I cannot tell a lie

You want to believe clients are always truthful, but they're not. And neither are team members sometimes, according to a recent survey by Vetmedteam.com. Ninety-nine percent of team members said a client had lied to them, and 38 percent said they or someone else at their practice had lied to a client.

What did clients lie about? Top issues included ability to pay for services (36 percent), what they feed their pet (25 percent), what another veterinarian told them (10 percent), what previous care they provided for their pet (7 percent), and their pet's vaccination status (7 percent).

Team members' top answers for what they or another employee lied about included failing to mention an event that occurred during treatment (14 percent) and being untruthful about care provided (7 percent).

But the lying doesn't stop there. Seventy-eight percent of team members said other team members had lied to them about tasks the other person failed to complete (30 percent), reasons for sick days or absences (14 percent), and how a conflict was handled with another co-worker (7 percent).