Leadership

Money is wasted during each minute of a meandering back-office meeting. You need to set a tight schedule, establish ground rules and be selective with the invitations.

Staff meetings, department meetings, management meetings, lunch and learns. Veterinary professionals are not immune to the meetings epidemic that plagues many companies. Meetings are often a necessary evil, but many of them are unexciting, unfocused and unproductive. We rarely stop to think about the real cost of meetings because, after all, the attendees are clocked […]

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Do the little things to turn an average client experience into one that pet owners will relish and long remember.

We all know that clients determine the quality and value of a veterinary practice based on what they see and experience. Furthermore, this determination is made in the first three minutes that clients come into contact with the practice. This phenomenon is known as perception of value. During a recent onsite consultation, I noticed a […]

Veteran employees often take the lead in sharing knowledge and advice, but newbies can do it, too. The key to success is to create the best possible relationships.

Although mentoring is not a new concept in the workplace, modern partnerships are not necessarily like those of the past. According to HR Magazine, formal mentoring relationships in previous eras would typically last at least a year and informal ones could last a decade. In today’s workforce, these relationships are often shorter and more specialty-oriented […]

It’s time to do away with production-based pay and all its ills. The alternative: profit sharing and a formula for robust professional growth.

In years gone by, veterinarians consistently were ranked among the top most-trusted professionals. But public opinion is changing. Today, many consumers think veterinarians are “selling” more services to grow corporate bottom lines. As one client put it, “I felt like I was taken advantage of when I found out after the fact that my veterinarian […]

How becoming a mother changed my perspective on clients, co-workers and protocol.

In our DINK (dual income, no kids) years, my husband’s and my parenting efforts were channeled solely on our dog, Marlie, an 11-year-old, gentle, playful chocolate Labrador. We took her on vacation, to the beach, on the boat and out for drinks. We invested in training, Tempur-Pedic bedding and annual preventive dentals. After we had […]

Negotiating the purchase or sale of a veterinary practice requires a firm understanding of all the documents.

The number of mergers and acquisitions occurring in the veterinary industry is unquestionably at an all-time high. Corporate chains and aggregators own as much as 15 percent of general companion animal practices, according to estimates, and the percentage is even higher for specialty practices. This means an increasing number of veterinarians are entering the deal […]

The experience of presence is a doorway into both personal growth and professional development.

We love the veterinary profession. It attracts some of the most passionate, caring and down-to-earth people — people with servant hearts who will give you the shirt off their back and who don’t suffer from superinflated egos. You can’t get much better than that. If you’re reading this, we’re talking about you! It’s also true […]

Veterinary nurses can help clients address age-related issues in an older pet and make appropriate health care decisions.

I have yet to meet a veterinary professional who doesn’t love meeting puppies and kittens for the first time. It’s a joyous occasion for the team and pet owner and the beginning of what hopefully will be a lifelong relationship. Developing these relationships early on is essential. Regardless of whether the patient comes to us […]

Preventing embezzlement, or at least lowering the risk, starts with the practice owner and entails strict adherence to policies and procedures.

The latest statistics indicate that 1 in 10 veterinary hospitals loses at least $10,000 to embezzlement in a given year. Have you taken precautions so you don’t become a victim, too? Whenever I or one of my firm’s consultants assist a veterinary hospital, we perform a minor audit of the practice’s end-of-day procedures to look […]