Life With Clients

Today I spent the afternoon at a family dinner for my brother’s birthday. Gatherings with my family are always unique. My sister-in-law and I are both veterinarians, so if a meal doesn’t involve a conversation about poop or vomit, someone is off their game. This particular meal qualified in both categories. On the dinner table… Read More

The heartworm talk The flea talk The vaccine talk The allergy talk The dental talk The weight talk If you’ve been in small animal private practice for more than a year, you’ve probably lost track of the number of times you’ve had each of these talks. Many of us give every one of these “presentations”… Read More

Hopefully, you have a veterinarian who you really like. Maybe even love. (But when I say love, I do not mean love, because that is another problem.) The veterinarian-client-patient relationship is built on mutual respect and trust. Sometimes the veterinarian-client-patient relationship becomes a friendship, which is confusing, and not necessary or even advisable. A successful… Read More

Facebook and other social media sites can be great customer service tools to delight your veterinary clients in between visits. However, veterinary hospitals can also manage to really tick customers off with some seemingly harmless posts. Here are a few moves I’d avoid to keep pet owners coming back to your social media accounts (and… Read More

Some days in the clinic, I’m just tired. It’s usually on those days when I’ve had about a dozen nearly identical conversations about the importance of clean teeth, heartworm prevention, or weight control. Sometimes it’s not though. Sometimes it’s just hard to get going and be enthusiastic after a vacation, or weekend, or lunch, or… Read More