Leadership

Clients are more likely to accept medical recommendations if you clearly explain the services, provide a high-end, low-end fee estimate and know how to respond to financial resistance.

Preparing and presenting treatment plans is an important part of what veterinary technicians do every day. How you handle these plans will make the difference between clients accepting your recommendations or walking out the door. Clients often have a difficult time understanding recommendations, especially if the plan involves diagnostics and procedures. It’s our job to […]

Properly managed incentives can boost client loyalty, improve patient health and lift the bottom line over the long term.

Our best veterinary clients — the ones who have come to us for years — are compliant with our recommendations, inherently trust all members of our team, choose to support our small business by utilizing our ancillary services despite less expensive alternatives, and promote our hospital in the best light to all their friends and […]

Start early when looking for a fill-in doctor, and think about contracting with a headhunter.

Whether you’re a solo practitioner in desperate need of a vacation or a practice manager dealing with an associate veterinarian’s sudden medical leave, hiring a relief veterinarian may feel like a daunting task, particularly if it’s your first time. The first thing to know is that finding a relief veterinarian may take longer than expected. […]

If yours doesn’t elicit an emotional feeling, try again.

Mission statements are dull, boring and useless, and so are annual performance reviews. Now that I have horrified my fellow VetPartners members, let me explain. The issue with most veterinary mission statements, which is the subject of this article, and annual performance reviews, which is not, is that they typically are done poorly. Over the […]

Networking, education and certification can help with professional advancement.

Like the parade of preteens who shadow our doctors each summer, I too wanted to be a veterinarian at that age. Growing up in my parents’ practice, where my mother was the owning veterinarian, my father managed the business and I pitched in wherever needed, I experienced the realities of the field. And unlike many […]

Vet techs play a key role in oversight of controlled substances.

Managing controlled substances can be a daunting task that usually falls squarely on a veterinary technician’s shoulders. Issues arise when a technician does not understand the regulations or when the hospital lacks good systems for preventing the illegal acquisition, diversion and use of controlled drugs. Federal, state and local governments regulate controlled substances. The U.S. […]

Don’t rush to judgment, adhere to the employee handbook and be consistent in your follow-through.

When you see the term “problem employee,” what comes to mind? Perhaps someone in your practice makes negative comments about virtually every situation, whereas someone else may disappear whenever an unpleasant task needs to be done. Or maybe someone believes she has the correct answer for every situation, and she doesn’t follow procedure when it […]

When managing younger employees, a nontraditional approach may be better.

If you think your 18- to 40-year-old employees — aka millennials, aka Generation Y — are lazy, uncommitted and entitled, then either you hired the wrong recruits or you haven’t found the right way to motivate them. Here are 12 ideas to motivate your Gen Y team members. They apply to receptionists and technicians as […]

10 of the profession’s best and brightest are founding board members of Today’s Veterinary Business.

TOP ROW: Amanda Donnelly, DVM, MBA | Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, JD | Eleanor Green, DVM | Ernie Ward, DVM | Fritz Wood, CPA, CFP BOTTOM ROW: Jeff Thoren, DVM, PCC, BCC | Kelly Baltzell, MA |Mark Cushing, JD | Mary Beth Leininger, DVM | Zack Mills, DVM Amanda Donnelly, DVM, MBA, fell in love with veterinary medicine […]