of education and fun I have ever had at one of these events.  Basically the recipe they used for this event was this:  Place 40 + CVPM managers on a boat, add a heaping round of applause for those of our colleagues new to the CVPM ranks, a misty-eyed pinning ceremony, a lip smacking buffet and you have a winner!  Oh, I almost forgot.  Right after the pinning ceremony, stir in 6 cases of wine, a few cases of beer…that step, while not critical, gives the whole night a flavor you don’t want to forget.  Just ask my new friends I made that night Shelby Johnson, Janet Stewart and Sharon Savage (PS, Janet… as we agreed, mums the word on the details of the dancing and that unfortunate stumble overboard, but I wanted to let you know that I DID find your one shoe and your glasses!  I’m Fed-Exing them to you this AM. Kisses!).  Thanks too to my dear friend Andrew Pahl for taking such delightful shots of the entire event and graciously accepting my $150 dollar donation in lieu of the hassle of emailing them to my employer. Andy, you’re a peach.

But more than anything the VHMA delivered another wallop of camaraderie and professional support…or maybe a better way to put it: it was just friggin fun!  These conferences are filled with smart…I mean smart people; people that greet you and smile, that invite you to sit with them and chat, that introduce themselves over coffee or at a round table discussion, that ask you to come along with them for a walk around beautiful Vancouver, that pull you aside and ask for your advice, that reunite with you after another year of our crazy jobs and hectic schedules, and reaffirm their admiration and happiness to see you.  That’s worth taking time to think about as you look out the airport windows on the way home.  That’s worth putting on your facebook page or blog.  Just ask one of my closest friends in the group, Brian Tassava.  

For more on Dash's doings, click here.

Recognition

On a recent flight to Ohio for some consulting work, I passed an airline employee framed in balloons and wearing a paper Mache hat.  He was behind a desk helping a client.  A sign on the front of his generic workstation was scripted in highlighter and Sharpie.  It read, “Happy Birthday!”

Of the millions of dollars worth of installations they had at that terminal:  a moving sidewalk and lightshow, large hanging mobile sculptures, a choreographed water fountain; it was this ten cent investment in a fellow co-worker that stood out, grabbed the attention of those in line, and plastered a smile on everyone’s face.   When I approached him for a picture, I was told that it was the birthday of one of the customers in line as well.  So the two of them both crammed into the photo.  All the passengers in line were laughing, gawking and commenting.  An otherwise stressful, utilitarian experience was turned into something neighborly.

I think you know where I’m going with this.  Customers want a relationship with their vendors, not lip service of one.  A luxurious environment is lost without a spark of genuine co-admiration and concern not just for the client, but between team members as well.  The people in line weren't responding to the investment the airline had made in its facility, they were responding to a few worker's admiration for their fellow co-worker.  Great service is not just stepping and fetching or bowling the client over with 'things'; it’s an extension of help from people who have an excess of the very same respect and admiration they are reaching out to the client with.

Check out the AAHA recommendations for a hospital-wide communication policy as a starting point for a discussion how you can improve the way you and your team members interact.  You can also reach out to Brenda Tassava for her practice's Contract of Mutual Respect.  Getting any team to set the world on fire is impossible without kindling a little spark in each of them first.

The PVMA's new managers group visits Pittsburgh

Hats off to PVSEC and the PVMA for hosting another great lunch and learn and round table discussion for the newly formed…(and rapidly growing!) PVMA Managers Group. 

Before we discuss the group, we need to take a second and talk about Pittsburgh.  Has anyone been recently?  Because it is DEFINITELY not the steel town of yester year.  It is a modern, hip, funky, INEXPENSIVE, trendy, smart, happening gateway to the Midwest.  It is a city of bridges (I think someone told me there were 17 total) and it is a stratified city, built on layers as it climbs up and down the ridges of the western Pennsylvania landscape.  To look into the skyline is not to look INTO the skyline, but up, down, across and over into the skyline. It fills your line of vision.  An 8-oclock window seat at a restaurant is a light show.  And during economic times that have crippled many major, US cities; the universities and medical facilities of Pittsburgh have kept unemployment at nationally recognized low levels.

Which brings me to PVSEC.  What do you want to know?  Want a tour of their modern, sleek hospital? See evidence of their employee success by walking down the ‘Hall of Fame’ where  pictures of employees who have passed their five year anniversary cram the walls?  How about a tour of their CAT scan?  The linear accelerator?  We could meet the kind folks in the Derm or Optho department?  And along the way we might meet any number of veterinary technicians who not only strive to be great nurses, but great leaders.  This is a practice where the integrity of the leaders has bled out into the group at large.  They are dedicated, juiced about their work and extremely successful.  In fact, in the short time since their last remodel, they are expanding again.

The PVMA managers group will unite the veterinary professionals of Pittsburgh with those in Erie, Bloomsburg, Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Philly, Harrisburg, State College and all the little towns in between.  It will bring addition great education to a program of continuing education that has already proven itself to be affordable and top notch.  The members of the group are dedicated to not just practice growth, but personal growth and who could forget fun and friendship.  If you haven’t joined yet or want more information, come to the Three Rivers Veterinary Symposium in November.  Additionally visit our website.  2012 has been a great year of exploring the nearly limitless boundaries of this organization and 2013 is steaming on the launch pad.  See you there!

Notes for Social Media for Veterinary Professionals

Social Media for Veterinary Professionals Notes from the Professionals

I want to thank you for attending our workshop.  It is a PLEASURE to bring quality education like this specific to our industry to fellow practice managers in New York, Pennsylvania and the great state of New Jersey.   I'm glad to know you and work with you!

If you didn't have a chance to say hello to Steve from Best Pet Rx, please make sure that you connect with him at some point down the line. Steve is an incredibly bright and good-hearted person whose first goal is to help you and your practice succeed.  His company holds excellent client care as its highest priority.

I want you to successfully market your practice online...so do all of our experts, Brie, Phillip and Brenda.  Please reach out to any of them down the line if you have questions.     Our goal for you is 90 days from today.  90 days from today we want a successful social media campaign up and running at your practice.  Take out your calendar and mark it up.  Set deadlines and goals for yourself and your team.  Take your thoughts to the entire practice.  Share your ideas and ask how they can help.  Your individual efforts won't take you far...but involve your entire team and you'll not only smoke your deadline, you'll ignite enthusiasm throughout your practice.

As I mentioned at the meeting, Brenda's notes can be found on her Website (see how that savvy girl is driving you to her website?  By emailing your clients with links to your website for handouts, you not only keep the earth greener, but achieve the same thing that Brenda is doing each time she speaks.)  The link for Brenda's notes is below.  The rest of the experts notes are pasted in just below the hyperlink to Brenda's page. 

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't send you some Social Media Links with pictures

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.373964582672123.82090.133652936703290&type=1&l=7418bd4c01

https://plus.google.com/115630163119101207897/posts

@halowconsult

Brenda Tassava Resource Page
Use the link for helpful resources that you will need to get your social media plan started 

Beginner Twitter

1.       Getting started (demo)

a.       Setting up your account

i.      Go to www.twitter.com
ii.      Complete the form

iii.      Click the Sign up for Twitter button

iv. Spend some time setting up your icon, background, description, location and color scheme

logo should be in 400px by 800px space on left
              total graphic image should be 1920px by 1080px

b.      Understanding the language

 i.      140 Character limit

ii.      Retweets

iii.      @ Replies

iv.      # Hashtags

v.      Bit.ly and other shortened links (www.bitly.com)

Intermediate Twitter

2.       Finding followers

a.       Set up Twitter searches for keywords in your area

b.      Peruse the followers of people you know and follow them (see Brenda’s book for a list of “who’s who” in our industry

c.       Advertise your Twitter presence via in-practice signage

ii.      Mention it in your other marketing efforts (like mailings)

Advanced Twitter

3.       Finding your voice

a.       Who is tweeting for your practice? A doctor, the practice manager, the clinic cat?

b.      Look at what other veterinarians are doing and see what is working

c.       Be yourself

4.       Planning and automation

a.       Create a spreadsheet of tweets

i.      Date and time to send
ii.     Under 140 character limit

iii.    URLs to which you are linking

Date	Time	Tweet	Length	URL
4/16/2012	10:00 AM	Hi. How are you today?	22
4/16/2012	10:02 AM	We're so happy it is spring because of all the beautiful new animals that are born in this season and because of all the beautiful flowers that bloom!	150
4/17/2012	7:54 PM	We're happy it's spring because of all the beautiful new flowers and animals that arrive with the season!	105
4/17/2012	9:18 PM	Happy #WoofWednesday to our friends over at @northstarvets	58
4/19/2012	9:00 AM	Check out our newest service, neurology at http://www.northstarvets.com/neurology.php	85	http://www.northstarvets.com/neurology.php

b.      Add your tweets to socialoomph.com

i.      Schedule tweets for the year

ii.      Set it, but don’t forget it!

5.       Engaging with followers

a.       Balance between putting your message out there and interacting with others

b.      Stay positive in your messaging

c.       Address negative tweets with tact and respect

d.      Know when to take the conversation offline

e.      Only provide relevant content for your audience

6.       Best practices

a.       (In)appropriate content

              i.      Appropriate content

1.       Relevant content for your audience

2.       Fun, informational and engaging tweets

3.       Use your top keywords in your tweets

              ii.      Inappropriate content

1.      Use family-friendly language

2.       Avoid jargon

3.       Nobody wants to know what you’re eating for lunch

4.       False claims/inaccurate information

b.      Measuring your success

i.      Retweets and @ replies

ii.      Clickthroughs to your website

iii.      Number of people who take advantage of your offers (Use offers sparingly as people are quick to perceive those who post lots of offers as spammers)

c.       Ideas for tweets

          i.      Link to your Facebook page account

          ii.      Promote pet-related holidays and events

          iii.      Offer specials, deals, and discounts

          iv.      Point to your YouTube videos

          v.      Point people to key pages on your website

          vi.      Answer frequently asked questions

          vii.      Host an “Ask the Vet” tweet chat at a regular recurring time

          viii.      Give shout outs to your followers (#MeowMonday)

           ix.      Share breaking, but relevant up-to-the-second news (anything from “it’s Dr. Jones’ birthday today” to “AVMA announces new protocols for pet care” for example)

Beginner YouTube

1)     Getting Started

a.     Equipment that you’ll need

Flip cam or smartphone

Computer with an internet connection

b.     Creating your account

Go to www.youtube.com and click on Create Account

Complete the form

Customize your profile/channel

2)     Shoot your first video

a.     Set up the shots (make sure the area is cleaned and de-cluttered)

b.     Record! (get a few takes if possible. Total length should not exceed 2 minutes)

3)     Sharing your first video (uploading to YouTube)

a.     Click the upload button

b.     Click on selected files from your computer

Common problems with uploading videos and online help if you run into a problem

4)     Title

a.     Description

b.     Tags

c.     Location

Intermediate YouTube

5)     Tools of engagement (demo Generation Vet at www.youtube.com/amandabrowndvm)

a.     Cliff-hangers

b.     Create a series

c.     Incorporate visual themes

6)     Measuring your success

a.     How many times was the video seen?

b.     Was the video mentioned on other sites?

c.     If you included an offer with the video (to track its success), how many people took advantage of it?

7)     Best practices

a.     What is the difference between appropriate and inappropriate content

b.     What is relevant content for your audience?

c.     What makes a fun, informative and engaging video?

d.     Avoid these pitfalls
   Non-family friendly language

Jargon

Busy backgrounds

False or inaccurate information

8)     Ideas for videos that work

a.     How to care for your pets

b.     What to do if…

c.     Explain common procedures

d.     Answer frequently asked questions

e.     Interview other pet industry people or be interviewed

f.       capture a community event in which you participated

g.     Highlight a pet of the week

h.     Give a hospital tour

          

Facebook Notes

1. Create an account (page) at https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
1. Pages are focused on organizing around topics or ideas which “allow entities such as public figures and organizations to broadcast information to their fans.” We are setting up your practice’s “official Facebook presence” using Facebook Pages.
2. Groups are “for members of groups to connect, share and even collaborate on a given topic or idea”. While the company continues to make a distinction between groups and Facebook Pages, we see these products eventually merging over time.  Groups can serve as an extremely effective marketing tool. Most importantly, groups serve as a tool for building awareness around various ideas; ability to make them “invite only” or limited to specific networks.

2. Select company icon; choose category: health/medical/pharma

   

3. Upload a picture of your hospital - attendee will have to come ready on their laptop with a picture or be ready to upload one from their hospital website or other website that houses photos. I suggest coming prepared for both.

   

4. Enter in a brief description of your hospital that will be visible to those who visit your page.  I recommend it include key info: hours of operation, phone #, types of patients you see, your

approach to patient/client care, ideally a mission statement. 

5. Set up email contact
1. The page below shows how to create a specific group out of your contacts in Gmail. Most basic - choose which contacts you want to export; be sure to choose the group you want to export.

5b.  Select the Google CSV format, and then select Export

5c.  Click the Export button to download your contacts. Follow the instructions on your screen and save the file to your computer. By default the file will be named 'google.csv'.

5d.  Upload your 'google.csv' file to Facebook using the uploader on your screen

6. Settings

7.  Manage permissions

8.  Basic Information

9.  Profile Pic

10.  Featured 

11.  Manage Admins – Choose two people: Owner and the person who will handle social media.

12.  Apps – Loading a video

13.  Mobile – getting set up

14.  Insights - what do they tell you?

Home Again is doing an excellent job of increasing their reach by inviting followers submit their pet AND to have their  friends “Like” otherwise known as “vote for” their pet for Pet Pic of the Week.

Organic: The number of unique people, fans or nonfans, who saw this post in their News Feed, Ticker or on your Page. Paid: The number of unique people who saw this post from a sponsored product, such as a Page Post Ad or Sponsored Stories. Viral: The number of unique people who saw this post from a story published by a friend. These stories can include liking, commenting or sharing your post, answering a Question or RSVP-ing to an event.

This section of insight on gender and age tells you the breakdown of your demographics.  In our case ¾ of our followers are female and the majority of all our male and female followers are between 35-44 yrs old. Take note of the countries, language, reach and unique user frequency.  You can move the mouse over the graphs for more details as well as expand the countries and languages.

15.  If you ever need to delete your page

1. Click Edit Page in the upper-right corner of your Page
2. Select Manage Permissions from the left sidebar
3. Click Delete [Your Page Name]

For Pages with the new timeline design:

1. Open your Page's admin panel
2. Click Manage 
3. Select Edit Page
4. Select Manage Permissions from the left sidebar
5. Click Delete [Your Page Name]

You will have the option to unpublish or delete your Page. If you choose to delete your Page, please note that its removal is permanent.

Facebook II for intermediate and advanced users

16. Posting that keeps your fans following you!

-ask questions, poll people, ask for their opinion

-respond often to posts; ask follow up questions; If your site receives a large volume of traffic, you can inspire fuzzy feelings by posting blog entries that address the most popular or intriguing questions you receive. You can also host free webinars to discuss topics that are getting a lot of wall time on your Facebook page.

-personalize as much as possible by using the  “@username.” it makes the fan feel special and encourages them to respond or post on their own wall increasing your reach.

Good example of following up on a client inquiry.  Notice the  date/time that Best Pet Rx made contact 1st time.  Impressive!

-post often and during peak time - 9a-2p of your time zone when most people are at work.  get your people conditioned and take the information to them.  you want them looking for your status update.

-host a promotion - Many of your fans started following companies on Facebook in order to qualify for giveaways or contests. Offer something for free to your users occasionally, on the condition that they “like” your page or update. This increases your number of fans, but it also ups your traffic – your users’ “like” activity will pop up in their friends’ news feeds and provoke more activity.  (Imagine the goodwill you’ll receive from the person who wins!)

-Utilize Cross-Exposure

Integrate your website, your Twitter account, and your other social media sites with Facebook. 

This will enable your clients to visit one site and contribute to a conversation on another, without leaving the original site they visited. 

For example, if you’re a microbrewery asking fans for name ideas for your newest beer, you’ll increase the exposure for your marketing campaign by engaging both your Facebook and Twitter audiences.

-Maintain A Positive Image

Facebook pages aren’t the place for companies to complain about the economy or changes in the industry.  Keeping your tone light and your topics engaging is crucial to maintaining readership.  However, that doesn’t mean others won’t post negative comments on your page. Address their concerns quickly and professionally, and follow up with the posters off Facebook. Your fans will watch how you react and respond accordingly. 

-Make Your Point Fast

People love Facebook because it allows them to get several bites of information in a short amount of time. Catch their interest by promising them a short time investment — post pictures when they can make your point for you, and keep your status updates short. 

If your updates inch above 200 characters, your audience will lose interest. Brevity is your friend.

-Provide Information And Sneak Peeks

If your hours or location have changed, you have new products, or your policies are being updated, let your Facebook fans know. Your readers will appreciate a heads-up, and it may remind them to stop by or place an order. When you are releasing new products or services, giving your established followers a preview of your new items will inspire curiosity and convey a sense of loyalty. Your Facebook fans are interested in you; they need to feel that you’re interested in them. Reward their investment by engaging with them regularly, and take their feedback under consideration. 

(in the above example from Best Pet Rx you can see four examples of providing information and it is varied information from light, the Hamptons Canine Concierge, to the diabetic or cancer patient in your home.  Further, each post had engaged fans  through “likes,” comments, and shares.)

17.  Changes to FB

Change from photo strip one large image to showcase your page and the guidelines are stringent.

Sample - The new Timeline cover photo is 850 by 315 pixels; profile picture is 180 by 180 pixels

18. Larger, Highlighted and Pinned Posts

To help you tell your stories, the pictures and videos are now larger and more eye-catching.  You can also highlight a story (by clicking the star icon in the upper right of a post) so that it spans all the way across the Timeline.

19.  Setting company milestones 

A simultaneous milestone was added to the timeline however; this snapshot illustrates the sort of traffic and goodwill around the milestone which became THE #1 post on Sassy Smidgens FB page as of 08/10/12 with 250 views J

20.  Advertising changes:  Larger and now called Reach Generator and Premium on FB

Reach Generator

Premium on FB example

21.  Facebook Rolling Out Additional Page Post Targeting Options: 

Facebook page admins will soon be able to target posts by age, gender, interested in, relationship status, education information and workplace. This is in addition to the previous options available: language and location

This is the current target selection available on our Facebook page.