What do your customers want?
Customers will tell you by their actions what they want. If they seek service elsewhere or purchase drugs online, then there is a reason. Either it's more...
What if the practice was paid to minimize client visits to the practice?
Research has shown that many pet owners are disappointed with their experiences with veterinarians. As many as half of pet owners do not have a regular veterinarian, and of...
Telehealth: Opportunities abound
There has been much discussion and even consternation about telehealth in veterinary medicine for the past several years. The word 'telehealth' conjures up many different visions of what it...
Optimizing supplier relationships is key to inventory control and profitability
Inventory and related services such as radiology and laboratory expenses represent the second largest expense category in most practices. In most healthy practices, this cost category, known as Cost...
Options for growing a practice
Growing a veterinary practice results from a variety of strategies. Most of the healthiest practices use multiple growth strategies to ensure consistent growth and stability. The most common...
Don’t financials have to be complicated? No they do not.
Financial statements are the measuring stick for the financial results of a business. Very commonly, veterinarians tell me privately that they wish they knew more about financial analysis and...
What leads to client satisfaction?
To best understand what clients want and what leads to client satisfaction, put yourself in their shoes. Visualize yourself as a customer who is seeking service in an area...
Effective leadership is powerful
Effective leadership is very powerful, yet it is difficult to define both in its make-up and its impact. We see organizations and teams that consistently outperform their counterparts, and...
How practices do business matters
Optimizing your relationship with suppliers can bring dramatic benefits. Not only can you save time by working with one primary supplier, but strengthening your relationship can bring significant financial...
It’s about mutual respect
Most clients come to you, because they want your help. What we sometimes don't fully realize is that not all of their needs are medically related to their...
Updated AVMA Report on Veterinary Markets available
The 2017 AVMA Report on Veterinary Markets was recently made available. Some key findings include: (the following is quoted from: http://atwork.avma.org/2017/04/10/2017-avma-report-on-veterinary-markets-now-available/) The total number of ...
Make the decision easy
Marketing should be simple. Your objective should be to convey what you have that your customer values in as simple a manner as possible. Too often, we try...
Use Trailing 12 charts to monitor high impact practice metrics
Inventory and related services are the second highest expense category in most practices. Whether you call it Cost of Goods Sold, or Cost of Professional Services (COPS), this group...
Don’t make clients wait
Clients of veterinarians have expectations regarding services they receive that have nothing to do with animals. Their expectations are rooted in how they receive services in every other sector...
Don’t buy your friends
The cost of inventory and related services consumes between 15% and 35% of revenue in most practices. That is a lot of money. The most profitable practices keep this cost...
Never underestimate the impact of leadership
Leadership and its impact on an organization or company is one of the most misunderstood and undervalued components of success or failure. Weak leadership leads to organizational dysfunction, poor...
Refine your digital footprint
More then 70% of clients search Google or similar sites for information prior to or after seeing a veterinarian. They look for location, phone numbers, hours of operations, people, expertise,...
Securing inventory
Inventory is the second largest expense in a veterinary practice. It, along with lab, radiology, mortuary, and related expenses should represent less than 20% of revenue in most practices, though...
Leadership and implementation
Making progress in a veterinary practice, no matter the subject, depends upon leadership and implementation. The leadership must establish a vision and expectation for where the practice is going...
New equipment or better service?
Where does the best opportunity lie in attracting and retaining great clients? Should you buy a new piece of equipment so that you can promote a new service? ...
Optimize your veterinarians’ time with patients
Veterinarians are your primary service providers and revenue producers in most practices. Therefore, it is important to optimize the roles your veterinarians serve in order to ensure that veterinarians...
Financial Literacy-Balance Sheet
Most veterinary businesses can operate very effectively using three financial statements; the income statement (also called the profit and loss statement), the cash flow statement, and the balance sheet. ...
The answer is ‘less than 20% of revenue.’
One of the most frequent questions I get from practice owners and managers is 'how much inventory should I have in my practice?' This is a very important question,...
Fill the work slots, not a position
There is frequent discussion about how practices and employers must change to accommodate a new generation of workers. Most of those conversations focus on putting a young employee with...
Market to your existing customers to grow your practice
The greatest opportunity to grow lies with your existing customers. Think about the situation. You know a lot about them and what they need. You know a...
Optimize staffing for a healthy practice
In today's competitive market, veterinary practices must manage labor very closely. Gone are the days of assuming a full staff will work full days without matching staffing to...
Make sure your marketing fits your target market
Just like you wouldn't expect to see cat lovers at a dog show, you wouldn't expect to attract clients who don't fit your target for your marketing...
Financial Literacy-Cash Flow Statement (Statement of Cash Flows)
Most veterinary businesses can operate very effectively using three financial statements; the income statement (also called the profit and loss statement), the cash flow statement, and the balance sheet. ...
Focus on the customer
For years, veterinarians learned everything they could about procedures, science, and medicine in an effort to make a difference in the lives of their animal patients. Rarely did we...
Is this good for them or for you?
When you get approached about special deals to buy large amounts of inventory all at once by distributors or manufacturers, ask yourself, "Is this good for them or good for...
Young talent needs mentorship
Mentorship is crucial to the development of young talent. Every practice depends on its ability to attract and retain talent, and especially being able to develop young talent. ...
Optimize your digital outreach
We live in a digital world. Apple is valued at about $742 billion dollars and largely makes digital devices and services that allow consumers to consume digital services of all...
Innovate convenience!
Customers are willing to pay handsomely for convenience. Amazon.com has doubled its value in the past 17 months. For a public company, that only happens with significant performance...
Learn from your supplier partners
Veterinarians have access to many wonderful resources who are both willing and able to help them grow their practices. On a daily basis, veterinarians work with representatives of companies...
Recognize what is important to your team
Most practice leaders only think of money when they establish parameters for a new hire or when they consider changing their compensation packages with their employees. It is very...
Grow your business with existing clients
Your biggest opportunities to grow your practice are in optimizing your services with existing clients. Think about the opportunity. You know their name, address, phone, animal names, and...
Financial Literacy-Income Statement also called Profit and Loss Statement (P&L)
Most veterinary businesses can operate very effectively using three financial statements; the income statement (also called the profit and loss statement), the cash flow statement, and the balance sheet. The...
Do the unexpected
Exemplary care takes many forms, but one thing satisfied customers have in common is that the service typically exceeds expectations. Remember, customers never want to be frustrated, surprised, or...
Establish the team culture
Veterinary practices require a team effort to operate effectively and to serve clients' needs. It is imperative for leadership to establish a vision for the practice and a to...
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Then, ask yourself, what do I want when it comes to attaining veterinary care? Many clients of veterinarians express a great...
Financial Literacy-The Purpose of Financial Statements
Most veterinary businesses can operate very effectively using three financial statements; the income statement (also called the profit and loss statement) the cash flow statement the balance sheet The...
How much do you care?
Customers measure every service on the basis of one question: As a service provider, how much do you care? They measure your level of care against many criteria...
What was your Cost of Goods last month?
This is a simple question. Cost of Goods or Cost of Professional Services is an expense category in a chart of accounts that includes inventory costs, laboratory costs, radiology...
Your team needs to focus on these 5 things
Practice management isn't easy, because it involves people. The team you build is of utmost importance in the outcome of your veterinary practice, and your leadership is even...
Number of new clients is only one measure of marketing
Marketing is intended to accomplish several objectives. A list of marketing objectives typically includes: improving client loyalty attracting new clients and patients growing the practice increasing the amount...
Innovative customer care
Providing exemplary care depends on more than delivering veterinary medical procedures. Clients want service. They seek to optimize their experiences regardless of their needs. Whether they're...
Develop mutual respect
Optimizing relationships in veterinary practice requires the development of mutual respect between the parties involved. An example of mutual respect would be scheduling an appointment when you desire to...
The impact of rising wages
Twenty-one states will raise their minimum wage in 2017. Some are relatively minor adjustments, while others are significant increases that could have a dramatic impact on the financial performance of...
Avoid being a commodity
Is your veterinary practice positioned as a commodity? Are the services you provide easily replaced by any other practice? Do you compete primarily on price to earn your...
Financial Literacy-Chart of Accounts
An integral part of the member service AVMA provides to its members, the AVMA Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee (VESC) is a comprehensive effort to improve the economics of the veterinary...
Anticipate customer needs
Can you think of an occasion when you as a customer were doing business with a company, and you felt like they anticipated every need you might have before you...
Make sure to capture all charges
It is very common for many practices to not have reliable procedures in place to ensure that all charges for procedures performed and products used or dispensed are captured and...
Provide customer service training to your entire team
The most successful veterinary practices excel at serving customers. Yes, the veterinary medicine and science is important, but few clients have the capability to determine the differences in veterinary...
Ask and they will tell you their pain points
Opportunities abound to learn what clients want if only we provide them the opportunity to tell us, and then we listen. It really is that simple. As customers...
Six numbers that will help you grow your practice
Practice financials don't need to be complicated. Keep them simple, up-to-date, and learn from others who have already done what you want to do. Start with a...
What is your promise to your customers?
Every business makes a promise to their customers. In building your brand and your practice, you have established promises, both written and unwritten, to your customers regarding the quality...
The Two Biggest Opportunities to Improve Profitability
The two biggest opportunities to improve profitability in most practices are to reduce labor and inventory costs. Labor costs typically account for 30% to 50% of revenue in most practices, depending...
Out of hours service carries a heavy burden
Repeatedly in talking with veterinarians across the country, the issue of out-of-hours or emergency coverage has a big impact on veterinary practices of all kinds. A common phrase is '...
How important is reliability?
ATT and many other companies are constantly selling their reliability. In the world of phone service, few things are more frustrating to customers than for them to purchase cell...
Manage Your Line of Credit Carefully
Many veterinary business owners choose to withdraw almost all the cash from the practice at the end of the year. What this usually means is that the owners use...
Establish your standard of care for both your medicine and your business
Much of the conflict with veterinarians operating healthy practices often lies with the focus of the veterinarian being on their preferred medical process in isolation from the needs of the...
Don’t give it away
Practices should spend significant time and effort establishing and nurturing relationships with their key suppliers. These relationships, along with well-negotiated supplier agreements and close working relationships, will yield many...
Symptoms of failed leadership
Labor costs are the highest expense in most veterinary practices. It is also one of the most challenging requirements of managing a practice or even a part of a...
Answer the phone
Accessibility is one of the most important criteria that customers want from any service provider, and customers of veterinarians are no different. It might seem obvious, but it is...
Economic Wellness
I am attending the Veterinary Study Groups Congress, a biennial CE and networking event for Veterinary Management Group members. As always, the board has selected excellent speakers on timely...
Measures that matter
Clients have preferences regarding the services they receive. They hate having to wait. They want service now, on their terms, and they want to know that they matter. ...
Key suppliers should be strategic partners
Inventory and related services such as radiology, laboratory, and others is the second highest expense category in most veterinary practices. Typically, this category, known as Cost of Professional Services ...
More Super leadership lessons
The recent Super Bowl provided many lessons and insights about the impact of leadership on the performance of a team. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, along with Patriots owner,...
‘Blue Ocean’ brings new opportunities
Differentiation is crucial to your practice being seen as distinctively different, unique, and valuable to your customers. Without differentiation, your practices becomes just one of many service providers in a...
Cash Flow Matters!
Small Veterinary businesses face different problems than larger practices. Most of these problems are related to cash availability when the bills come due. Managing cash flow problems before...
Differentiate your service
Most veterinary practices offer the same services. Most practices deliver similar care, in a building that is similar, with a team of people who are similar, in a manner...
Inventory management impacts profitability and practice value
Inventory and related services such as radiology costs, laboratory costs, and others, represent the second largest expense category in most veterinary practices. The category is known in the chart...
Super leadership on display
The recent Super Bowl provided some great examples of leadership that we can apply to veterinary practices. The New England Patriots, much maligned for numerous controversial efforts to gain...
Is your practice a taxi or an uber?
Uber is a ride-sharing service started in 2009. It allows users who need a ride to order a car for hire using a mobile application on their mobile device. ...
Poor management is expensive
Veterinary practices can be very good businesses. However, most veterinarians get very little business education in their formal education. The result is often a veterinarian who makes many...
What customers want versus what customers need
As veterinarians, we’re taught to advise clients about what they need. We learn a lot of science and medicine that leads to diagnosing a problem and then...
Veterinary Study Groups - a special opportunity
Veterinary Study Groups (VSG) is a remarkable program for the veterinary industry. It provides an opportunity for owners of veterinary practices that is unparalleled in many industries today. ...
Trust is crucial
In building your team, building trust is absolutely essential! One of the challenges of leadership is to successfully, routinely, and reliably transfer responsibility to someone else. Great leaders...
How do you know if your marketing is working?
Connecting the dots from the results of your marketing to the money you spent for marketing is not always as simple as adding 2 + 2. There is an old adage in...
Encore: Pay Yourself First
Its “Financial Friday” again! In the past 5 years I have had the good fortune to do some consulting work for a national branding and marketing firm. ...
Exemplary care is more than medicine
Veterinarians are thought of primarily by their clients for instances of injury and illness. Though veterinary opinions have some impact regarding other issues such as nutrition and behavior, our...
Is real-time, on demand inventory in our future?
Inventory and related costs represent the second highest cost in most practices. Therefore, failure to properly manage inventory can drastically reduce profitability and practice value. With all of...
Depth and redundancy are important for every team
Creating depth and redundancy on your team is very important. If someone on your team is irreplaceable, you should be fearful. It is very important to have multiple...
Protect and promote your brand
As time goes by and your practice grows, it’s important to examine your brand, and how it is being used in your practice. Remember, your brand is...
Review Your Practice’s 2016 Financial Performance
It is January 20th and most veterinary businesses have their year-end 2016 financial statements out by now. As soon as your financials are available, take some time to review...
Management structure affects customer service
Practice ownership brings with it requirements to make some management decisions. And those decisions will determine how customers are served, but management will vary according to various ownership structures. ...
Consolidation: its impact and opportunities
There has been a lot of discussion about the impact of consolidation upon the future of veterinary medicine. The discussion has been very mixed in that some practice owners...
Five steps to an exemplary team
Healthy practices have invested in building effective teams. Building an effective team can be done by focusing on 5 basic principles. They include: Define your objectives. Decide what...
Branding can transform commodities into premium products and services
Branding and marketing, when done well, can be very powerful. It has the power to transform commodities into premium products and services. Veterinary medicine in many situations is...
Discounts and low fees are costly to your practice
There are few activities in managing your practice that will make you more money than adjusting fees. Every transaction involves your fees. If your fees are set at...
Use technology to improve efficiencies and service
Customer service is of utmost importance in veterinary practice. In today's business environment, it is important to look at other service businesses to identify ways to provide an...
More consolidation, more opportunity
The announcement this week of Mars' purchase of VCA is another example of the consolidation happening in our industry. Media accounts have reported that the two companies, Banfield (owned...
Who establishes the vision in your practice?
Getting a team to work toward common goals is a great accomplishment. But, how does this happen? Who establishes the vision for a unitfied team? The designated leader,...
Make a decision to grow
Most practices have a desire to grow, but growth doesn’t just happen, especially in a rapidly changing and competitive market. Assess your practice and set goals for...
Budgeting made easy
It's a new year, and it's time to make decisions that will help you accomplish your objectives during the year. Many practices fail to plan, seemingly being...
Alexa? Siri? Who are these people?
Who is Alexa? And who is Siri? We hear about these characters, and we see people (maybe some of us do this as well) talking to electronic boxes...
Consolidation impacts all of us
All around us we see consolidation. It is a fact of life, and one that impacts all of us. What is consolidation, and how does it impact us? Consolidation...
Business is like sport
I was reminded this week when reading about the retirement of Coach Gary Kubiak of the Denver Broncos that business is a lot like sports. Coach Kubiak has been...
Better data will yield results in marketing
Effective marketing depends upon having accurate and complete customer information. Marketing is simply informing your customers about what you recommend for their animals when it's relevant to them. ...
Manage Creeping Incrementalism Out of Your Expenses
Managing a veterinary business is a process of making hundreds or even thousands of decisions per year, each one of which has an impact on the cost of operating the...
Create a positive, client-centered culture
Nov 22, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
Serving clients is of the utmost importance in a healthy practice. To do so, your team is most important. A healthy practice establishes a positive, team-oriented culture, with... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Build and Lead Your Team ,Team Tuesday
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Remove the barriers
Nov 21, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
Can your clients request an appointment quickly and easily online? Can they request a prescription refill in similar manner? For companion practices, can your clients request food orders... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Sales and Marketing ,Marketing Monday
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Spend Smart to Lower Taxes
Nov 18, 2016 by Andrew Clark
Quarter four of each year is a time when veterinary business owners meet with their accountants to forecast how much cash the business will have at year end. If... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Finance ,Financial Friday
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Evaluate your customer interface
Nov 17, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
What is your customer interface? To use an analogy, the customer interface for the Apple iPhone and similar devices is how easy, simple, effective, reactive, and satisfying it is... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Provide Exemplary Care ,Service Thursday
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Early warning systems
Nov 16, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
The intent of management should be to accomplish the objectives of the business. It is assumed that those objectives include most of the following: achieving exemplary customer satisfaction and... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Optimize Inventory and Suppliers ,Supplier Wednesday
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Year-end bonuses: incentive or entitlement?
Nov 15, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
A frequent question from practice owners and managers is whether year-end bonuses provide effective motivation or are a detrimental entitlement? The fact that the question is typically worded exactly... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Build and Lead Your Team ,Management ,Team Tuesday
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Measure the results of your marketing
Nov 14, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
Marketing requires investment of both time and money. In order to determine whether your investment was worthwhile, it is important to have some measures of success with which to... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Sales and Marketing ,Marketing Monday
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How to Outline Your Financial Records
Nov 11, 2016 by Andrew Clark
Definition of ‘Outline’ (www.grammar.about.com) An outline is a plan for--or a summary of--a writing project or speech. An outline is usually in the form of... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Finance ,Financial Friday
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Listening leads to innovation and satisfaction
Nov 10, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
When examining almost every client survey over the past 7 or 8 years in the veterinary industry, there are some loud messages coming through from animal owners. These findings should be... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Provide Exemplary Care ,Service Thursday
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Five immediate steps to begin to secure your inventory
Nov 9, 2016 by Edward L. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA
Where do I begin? This is a frequent question asked by practice owners who know they need to address their inventory costs, but who don't know how to... [ Continue Reading ]
Topics: Featured 3 ,Optimize Inventory and Suppliers ,Supplier Wednesday
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