Client Relations & Marketing

Looking for some art to fill those empty walls? Check your mailbox! You probably receive a wealth of great artwork from clients every month, says Cheryl Dyer, practice manager at Noah's Ark Animal Clinic in Kansas City, Mo. When patients recover from a serious illness, their pet parents often send a note of thanks with a picture to the practice. Dyer says they frame these photos and hang them in the practice's front lobby.

You like people and you like animals. This phrase was probably on your job application, and it's what you tell people when they ask you why you chose to work at a veterinary practice. But is it true? Oh, I know you like pets, but what about people?

Your colleagues face the same struggle about how and when to help those in need. Here's how they balance the needs of their businesses with their compassion for pets and people.

Give the last clients of the day the same warm reception the 40 clients in front of them enjoyed.

Next time you walk into an exam room, look down. Are there curious little faces looking back? They may be small in stature, but children are an important ingredient in pets' health, says Cindy Adams, MSW, PhD, associate professor of communication and epidemiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

25 percent of practitioners say they start seeing resistance when a bill lands between $200 and $400. But there's no way to know which clients will opt for your "A" plan.

Ward off potential problems by talking about pet costs in advance.

Are you looking for a chance to help pets and people in need? Volunteering is a great way to help others and develop your own skills.

The way you talk to clients about what you charge and why can help your practice provide good care- or block your progress. Do you need to rethink your role?

You're pressed for time, but don't shortchange clients by skipping out on educational opportunities.

Relatively few clients have pet insurance, but the numbers are steadily rising. And that's a good thing for your business.

Your scheduling software gives you four more defenses against no-shows.

These three types of questions help you start the discussion-and keep it going.

You don't have to avoid accounts receivable altogether-just be smart about when to offer credit and who you offer it to.

When you, your team, and your clients are reading from the same set of directions, you make it to your end goal-better pet care-with fewer detours.

Remind clients that parasite control keeps pets-and people-healthy. Then use handouts like this one as a follow-up to your exam room message.

Is your message about the risks of parasites reaching clients?

19 tips to cut back on no-shows and get back to business.

Use these tips to manage euthanasia visits more effectively and show clients you care.

After researching your customers, you'll be ready to set a marketing plan that fits your practice's needs

We reuse gel ice packs to numb the area between a pet's shoulder blades before placing a microchip.

You may not always have the right words to express your sympathy when a pet dies, but the right book might be just the tool your clients need to help them grieve.

If you were going to spend $100 on a new set of tires, wouldn't you want to know why? Were the old ones worn out, or do the new ones work better in snow? Knowing why you should care makes it easier to make the decision to spend. And the same is true for clients and their pets. Clients expect a recommendation each time they visit your hospital, and they want to know how your recommendations benefit them and their pets. Once they know why they should care, they're more likely to comply.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, four pictures are worth, well, a lot.

Q. Many of our clients don't seem to recognize the signs that their pets are in pain. What can we do?

Read "What's In It for Me?" and then solve the puzzle.

When clients visit for routine checkups or care, send them home with a pet health report card, suggests Martha Harmon, office manager at Riverdale Animal Hospital in Riverdale, Ga.

Shawnee, Kan. - Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health Division, announced that it reached an agreement for U.S. distribution rights for Switzerland-based Datamars' ISO-approved microchips and scanners for companion animals and horses.