6 ways to improve client relationship and get more revenue for your vet practice
Open, honest, and thorough communication between a veterinarian and a pet parent is crucial. Through good client communication, the owner will gain trust in your care and ability to treat their pet and will be more compliant.
Without clients — especially those who return to our services again and again — our businesses would be non-existent. This is why the more successful you are at understanding and forming relationships with your clients, the more successful you will be at growing your small business.
Anticipating Customer Needs
Not only is developing relationships with your clients a smart move from a marketing standpoint, but it also helps you to anticipate client needs and perform ongoing adjustments so you can improve your business over time.
When you take time to understand your client’s needs, you will be in a better position to ensure client satisfaction with your products or services and align yourself for new opportunities. (such as Telemedicine)
You may even increase the possibility of referrals and increased word-of-mouth marketing.
Get to Know Your Clients
Even if you think you have a good understanding of where your clients are coming from and what they need from you, you may be surprised at the many ways you can get to know them better.
Oftentimes, we vets tend to avoid talking to other people (for some of us, it’s one of the reasons for choosing vet school ?). You must keep in mind at all times that these people come to us in search of help and that they might be stressed or anxious. For them to relax and feel more comfortable, consider letting your conversations get a little personal by sharing what you do during your off-hours, some fun facts about your pets, etc. It doesn’t have to be intrusive, but sharing non-work information occasionally can strengthen your clients’ relationships.
Do Exceptional Work
It’s obvious that when building relationships, the quality of the work you do should be exemplary. If you’re not making your clients happy, it will be virtually impossible to forge long-lasting relationships. Aim to exceed their expectations whenever possible and demonstrate how you can become a valued part of their pet’s life.
Communicate With Your Clients Regularly
Consistent and effective communication is important in all relationships, particularly relationships with pet parents. You can create the habit of practising good communication by being responsive to client calls and emails, scheduling regular check-ups, sharing company news, and interacting with your clients across social media. Social media is the easiest way to keep in touch with your clients and also a very good way of keeping them informed. In general, remaining in regular contact and keeping your clients in the loop can go a long way.
Ask for Feedback
It’s important to ask for client feedback. You can take a formal approach by using a client satisfaction survey (there are lots of examples on the internet) or you can ask them informally during the end of their’s pet consult. The most important step of getting client feedback, however, is having a plan for addressing any concerns or criticisms and being committed to improving your business processes.
Survey your existing customers to learn their pain points- you can see how people feel when talking to your receptionist or if you are clear enough explaining the course of treatment, etc.
In business, the best way to make money is to solve your customer’s problems. Whatever problem they have, the better you can solve it, the more money you can make.
Cultivate Partnerships
By considering each client relationship as an ongoing partnership, you can move the relationship to a collaborative, mutually beneficial partnership. In other words, their compliance will improve, then we’ll pay more attention to the way they should do a treatment at home and therefore, the pet gets better, the owner sees your treatment works and will trust you more. This focus can make you more successful at building a sustainable relationship instead of simply doing the work and moving on.
Smart marketers focus on their existing customers and clients because they know that if they deliver an immense amount of value and develop a deep-rooted relationship with them, the money will follow. It’s a proven fact that getting recurrent clients is not only cheaper but also more effective.