Client Relations & Marketing

Longer pollen season causing sniffles, itching in pets and people.

Veterinarians should think twice before sending clients elsewhere for pet medications.

Denise Tumblin, CPA, explains how to be proactive about patients' health needs.

Pet plans necessary during evacuation efforts, survey respondents say.

Dr. Ernie Ward's checklist for preparing a veterinary practice for bad weather.

Storm season is in full force. Here's how to prepare your veterinary practice.

My practice's Web site isn't showing up on Internet search engines. Why?

If your client and internal compliance is just average-or worse-jump to the head of the class with these tips.

Here are strategies to encourage internal and client compliance that work:

New book tells pet owners to ask medical questions at your practice.

Train and monitor your team to make sure clients get professional, polite responses.

Use this tip to help clients put team members' faces to names.

Norco, Calif. -- A new microchip scanner capable of reading several brands and types of microchips used in pets and horses in the United States is now on the market.

We're sure by now many of you have mastered certain techniques aimed at attracting new clients into your offices.

Each day across the United States, we leave work late due to an overload of work, much of which is self-imposed.

The veterinary staff sees families at their moments of greatest worry concerning their companion animals.

Did you ever stop to think why clients come to your hospital?

Most veterinarians desire to do well while doing good. I have found that community outreach programs that simultaneously promote my practice help our team fulfill that desire.

Veterinarians have the unique position of experiencing their patients' deaths at a rate seven times that of human physicians, frequently leading them into unique shared emotional experiences with clients whom they have known for many years.

Here are the top 10 toughest parts of your job, in order, with advice for solving them from our Editorial Advisory Board.

Pet owner diversity calls for creative client service.

I think a lot of veterinarians see poor compliance because they ask clients to do things that are all but impossible. For example, say you're treating a dog that has a horrible ear infection, and you would need to manhandle the dog to get an ear drop in. And then you tell the client to give the dog three drops a day at home. The client can't do that.

More clients are complaining about their veterinary care because they expect more of you.

Pets still need care even when times are tight.

When it comes to veterinary spending, the issue isn't clients' income level but how pets fit into their lives.

We educate clients about pet insurance by putting fliers in puppy and kitten kits because it's too late to offer to help defray the cost of treatment once a chronic condition is diagnosed. We direct clients to the brochure or to a pet insurance company Web site.

You wish more of your clients had pet insurance, but do you know enough to help clients get the information they need?

Boarding and grooming can be a great opportunity.