If you work in a veterinary practice or in the pet industry or in a business that supplies goods or services to the industry and you have something to say - why not become a 'Guest Blogger'?
For more information click here to read our: Guidelines for Guest Bloggers
Below is a précis of the dental program that in the one-on-one practices that I work with, consistently, easily and successfully gets their dental income up to between 8% and 10% of gross fee income.
These are the grade one (and possibly grade 2) ‘dental cleaning and polishings’ that are normally ‘ignored’ or possibly told to ‘brush at home’ ‘give more raw chewy meat’ or possibly even ‘recommended’ to give some form of dental product
The staff need to be totally comfortable and on board here. Remember the clients will believe the staff more readily than they believe the Veterinarians. And, trust me, the client WILL ask the staff for a ‘second’ opinion.
I find that in most practices, this process will take some three months of consistent training and exposure.
Someone needs to be in charge of this process. This must NOT be the practice owner or practice manager (preferably). This can be very satisfactorily run by a nurse/technician.
Current dental numbers and revenue (both as dollars and cents and as a percentage of practice income – by individual veterinarians and as a whole) need to be measured.
This is for ‘dentistry’ as such and food and ancillary products as well.
Then both short-term and long-term goals and targets can be set.
Are there going to be individual or Team based rewards or both?
I suggest as a minimum that there be Team based rewards predicated on total dental dollar income for a one-month period. This can be used initially as a very quick, easy-to-calculate, measure of success.
A team dinner-out can be a suitable initial 3-month reward.
After a few months, once the new habit patterns are formed, the rewards should become more intermittent and less frequent. Otherwise, they become regarded as a ‘given’ or possibly a ‘right’
This is another CRITICAL step.
The grade 3 and grade 4 dentals can be as much as you’d like them to be and feel ethically comfortable with.
The grade one (and possibly grade two) dentals need to be highly affordable for the ‘average’ client and fit within their monthly disposable household budget.
Based on research and experience I have suggested pricing that I know works for the practice, and for the client and that leads to super high compliance. I’m happy to share that information – however not on this forum here as I need to explain the client mindset and the research behind the data.
Remember too that in order for this process to work, it must be affordable to the client. We are looking at most patients having annual or possibly even bi-annual (if needed) cleaning and polishing. So, high compliance and lower profit per unit sale will result in an excellent income stream – as well of course in better patient care and outcomes.
Again KPIs for this revisit booking rate need to be set. A minimum of 85% is acceptable.
For those clients who do not book, the nurse will schedule a reminder phone call to book this appointment.
At this meeting, if the dental disease is back then a dental cleaning and polishing is once again scheduled and the process is as above.
If the teeth are fine, then the client is advised that s/he will be seen again at the next annual health check and vaccination.
Where products are sold (above), the dental nurse must follow through and ensure that the client is compliant. Obtain permission to do this early on. With food ring in 2-3 days to see how things are going and then calculate when the first bag is about to run out and ring and check that the owner has actually used it all up as she should have to organize the delivery of another bag or whatever.
This last point is that once the practice learns to start educating the client from the first time they bring the puppy or kitten in, the easier this whole process becomes. This is because the client has already been trained in what is going to happen and how important dental disease is.
On graduation I purchased a Veterinary clinic in Maitland, NSW and sold it in July 2009. At the time of purchase, it was a run down one person clinic with about a 90% mixed and 10% small animal component. The business grew well, so that at one stage there were 4 branches and 8 Veterinarians. At the time of sale there were 5 Veterinarians, 16 support staff functioning out of a purpose built ‘A’ class Hospital with one branch. In 2004 the practice won the Pfizer/AVA Practice of Excellence Award as well as coming 3rd in the Fujitsu Customer Service Awards. At this stage (and even slightly before), I started co-presenting at trainings and workshops and in 2007 I started developing and hosting my own workshops. In July 2009 I sold my practice so as to be able to concentrate fully on my coaching, training, speaking and workshop business – and to be able to move to Exeter (NSW) to be with my partner. I missed clinical practice, so in May 2018 I purchased a veterinary practice with the aim of building it up by providing a highly customer service friendly veterinary practice alternative to the local community. In 12m...
Connect with Dr Diederik:
A strong online presence is essential for the success of your veterinary business, and Google Ads can be a powerful tool to attract new clients but how do you get started? In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for vet clinics. Google Ads...
