Vet Times

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What do clients expect?

Author : Maggie Shilcock

Categories : Vets

Date : May 14, 2012

Maggie Shilcock highlights what customers want from veterinary practices and provides advice for
practice owners, vets and VNs to meet client needs

AS customers, we all have expectations of the goods or services we buy.

They may not be realistic, but the reality is if our expectations are not met we are disappointed and
disillusioned. Practice customers are no different and, if we want to ensure they are not
disappointed, we must be aware of their expectations and aim to fulfil them – or even exceed them.

Expectations will vary depending on demographics and economics and, without a thorough client
survey, we are not going to know what each client expects. However, it’s worth asking and
developing a measure of clients’ expectations. It is also possible to gain a good idea of the service
you should be providing by looking at the following categories of expectations common to all
customers. These are the basics and it’s up to the practice to look at ways of providing that little
extra to impress customers.

The premises
Most clients expect bright, modern premises. This is what they find when visiting other businesses
and they expect the veterinary surgery to be the same. A practice may be housed in an old
building, but there is no reason for it to look shabby or out of date, inside or out.

The windows are your shop front and if clients can see through them into a colourful, modern-
looking interior, you have gone a long way to meet expectations. First impressions count – it’s all

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about perception. Attractive surroundings say good treatment and service. It should be taken as
read the premises are clean and tidy, both outside and inside, with no bad smells or litter.

The staff
Customers these days see veterinary staff as professionals and expect a professional service from
them. They expect to see smart, uniformed employees who are ready to provide the help they
require. Veterinary customers have far more choice than ever before and, if they are unhappy with
the service provided, they can easily go elsewhere. Customers will want helpful, attentive, friendly
staff who are able to give individual attention to the customer and his or her pet. Customers should
have confidence in the service and in the people providing it.

Customers should be acknowledged as soon as they enter the reception area. This is perhaps one
of the simplest, but most important, areas of expectation. The customer needs to feel welcome and
that they and their pet matter. If they are ignored for more than just a few seconds, they will
immediately start to feel the staff are not interested in them and don’t think they matter. We know
how hard it can be for staff to be aware of clients arriving when they are also trying to deal with
clients at the reception desk and answer the telephone. However, we ignore clients at our peril.
Establishing eye contact and smiling creates the unspoken relationship between staff and customer
that is essential for a good relationship.

Customers also expect staff to be organised and to know they are coming and why; regular
customers will expect staff to know their names and their pets’ names.

The vets
The customers’ attitude to veterinary surgeons has changed over the past few years.
Unfavourable TV programmes and articles in the press have led to a perception change and
unquestioned advice and instruction is perhaps not the norm any more.

Many customers expect to be far more involved in the decision-making process regarding their
pets’ treatment. They expect to be able to question treatment and discuss options. It is more
important than ever the vet, or nurse in a nurse consultation, spends time explaining the
examination and the benefits of the treatment, and involving the client in the decision-making.

The advice
Customers expect to be given advice on how to maintain their pets’ health. This may be verbal
advice in the consulting room or from staff in reception, but most will also expect leaflets or
handouts, or even the option to get advice from the practice website. There are numerous
independent websites offering veterinary advice and, rightly or wrongly, customers use these, often

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taking the information back to their own practice.

It therefore makes sense for the practice to have as much advice material available as is practical.
This looks professional and is helpful in terms of client understanding and compliance.

The services
Customers expect to be informed about all the services a business has to offer. This is one way
they will be able to compare practices and make decisions about where they wish to take their
pets. Veterinary practices have often been rather tardy when it comes to promoting what they do,
but those days should be long gone.

It’s really important to tell the customer what you can offer via the practice website, in the
newsletter or using handouts. All staff should be aware of new services and talk to clients about
them if appropriate. Customers expect this and if there is something more the practice can offer
then they should be told about it, so the owners can make an informed choice. A practice’s
services, and the development of new ones, may be the only real way for customers to define the
differences between local veterinary services. They expect to be able to find out what a practice
offers – if they can’t, or if no one tells them, why should they visit?

The payment
Like any other customers, veterinary clients expect to be able to pay their bill by cash, cheque or
card. How they pay is not really an issue – it’s more about what they pay and the greatest
expectation is they will be given informed advice about their pet’s treatment cost. It can be difficult
to provide estimates for the cost of complicated or long-term treatment, but, generally speaking, it
should not be a problem to give a reasonable quote for treatment. Few other customers commit to
work being done before they know how much it will cost and we will find that, increasingly,
veterinary customers will have the same, totally reasonable, attitude.

It’s only right the customer knows what costs they have to meet, especially in a tough economy.
The veterinary profession will have to bite the bullet and be far more upfront about their prices.
There is nothing wrong in listing the price of common procedures in the waiting room (some
practices have done this for years) , but staff, including vets, will have to be prepared to discuss
costs with their clients without embarrassment or defensiveness.

Do you care?
All these expectation categories are important to our customers, but overriding all of them is that
you care about their pet. The vets, nurses and all the staff are expected to care a great deal about
all animals and the customers’ animals in particular. You are all seen as totally dedicated to

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 animals and their welfare. Hopefully, all of us who work in the veterinary world care a great deal
about animal welfare and love animals, but perhaps we need to show this a little more to our
clients.

It’s easy to become a little blasé about treating pets and dealing with their problems. The client
may only visit a few times a year, so don’t let them see you on a day when the workload has
perhaps made you a little too offhand about ear mites or flea treatment, otherwise the client may
doubt your real commitment and love of animals.

If you want to know more about what your customers expect, it can be worthwhile asking them to
fill in a questionnaire based on the six categories listed above. This might be verbal, written or
online. You may get some “interesting answers”, but most should help you hone your service to
meet your particular clients’ expectations.

Customers’ expectations must be met in these days of increased veterinary competition, but a
practice wanting to really succeed needs to go further and constantly ask: “If this is what our
customers expect, what can we do to exceed their expectations and keep them coming back to
us?”.

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