3 Actions independent practice owners can take to prosper
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Independent practice ownership can be professionally, financially, and personally rewarding—and all three of those are within your reach. While competing in the evolving industry landscape comes with challenges, your differentiators can help you not only survive but thrive. Read on for three keys to help foster a successful independent practice.
1. Create a positive culture
A positive practice culture is an important steppingstone to success, and your independent practice may be able to offer a tailored team and client experience that sets you apart from the big boys. Here are a few ways to encourage a positive culture:
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Tools like Slack or group messages can help your team stay informed and inspired. But be mindful to address personal, performance or priority issues in person.
Have a hospitality mindset.
Debbie Boone’s new book, Hospitality in Healthcare, encourages veterinary professionals to hone their active listening skills and learn to interpret body language—which can lead to better understanding of client and team behaviors and motivations.
Get the most from your team.
Hire the right people for the right positions and invest in their training. Using your team fully may even lead to greater efficiency and revenue.1
2. Make technology your friend
Embracing practice and consumer technologies can make life easier for you, your team and your clients. Here’s how:
Leverage client-facing solutions.
Mobile apps, digital reminders, online appointment platforms and digital radiography can help you connect with clients even when they aren’t at your practice. Use them! Data on file at Vetsource shows that using a reminder system that automatically employs email, texting, and push notifications results in a 96% appointment confirmation rate.
Realize the power of nimble.
Independent practices can move quickly on new technologies, unlike large corporations that may require lengthy approval processes. When implementing, consider these steps from Dr. Stacee Santi’s online NAVC course:
- Select two to four “guinea pigs” to train and champion the new technology.
- Allow the champions to decide whether to move forward.
- Train the remaining team.
- Go live.
- Collect team member feedback.
Remember, technology should make life easier for you and your clients. Systems that aren’t being used aren’t worth keeping.
3. Build trusted financial relationships with clients
Rising veterinary costs can be hard on you and on clients, but being strategic about pricing can help.
Try a good, better, best approach.
Providing clients with three service tiers and explaining the benefits of each can turn treatment conversations into a question of which package rather than a “yes” or “no.”
Proactively share payment options.
When clients have options to pay for pet care, they may be more likely to move forward. Financing options, pet insurance and payment plans can all be great ways to help ease your clients’ cost concerns.
The bottom line
Independent veterinary practices will continue to fulfill a need for decades to come. By focusing on the benefits of independent ownership, you’ll be able to set up your practice for long-term success. Check out the Own Your Future publication for more tips, advice and strategies.
References
1M. B. Flietner (n.d.). “Are Your Credentialed Technicians Allowed to Be All They Can Be?” AAHA Publications. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from https://www.aaha.org/publications/trends-magazine/trends-articles/2023/january-2023/f2-tech-utilization/.
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