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Are you a passionate veterinarian seeking to elevate your practice and make a lasting impact in the field?
Welcome to "The Vet'Ed Podcast". Join Steven Hermann, Kale Flaspohler and Lindo Zwane - industry experts and thought leaders, as they delve into tailored strategies and nurturing relationships to empower privately owned veterinary practices.
Tune in the first and third Wednesday of the month to gain invaluable insights, tips, and inspiration to thrive in your independent clinic. Together, let's build a community dedicated to advancing veterinary care. Subscribe now and embark on a journey towards lasting success in your practice.
Are you ready? Alright, veterinarians. Let me ask you, what do you think is the most important thing in your veterinary practice? Is it medicine or is it client experience? I wanna challenge you today to think about it might just be the client experience that is one of the most important things to the success of your practice.
Steven:So let's jump in today. Hey. I'm Steven Herman, host of the Vetted Podcast and the Vetted Podcast mindset edition. I'm glad to be here with you today on a Wednesday. These come out every other Wednesday in between our regular vetted podcast with host, Cale Flaspoehler, and our editor director, Kelsey Wallace.
Steven:So interestingly enough, most surveys say that the experience a client has is the reason that they stay or go. In fact, that even though if the client likes the service, 80% say that if they had a bad experience, they might just switch. Think about that. Also been looking at some studies over the past decade or two from Pew on the research about who's the most trusted in the space. And the good thing is veterinarians, you sit there around number two, right behind nurses.
Steven:Thing is though, every sector in that study has had erosion of trust over the years. And hey, I'm not the one doing the stats, but I am the one that understands client experience. Grew up in the grocery industry and what separated us from the competition was client experience. It was giving them a great experience, warm, welcoming, inviting, and they trusted us. They trusted us to take care, and they trusted us that if something wasn't right, we'd fix it.
Steven:They trusted us that they needed something, we'd find it. And so it's those little things that you do to go above and beyond. We're gonna jump into that today. So again, I hope this is an moment of why client experience matters. Again, the difference between good medicine and a great client experience.
Steven:This is where we're gonna jump in today. Of course, said earlier, teased on client experience is more important than good medicine. You're there for good medicine, right? No question about it. But if you get the client experience right, you're gonna have a great business.
Steven:So how do we jump into that? I think about, we ask our clients, where do you start with a good client experience? And it comes down to what do you see when you come into the parking lot? Think about it. Have you taken the time when you get to work to go, is it inviting?
Steven:Because that's the first thing your client's gonna see, your parking lot. Is it clean? Is it cracked? Is it potholes? Are there weeds?
Steven:You know, again, think about that. Or as they go, wow, this is really inviting. People are gonna walk in there ready to roll. If they walk into that practice and all those things are done right, think about the mood it puts them in. So they open the doors, they come in.
Steven:What do they smell? Does it smell like a veterinary clinic or does it smell like a good inviting business? How's the CSR? Your customer service relation, however you deem that person at the front desk. They inviting?
Steven:They saying hi, they have a smile on their face, the little things that go a long way. I tell you what client experience, if you can get a smile on your staff's face, it will go miles because it's really hard to be upset when you're smiling. And when you're smiling, you're very inviting. So we've just gotten to the front desk. So let's get them checked in.
Steven:How does that go? Better be good experience, right? Get in the exam room. So this is where the medicine and the communication matter. So the communication is one of your, I'd say most important pieces of how you take the medicine talk down to the client.
Steven:How are they gonna understand it? You know, they say you really understand things when you can describe it on a fifth grade level. And I think you have to take that approach. Now, you have to know your client too. Maybe the client's a doctor or a highly educated person in your field that you may not have to go down to that level.
Steven:But for the most part, you might need to, because if you have good medicine, without the good communication, that good medicine is not gonna happen over here on the client side, which you know is important for them to go home and take care of that pet. So let's say you've had that great exam, good communication, and you're gonna go out to let the client go out and pay for the bill, maybe you pay in the room, but this is where really the rubber meets the road. You can do everything right up until that point. And if they don't exit with a good feeling, they're gonna forget that whole great experience. I've always believed just like when I was in the supermarket business, the checkout was the most important interaction with the client.
Steven:Because if they had a really good feeling leaving the store, they're gonna come back because they got a good feeling, had good service, right? The polls say that 80% of people stay or go based on the experience. That's a large number and tell you the client experience matters. So they're at the front end. Let's say you don't check out in the room, but check out the front end.
Steven:What does that interaction look like? And you need to be doing this in your head. Do this visual walkthrough in how they leave. Now think about it though. If coming in that it wasn't right, that it wasn't appealing, exiting, maybe they had a good communication at the front desk, but exiting, they might walk out and go, oh, man, look at this, this is rough.
Steven:So I wanna bring that through real quick. That's a client experience. Unboil it down to a three point strategy for you, things you can take to be successful. Number one, remember, first impressions are everything. Call these the golden moments of the client's visit.
Steven:It's even the phone call, right, when they call in, the check-in, the waiting room vibe. So how do you turn a basic greeting into a VIP experience? How are they answering the phone? You know, when they answer the phone, are they saying, Good afternoon, thanks for calling ProPartners Veterinary Clinic. It's great to have you on today.
Steven:How can we help you? Or are they saying, Hi, ProPartners Veterinary Clinic. Just a few changes in the words make a whole huge difference on that impression of that client calling in. Especially think about it if they're having a tough day and they hear a warm, inviting voice, that matters. So point one, first impressions are everything.
Steven:Point three of the three point strategy, communication is more important than medicine. Really, I've hit on that. Clients don't just judge treatment alone. They judge by how they feel. So if you have a bad interaction, your communication's not gonna get across, right?
Steven:When we have a bad interaction, when that person's feeling negative, they're not listening, they're shutting down, they're getting defensive, right? So you gotta be thinking about what position is that person in for me to get my message across? That matters. Again, simplifying the medical talk and also how can a minor tweak in the phrasing change the entire tone of a conversation? Let's say you have a tough diagnosis to deliver.
Steven:How do you do that? You need to find the best way to deliver that in the most empathetic way possible. So communication is more important than medicine, really. All right, point three. The goodbye is just as important as the hello.
Steven:Think about that. The goodbye is just as important as the hello. What happens when a client walks out the door determines if they return. I want you to remember that. What happens when a client walks out the door determines if they return.
Steven:The power of follow ups, thank yous and unexpected wow moments matter also. They've walked out the door doesn't mean that you still can't engage with them. How do you let them know you appreciate them coming in for that exam? How do you follow-up if they did blood work? Do you pick up the phone and call?
Steven:What does that look like? And are you memorable for the right reasons? Think about that. We're all memorable. Is it positive or negative?
Steven:So on that three point strategy, point one, first impressions are everything. Point two, communication is more important than medicine. Yes, really. And point three, the goodbye is just as important as a hello. So as you know, this is the mindset podcast episodes.
Steven:And with a mindset, the growth mindset is important for this because I'm not looking to blame anybody here for something that they are doing, aren't doing. This is about taking care of people. And the growth mindset has ability to say, how can I do that better? How can I change things? And how can I be accountable to say, yeah, I have done things, not as best as I can?
Steven:And even if you think you are doing as best as you can, you can probably find a better way because there's always a better way to do things. So what's one small action you can take away today and improve their client experience? Believe is tone. It all comes down to that. Smile right here.
Steven:Put a smile on, and I tell you what, that'll go miles with the tone. It'll change it right away. You don't have to think about the script. Have a smile, be inviting, be engaging, and stay positive. I wanna thank you all for listening today to this short episode on client experience.
Steven:And what this is is also have a, it'll be in the blog post that is out there. It says, Why your clients stay or run? The client experience wake up call. All right, the client experience wake up call. It's important because the Pew polls are showing that ethics erosion of trust, because I think that we have an issue with client communication across the industry.
Steven:Hope this helps you out. If you like what we're saying, give us a shout out to the Pro Partners team. One of our strategists can help you out along that path. If you're struggling and just can't break through, we're here to help you break through. Look us up at propartnersteam.com.
Steven:Until next time, I'm Stephen Herman, host of the Vedda Podcast. Thank you so much. If you like what we're doing, like and subscribe. And if you got a thought or question, don't hesitate to reach out to us on social media. Thank you so much.