The Central Veterinary Conference in Virginia Beach (May 18—21) is around the corner. We know you’ll be up to your ears in learning while there, but don’t forget — you’re in Virginia Beach. Late spring promises mild temperatures and no shortage of oceanview restaurants, lively bars and pubs, and adventurous outings to museums, parks, beaches, and more. Here’s your guide to the best of the best to see and do during your stay.

Virginia Beach has much to offer the gastronomically inclined, including fresh seafood and unbeatable ocean views. 

Touted as the best breakfast and lunch spot in Virginia Beach, Citrus Breakfast and Lunch is open seven days a week and offers an expansive menu that uses only fresh and local products. What a great way to start off the day!

Enjoy the signature crab soup in addition to delicious Italian dishes at Mannino’s Italian Bistro. Mannino’s offers two locations in Virginia Beach — one with a fantastic view of the ocean.

Rated as one of the best seafood spots in all of Virginia Beach, Blue Seafood and Spirits is the place to go for some of the most creative dishes around. The place is quaint and small, so we suggest making a reservation before heading over.

 Located in the Ramada Hotel, Mahi Mah’s has ocean-front views, a huge deck and even a sushi saloon. Enjoy a laid-back beach vibe while feasting on some of the freshest seafood and sushi in town.

Firebrew offers awesome happy hour specials in a relaxed tavern atmosphere. In addition to its self-service wine station and central open kitchen, the restaurant cooks 100 percent of its food over open flames or on the grill or stovetop — with zero microwaves or fryers in sight.

 Stare out into the ocean while enjoying fresh, local seafood, succulent steaks and an incomparable raw bar at Catch 31. If you’re looking for a more upscale restaurant serving coastal comfort food, this is the place for you.

Brunch anyone? DOC Taylor’s draws the weekend brunch crowds with its Southern eggs, grits and refreshing bloody marys. Set in an old cottage, you’ll enjoy a homey atmosphere while getting a great start to your day.

This mellow restaurant serves some of the best burgers and brews in town. Enjoy nightly acoustic music on the patio while munching on one of its 10 signature burger creations and sipping any of the 20 beers on tap.

After a long day of learning and walking, you might want to grab a drink and put your feet up. Who would blame you? Virginia Beach offers pubs, taverns, 

oceanside bars and cocktail lounges galore.

As one of the best wine bars in Virginia Beach, you can’t go wrong spending a few hours at Tinto. Pair charcuterie and cheese at this mom-and-pop eatery with a wide variety of wines for a perfect (and perfectly relaxing) night out.

Find one of the largest selections of craft beers to delight your tongue and belly at 1608 Crafthouse. This gastropub offers a unique experience to sample some of the region’s best offerings in an affordable setting.

 If you’re hankering for a nice place to hang out, grab a bite and have a drink, then Frog Sports Bar and Grill is for you. A well-stocked bar manned by friendly staff complements the plethora of televisions, pool tables and dart stations.

 This spot is one of the best after-work drink locations — which means it’s also one of the best after-a-long-day-at-the-conference drink locations. The Grille offers beer, mixed drinks and wine in a fun and lively environment.

Who doesn’t love a good dive bar? If you’re looking for a local, low-key spot, Lynnhaven Pub should be on your list. Enjoy one of the various brews on the pub’s beer list, which takes up three pages of the menu alone.

This upscale and sophisticated cocktail bar features an extensive craft cocktail selection. Sip on a delicious concoction in an intimate ocean-front environment with direct access to the Virginia Beach boardwalk.

Why not stay an extra day (or two) before or after the conference and take advantage of some of the area’s best attractions? Explore museums, walk the 

beaches, hike far-reaching trails or do just about a zillion other things.

Named by Travel + Leisure as one of America’s Best Boardwalks, this 3-mile concrete promenade is always bustling with tourists, locals, and people-watchers alike. So eat, shop, bike, blade or otherwise explore at will.

 Forty thousand guests travel from all over the world each year to visit the Military Aviation Museum. Take a flight in an open cockpit biplane, see World War I and World War II aircrafts that still fly and learn about the heroes of military aviation.

 If you want to spend some time in the sand while you’re in Virginia Beach — but far from the madding crowd &mdash; check out the hidden jewel of Sandbridge Beach. This quaint coastal community located at the northern end of the Outer Banks offers golf, fishing, surfing, parks, shopping and, most important, 5 miles of pristine, peaceful golden sands.

Noted as the site where English colonists first landed in 1607, this 2,700-acre park features hiking trails, cypress swamps and nesting grounds for a variety of birds. If you’re a nature lover, you won’t want to miss your chance to explore this natural wonder.

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center: 

With 10,000 animals and 800,000 gallons of water, the aquariums and habitats here offer extraordinary views of sharks, stingrays and many other aquatic species. You can also navigate the zipline aerial experience from the trees at Adventure Park.

Cape Henry marks the southern entrance to Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Its lighthouse, built in 1792, is located within Fort Story military base. You can take a walking tour inside and around the lighthouse and can even explore the lantern room.

Featuring regularly changing exhibitions in painting, sculpture, photography, glass and other visual media, this museum puts an emphasis on interactivity and hands-on fun.

Articles

Destinations

The Central Veterinary Conference in Virginia Beach (May 18–21) is around the corner. Here's where to eat, unwind and go in historic Virginia Beach.


Virginia Beach: Exploring "America's First Region"

Veterinarians are easy to love. Animal lovers, entrepreneurs, teachers, and detectives, veterinarians have a rare combination of proficiencies, deftly fusing technical know-how, problem-solving skills, compassion and business acumen to build thriving practices. Their wide-ranging skills also lend themselves to success in a host of professions that don’t involve working in a veterinary hospital. The professionals we highlight in this issue are drivers and doers. They have dedicated their careers — and often their entire lives &mdash; to bettering the health and well-being of animals in a variety of ways, from animal rescue and field work (animaltarianism) to philanthropy, mentoring and inventing. Meet the fascinating veterinarians who inspire us.

When she started Compassion Without Borders (CWOB) after a serendipitous trip to Mexico in 2001, Christi Camblor, DVM, wanted one thing: a better future for needy animals in Mexico.

“I saw how dire the situation was for sick, injured, homeless and neglected dogs in Mexico,” Dr. Camblor recalls, “and I became inspired to do all I could to help.” CWOB has since arranged transport for more than 2,000 dogs from the region.

Today, Dr. Camblor’s work extends well beyond the border. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to help animals that are seemingly doomed due to geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers. To date, CWOB has impacted the lives of more than 26,000 dogs and cats through four unique programs that direct rescue, spay/neuter and veterinary care clinics, and pet wellness education in underserved areas in Mexico and the United States.

“One of our main goals is rescue of at-risk animals from low-resource areas to higher-resource areas where there is a shortage of adoptable dogs,” says Dr. Camblor. To that end, every other month CWOB transports about 40 Chihuahuas from shelters in California’s poverty-stricken Central Valley to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they can find forever homes due to the region’s shortage of small dogs.

When asked why CWOB concentrates so much effort helping animals outside the United States, Dr. Camblor says, “Their suffering knows no borders and neither does our compassion. It’s as simple as that.”

Katrina L. Mealey, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine), DACVP Citing her “highly prolific spirit of innovation,” Katrina L. Mealey, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine), DACVP, was elected last year as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. She earned this honor because of her expertise and standard-altering research in veterinary pharmacogenetics. In 2001, Dr. Mealey discovered a potentially fatal deletion mutation of the multidrug resistance gene MDR1. She subsequently invented a genetic test for the mutation and created a program at Washington State University (WSU) College of Veterinary 

Medicine to test animals for the mutation and to identify genetic predisposition to other adverse drug reactions in dogs and cats.

The test, patented by WSU in 2004, has prevented dogs with the MDR1 mutation around the world from suffering potentially fatal toxicity to common drugs, including some parasiticides, antineoplastic drugs and the antidiarrheal loperamide. The mutation is common among such herding breeds as border collies, shelties and Old English sheepdogs.

Dr. Mealey joins 756 other academy fellows with a recognition that is quite uncommon among veterinarians. She was inducted into the academy this month during the organization’s annual conference.

“While I am honored to be a fellow in the National Academy of Inventors, it is equally rewarding because this validates the impact of pharmacogenetics and precision medicine in the veterinary profession,” says Dr. Mealey. “It is rewarding to know that companion animal discoveries have made a large enough impact to be recognized by this prestigious organization. I hope to be able to help highlight other impactful veterinary discoveries.”

Dr. Mealey has nine national and international patents on the MDR1 test licensed on four continents. These patents have generated more than $1 million in royalties and licensing fees for WSU, where Dr. Mealey is a professor and the Richard L. Ott endowed chair in small animal medicine and research. She also serves as a founding entrepreneurial faculty ambassador.

In her eponymous lab at WSU, Dr. Mealey’s research continues to be aimed at preventing adverse drug reactions in animals. “Our research in veterinary pharmacogenetics has generated discoveries that are used globally to prevent adverse drug reactions in dogs (and are under development for cats),” she says.

When Dr. Mealey is not working in her lab, she enjoys running marathons and has completed 13 of them, including the 2013 Boston Marathon.

When Patrick Warpinksi, DVM, says that his practice is built on relationships with pet owners, his employees, and the community, he really means it. “It’s the relationships with your customers and employees — rather than profit &mdash; that truly drive growth,” he says. “If you treat your clients and staff with fairness, dignity and respect, the bottom line will take care of itself.” This philosophy has earned Dr. Warpinski and his clinic a host of accolades and awards from community and industry leaders over the years.

Founded in 2004 on the idea that excellent veterinary care should be accessible for all pet owners, The Animal House in Green 

Bay, Wisconsin, provides integrated care for every aspect of animal health, regardless of the owner’s income. With progressive and personalized services that include primary and specialty care, in-home euthanasia and other housecall services, and outstanding technological capabilities — not to mention day care, boarding, grooming and training &mdash; it’s no wonder the practice has been named “Best of the Bay” in four different categories for nine years running.

“We’ve received a lot recognition over the years,” says Dr. Warpinksi, “but the more rewarding aspects of owning a successful business are the ability to provide personal and professional growth for our employees and to support those in need throughout the community.”

The Animal House — under Dr. Warpinski’s direction &mdash; has more than proved its commitment to the local area. Dr. Warpinski and his team work with dozens of local pet rescue groups, shelters, students and area charities. Every year, the practice provides free or discounted veterinary care for more than 3,000 area pets.

One charitable organization that benefits from Dr. Warpinski’s work is Paul’s Pantry, which feeds community members in need — and now also helps those community members care for their pets. “We approached Paul’s Pantry with our idea for a very low-cost veterinary program because we never want to see a family have to make a pet-owning decision based on their present, and often temporary, stage of distress,” he said. “Our goal is to help people in need keep their pets in their family.”

The Animal House devotes time and effort to providing a wide range of community support to children as well, from exhibiting a mini veterinary hospital in The Children’s Museum of Green Bay to sending low-income schoolchildren to an overnight YMCA camp that encourages character growth. The clinic has also supported the American Red Cross, St. John’s Homeless Shelter and Big Brothers Big Sisters, among many others.

The highlight of his career? Being one of 10 veteri- narians around the world selected to participate in the NOBIVAC Global Vet Exchange Program, which gives practitioners the chance to visit a foreign clinic to experience a different culture and learn how veterinary medicine is perceived and performed globally.

In February 2015, Dr. Warpinski flew to Beijing to complete the exchange with Dr. Yi (Eric) Dong at Dr. Dong’s three Puppytown Clinics. “The Beijing experience was so memorable on so many levels, from the language to the culture to the food and, of course, the veterinary medicine,” he said. “For me to experience a few days in the life of a Chinese veterinarian was nothing less than phenomenal. That trip will resonate for years to come.”

Eric Davis, DVM, MS, DACVS, DACVIM, has a singular goal: to promote the availability of veterinary care in poor, rural communities around the world. And, considering all he’s done to help others throughout his career, we’d say he is a high achiever.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Davis has traveled countless miles to dozens of rural communities around the world to provide medical care for tens of thousands of animals and teach hundreds of veterinary students lessons they could never learn in the classroom.

The secrets to his success? Hard work, compassion, philanthropy and kindness.

Dr. Davis’s first large-scale volunteer effort was a six-year stint with Remote Area Medical, which provides free medical care to people in far-flung areas 

around the world. At the time, Dr. Davis was also on the faculty at the University of Tennessee University College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville. To say that his passion for volunteering overtook his life is a bit of an understatement. Ultimately, Dr. Davis resigned from his position at the university to start his own volunteer organization.

He approached the Humane Society of the Unites States (HSUS) with an idea for starting a veterinary outreach program, and Rural Area Veterinary Services (RAVS) was born. Under Dr. Davis’s direction, RAVS volunteers launched projects in dozens of underserved rural communities in the United States and abroad, including operating emergency animal shelters in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and in Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami.

The RAVS program involved primarily small animals, but Dr. Davis’s background and first love is horses. “Horses have been my main interest all my life,” he says, “and I’m also sympathetic to the plight of working horses, mules, donkeys, and oxen, which still play such an important role in so many countries.”

After 10 years, Dr. Davis left RAVS for the International Animal Welfare Training Institute (IAWTI) at the University of California, Davis. His role at IAWTI includes lecturing and training students on ethics, animal welfare, and large animal rescue; conducting research; and directing the Donkey Welfare Symposium, an annual forum for health care and training of “this most hard-working, cooperative, and yet often-maligned animal,” says Dr. Davis.

In 2011, Dr. Davis his wife Cindy Davis, RVT, a veterinary anesthetist, started a nonprofit organization called Rural Veterinary Experience, Teaching, and Service (RVETS). “I wanted to be able to continue working with students in the field and maintain projects in Central America and the reservations of the Dakotas,” Dr. Davis says.

The goals of RVETS are simple: to provide each patient with the absolute best care possible and each student with the absolute best learning experience and training possible. RVETS sojourns — the group travels about 12 weeks each year &mdash; are a “no-frills” experience, says Dr. Davis. “We sleep in the bus or camp out. The investment is in the supplies, equipment, and teaching materials that we need to do a good job.”

Dr. Davis never stops looking to the future for new ways he can help animals and students. Among the next stops on his journey? Improving the availability of veterinary care and upgrading the veterinary infrastructure in Nicaragua, make veterinary students in the United States and Mexico aware of the needs and rewards of mixed rural practice, and conducting equine research at home and abroad. Oh, and when he has time? “I want to train my horse in the traditional Vaquero way.”

Veterinary surgeon Mandi Lopez, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVS, has made work easier for orthopedic surgeons everywhere. Her invention, the GraftGrab, is a bioabsorbable device that allows surgeons to affix tissue to bone while simultaneously adjusting tension during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft procedures, reducing surgery time and improving patient outcomes.

Dr. Lopez, who is director of the Laboratory for Equine and Comparative Orthopedic Research in the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine, says she and her colleague W. Todd Monroe, PhD, PE, initiated the design process almost 13 years ago while they were searching for ways to restore ruptured cranial cruciate ligament function in dogs with a graft created from tissues surrounding the joint.

“Loss of initial graft tension is a problem with soft tissue interference screws and can contribute to joint instability,” says Dr. Lopez. “The GraftGrab 

provides a simple mechanism for anchoring the graft immediately after tensioning that minimizes the likelihood of graft tension loss,” she says.

The biggest advantage of the GraftGrab, according to Dr. Lopez, is that the attachment can be adjusted so surgeons can try different tensions and decide on the one that is best for their patient. The device can also potentially be used in future bone and joint surgeries in both animals and humans. The GraftGrab and a “sister” device, the GrabTen, are currently licensed by Tesa Medical, Inc. and will be available commercially following completion of the Food and Drug Administration approval process.

Dr. Lopez has shared her research findings through hundreds of presentations and more than 75 original scientific publications. In addition to numerous awards for research excellence, Dr. Lopez’s work has also landed her a spot in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). She was inducted as a fellow into the academy this month during the NAI’s annual conference. “Being nominated as a fellow in the NAI is beyond any accomplishment that I thought to achieve during my career. I’m incredibly humbled and genuinely grateful,” she says.

But Dr. Lopez doesn’t give herself all the credit for her success. Not by a long shot. “I plan to pay this incredible gift forward to other aspiring creators,” she says. So, when she isn’t working in the lab at LSU, Dr. Lopez mentors students at all career stages from high school level on up. She is also the associate editor for invited reviews and themed issues for Veterinary Surgery.

“I’m committed to this role because of the mentoring I received early in my writing experience when editors and reviewers provided me with extraordinary information that helped guide my research into clear communication,” she says. She decided to continue this process for scientific writers at all stages.

“I strive to support an efficient review process so that scientific progress is published in a timely manner,” Dr. Lopez said. “The work is something I genuinely enjoy, so I don’t mind having it be part of my daily activities.”

Feature

Meet these five passionate practitoners who have dedicated their careers to bettering the health and well-being of animals in a variety of ways, from animal rescue and field work to philanthropy, mentoring and inventing. 

Top Dogs & Cool Cats

From pharmaceuticals and treatment recommendations to the use of telemedicine, laser, and social media, changes in veterinary medicine and practice management today seem endless. Change is difficult, and given the rapid delivery of new information, it’s hard to keep up.]

Nevertheless, succeeding in practice today requires teams that are amenable and adaptable to change. That means changing the way you think about team training, including recognizing the difficulty of breaking old habits and employing techniques to help your team “unlearn” the old and embrace the new.

When confronting your team with change, you may hear a resounding “But we’ve always done it this way.” The fact is we are often more comfortable sticking with what we know. It is far easier to make a situation fit our current “mental maps” than it is to venture into the unknown realm of change.

Team Tactics: Fixing Bad Customer Service

The dilemma is how to unlearn the old way of doing things and adapt to the new way. In many situations, management and team members are operating with outdated or obsolete mental maps.

 To advance into a new way of doing things, three things must occur

Recognize that the old way of doing things is no longer effective.

Unlearning old methods or habits can be difficult for people who have been performing their job for a number of years. In addition, certain common policies and procedures can create a wall. Bureaucratic creep, or the overabundance of steps and checkpoints in standard operating procedures, makes change difficult because the process has taken on a life of its own and dismantling it becomes a major endeavor.

Another roadblock to learning occurs when people feel unable to change their situation or believe that outcomes are beyond their control — attitudes that can result from low self-esteem, chronic failure or other negative stimuli. So how do you unlearn old ways of doing things?

To train your team on a new way of doing something, the team must engage in the process of recognizing what has become obsolete and participating in the new way by discussing their prior habits, preconceptions and knowledge.

Instructors cannot simply conduct a training session and then demand compliance because this does not dismantle the ingrained mental maps.

The following seven tactics can help dismantle those old maps and untrain your team

nstead of demanding compliance, foster a sense of willingness among the team

 to unlearn the old way and learn the new way.

, realizing that many team members will show resistance.

 Move away from the site where the team learned the old way to a new location where they can learn a new way.

 because like-minded people in a group will hamper the unlearning/learning process.

Provide a “psychologically safe” environment 

where team members can ask questions and explore ideas without fear of looking stupid or being dismissed.

, giving team members a sense of ownership and the ability to achieve those goals.

Identify a “champion” for the learning process 

— someone who can offer support, handle glitches and provide regular feedback to the team as they go through the learning process.

Louise Dunn is an award-winning speaker, writer and consultant who brings over 40 years of in-the-trenches experience and business education to veterinary management. She is founder and CEO of Snowgoose Veterinary Management Consulting, which helps veterinarians develop strategic plans that consistently produce results. 

 Warrell M. Learn, unlearn, and relearn: how to stay current and get ahead. Forbes website. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/03/learn-unlearn-and-relearn/#6f650d9251c8

 Published February 3, 2014. Accessed February 21, 2017.

 Akbari A. How unlearning makes you smarter. DailyWorth website. 

https://www.dailyworth.com/posts/unlearning-makes-smarter

. Published February 16, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2016.

Boncheck M. Why the problem with learning is unlearning. Harvard Business Review website. 

https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning?referral=00210&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-strategy-_-strategy_date&utm_source=newsletter_strategy&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=strategy_date&spMailingID=15957808&spUserID=Mzc4ODQwNzg3S0&spJobID=904068007&spReportId=OTA0MDY4MDA3S0

 Published November 3, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2017.

Lee VS. Unlearning: a critical element in the learning process. Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. 

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/vol14no2_unlearning.htm

Quigley F. unlearning is the new learning. LogicEarth.com website. 

http://www.logicearth.com/blog/unlearning-is-the-new-learning

 Published September 15, 2015. Accessed February 21, 2017.

Leadership Lessons

Success in practice today requires an adaptable team.


How (and Why) to "Untrain" Your Team

It might come as a surprise that a company so new to the veterinary publication industry — 

 was founded only last year — would jump deeper into the waters with a second publication so quickly on the heels of the first.

As newcomers, however, have a great vantage point. We get to see veterinary medicine with a fresh eye, to get a true sense of the needs of practitioners in the trenches. And while all veterinarians need to keep up with clinical and conference news and medical updates, the cardinal thing missing from the array of available veterinary publications is a resource focused on the business and financial needs of this vital group of medical professionals.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 63 percent of veterinarians worked in private practice at the end of 2016. It’s no secret that veterinary schools pay little attention to teaching students about the business side of practice, and that leaves veterinarians in private practice with little to no idea of how to run the business of a hospital.

 comes in. Our mission is to guide both new and experienced veterinarians on best practices to effectively manage their business finances, stay up to date on legal and regulatory issues, and become better leaders. But that’s not all. We also cover personal finances and lifestyle topics to help you keep better balance in your lives.

In this debut issue, we offer expert insight and advice aimed to help you make financial and career decisions, connect better with team members, and become better practice leaders. You’ll learn how you to 

build your client base through practice endorsements

build a better team through better communication

Veterinarians are so much more than compassionate animal lovers and health care practitioners. You are entrepreneurs and business-people with needs and desires both inside and outside of practice. It is with this knowledge in mind that we introduce 

, a publication devoted entirely to you. So jump in, and let us know what you think.

From the Chairman

While all veterinarians need to keep up with clinical and conference news and medical updates, the cardinal thing missing from the array of available veterinary publications is a resource focused on the business and financial needs of this vital group of medical professionals.

Filling a Wide Gap

Regardless of whether your practice is in a rural, urban or suburban area, attracting new clients is crucial to building a rock-solid practice reputation and increasing revenue.

Happy customers are your best ambassadors. If you have their stamp of approval, getting the word out about your practice becomes easy. However, very few practice owners and practice managers know how to leverage the power of client endorsements.

Winning the love of your customers is not a matter of getting lucky with a few odd clients. You need to do a lot of things to get noticed in front of the right people. More importantly, you need to be consistent with your marketing and brand-building efforts. Here’s how.

Word-of-mouth advertising still is the number one way to win new clients, but your biggest challenge is that your patients can’t talk about how good you are. Their owners can, though, and they will. So the question is: Are they talking about you in a way that will serve your business goals?

Don’t wait for a random referral, review, or testimonial to come your way. If your clients like what you’re doing, your goal should be to ensure that the movement of these practice endorsements works like a well-oiled machine.

Remember these two cardinal rules when asking clients for referrals, reviews, and testimonials. First, understand that you are not asking them for a favor. In the digital space, everyone has an opinion and most of your clients would be delighted to share their experience with the masses. Second, testimonials should not be general or vague comments. Instead, ask the client to talk specifics about their time at your practice. People want to read about real experiences that highlight a pertinent issue and the solution that addressed the issue.

Testimonials inherently offer an element of trust and can move potential clients to engage with your practice. Be sure to ask for a testimonial at the right moment, using mood momentum when the client is very satisfied with your service. Provide multiple platforms for clients to give testimonials, such as during visits to your office, to your website, via email and over social sites. Testimonials should include the name, location, social handles and photos (if possible) of the client and pet.

Following are the hallmarks of influential testimonials:

They are specific, outlining why the client came to you, the solution offered, the outcome and benefits and how satisfied the client was.

They are authentic and written in the natural language of the client.

They deliver a sense of credibility, leaving no doubt that the person behind the comments is real. Online reviews and ratings of your practice can influence the decisions of potential clients, who are more likely to click on your ad or search result if it is accompanied by a five-star review. Reviews can also provide information that sets you apart from your competitors, such as unique benefits or services you offer. Here are three important practices for leveraging reviews of your practice:

Feature the best reviews from existing clients on your website.

Make it easy for clients to leave you reviews by featuring links to social sites prominently on your website.

Manage your reviews, and address any potentially damaging issue (see 

Best Practices for Managing Online Reviews

Make sure you continually monitor your online practice listings

on Google, Yelp, and YouTube, and try to get more LinkedIn recommendations.

Respond to good, bad and neutral reviews promptly

; this shows that you care about how your brand is perceived and are willing to take necessary steps to improve your image.

; respond to them and try to offer issue resolutions quickly and efficiently.

; a short and sincere apology is the best way to handle criticism. 

According to the global market research firm Nielsen, 84 percent of consumers consider their friends and family to be trusted resources. So, any recommendations that come from these sources will be considered trustworthy.

Excellent client service is the most effective strategy for encouraging referrals, and there are a number of tactics you can employ. Ensure that all client touch points are optimized for delivering stellar experiences. Make your clients feel valued at each stage of interaction. If the client likes something, do more of it in a better way. If something is not working out, look at ways you can address the issue and improve.

Engage with clients on social media to build your reputation and brand trust. Tune in to conversations and be part of the talk. Provide solutions and advice to establish yourself as a subject matter expert. Encourage client engagement and interaction with your brand as a way of establishing trust.

Price incentives can only take you so far, so provide existing clients with exclusive experiences. Go the extra mile in creating relationships so they feel privileged and encouraged to share information about your practice. A privileged membership program, such as one that automatically qualifies a client to a membership level if they spend a certain dollar amount or bring in a set number of referrals, is an excellent example of creating “exclusive” experiences.

Offering supplementary services at discount prices is another great way to attract referrals. Consider introducing pet grooming services or pet training 

courses at a discounted price. You could also offer specific routine pet health care services/treatments for a smaller fee to clients who bring in referrals. Here are some tips for managing a referral program:

Make it easy for clients to join. Prominently display your membership or referral program button or tab on your website, include it in your newsletters and talk about it on social media.

Make sure your program offers simple rules and straightforward benefits.

Ensure that your site is HTTPS enabled and follows all security protocols.

Reconnect with previous referrers and explore ways to re-engage them in your referral program.

Client endorsements in the form of testimonials, reviews and referrals can drive your veterinary brand reputation. How clients perceive your practice — and what they say about it &mdash; are crucial to maintaining your existing client pool and attracting new clients.

Naren Arulrajah is president and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, an internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education and the online reputations of veterinarians/practice owners. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak with Naren.

Managing Your Practice

Effective recommendations from clients can be an important factor in growing your practice.


Expand Your Practice Base With Client Endorsements

The best way to create the future you want is to set goals and then plan appropriately for them. Road maps are essential to your career plan. Here are some key issues to consider during the early years of owning your veterinary practice.

Although your days are likely to be hectic as you care for clients and manage your team, it’s important to step away from daily fire drills periodically to focus on long-term strategic planning. A strategic plan provides an overall sense of direction toward future prosperity. To be effective, your plan should be put into practice deliberately, modified when needed and reviewed regularly (often annually). The following components are typically included in a strategic plan:

Long-term vision (three, or five, or 10 years)

Strategic agenda (projects you undertake to move toward your vision)

Project plans (for each item on the strategic agenda)

Project milestones (and the metrics used to measure them)

Accountability plan (who will be responsible for what)

Plenty of free resources are available to help you create a viable strategic plan. The strategic planning section of the 

, for example, offers a 30-minute online training module and other resources for strategic planning.

Although “budget” appears as the last of the strategic planning components, it’s very important because the funds generated by your practice will serve as the fuel for your success. There are far too many financial planning issues to include in a single article, but here are several high-level recommendations:

Early on, get a handle on your cash flow. Are there times of the year when cash flow increases? Decreases? How predictable are those times? Are you paying your bills on a schedule that avoids late fees and takes advantage of any early-pay discounts?

Monitor your own time. Working extra-long hours every week to be profitable isn’t a sustainable strategy. What changes can you make to create a more realistic workload?

Make sure you truly understand your profit and loss statements and other financial documents. If you don’t, ask for help. Although there is nothing wrong (and plenty right) with having financial professionals assist with managing your assets and economic strategies, you need to understand thoroughly where your business stands.

Determine the best retirement plan options for you and your practice team. If you have fewer than 100 employees and no other qualified plan, consider a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees.

Know that it’s never too early to create a succession plan (in terms of both ownership and management) in case you become incapable of working or die; this helps to ensure a smooth transition.

Finally, save for a rainy day! If you never need to use these funds, then you’ve got a nice financial cushion that can come in handy if you decide to expand your practice or make another large purchase — and you don’t have to panic or go deeply into debt if an emergency does arise.

The people in your practice can make or break its success, so creating a success-friendly environment and company culture is crucial. Core elements of this environment include mentorship, engagement and accountability.

A mentor is simply a more experienced person offering guidance to a less experienced person. A workplace mentor serves as a role model, sharing knowledge that will help someone else chart his or her own career path. Mentorships can be formal or informal, and the roles can be quite fluid. For example, a more experienced technician can mentor a newly graduated one in job-specific duties, but the roles could shift if, say, conflict resolution skills are needed and the new technician has significant experience in that area from another job or different context. A healthy workplace has an engaged workforce, and engaged employees are motivated and eager to participate in workplace activities and meet the challenges of the day. There are two types of motivation: external and internal.

External motivators — wages and benefits &mdash; are needed to get people to work. To motivate teams externally, analyze what similar clinics are paying in wages and benefits, and pay the fairest amount you can. You don’t want to invest time and energy into an employee only to have him or her enticed away by a competitor who offered better compensation.

Internal motivators go beyond wages, and they can exhibit a much stronger pull. Internal motivators include:

To motivate internally, provide autonomy, perhaps through flexible scheduling, incentivized earning programs and results-oriented managing (in other words, don’t micromanage). Create a culture wherein practice team members can master their favorite specialties through continuing education and by teaching clients. Highlight purpose by noting the positive impacts staff members are having on people’s lives, participating in charity events, and building a culture in which praise and encouragement are given often.

Finally, create a culture of transparent workplace accountability by clearly defining roles and focusing on teamwork (see 

). Clarify the importance of each person’s role in accomplishing team goals, share and celebrate successes, and brainstorm how to overcome challenges together. Honestly evaluate processes, and encourage staff to make suggestions. Reward integrity.

As you hire staff, give raises, and otherwise manage your practice, having quality negotiation skills is important. Whenever two people have differing needs and interests — and each has what the other wants and needs &mdash; then a series of negotiations are likely to take place. Keeping in mind that the goal is a successful long-term relationship, not a quick short-term win, here are some helpful negotiating tools:

Understand the other person’s interests.

Be well prepared with factual information.

Treat the other person the way you’d want to be treated.

We offer two final pieces of advice. First, remember to take care of yourself. Creating a healthy balance between work and the rest of your life is crucial not only for your health and well-being but also for the rest of the practice and your clients (see 

Making Time for You: Tips for Balanced Living

). Second, during the early years of your practice (and later on, for that matter), when you face challenges, reach out for help. Rest assured that other practice owners have been through similar scenarios and can provide guidance. You don’t have to go it alone.

VBA provides a full range of legal, practice management and human resource services tailored for veterinarians and veterinary practices of all types. For more information, visit 

A Better Business

Outlining a strategic plan early in practice ownership provides an overall sense of direction toward future prosperity.


April 2017

Virginia Beach: Exploring "America's First Region"

Top Dogs & Cool Cats

How (and Why) to "Untrain" Your Team

Filling a Wide Gap

Expand Your Practice Base With Client Endorsements

Creating Your Career Blueprint: The Early Years of Practice Ownership

The Psychological Impact of Uncertainty: Why a Bigger IQ Isn't the Answer

Key Takeaways from the VetParters Annual Meeting

Map Out a Successful Communications Strategy

Advice Unleashed (April 2017)

Is It Time to Add a New Associate?