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The Four Lessons to Being Teachable

Sunday, January 24th, 2010 by Dr. Dean Severidt

Formation of Leadership XVI

We will continue to talk about the need for leaders to be teachable. The moment that you stop learning is when you stop leading. We need to always continue to remain teachable and never stop learning from the past. Always remember that teach ability begins with knowledge, moves to understanding, and then results in application. You are teachable if you are consistently changing. All good leaders learn from their experiences , especially experiences that cause pain and suffering. The toughest lessons can sometimes create the greatest reward, if we look for the lesson and allow ourselves to be taught.

There are four lessons that we need to learn in regards to being teachable; these lessons are extremely important to the essence of leadership. The first lesson: do not believe your own press because the greatest enemy of tomorrow’s success lies within today. Do not think that just because something is working today that it will still work one to five years from now. Especially with technology changing every single day, we need to keep up at all times. It absolutely amazes me that in this day and age veterinarians are still not paperless with their medical records. They are hand writing records that no one can read. I have been paperless since 1993 and would never practice any other way. The second lesson: always observe how you react to mistakes. We need to get honest with our needs and make sure we do not make mistakes just because that is the way we used to do it. Veterinarians used to use ether for anesthesia; today that would be malpractice. Keep learning in all aspects of not only your practice, but also in your personal lives. The third lesson: try something new; watch how challenges change us for the better and keep us learning. I had performed ACL surgery a certain way for 29 years. About 1 year ago, a younger veterinarian that worked with me showed me the way that she performed this surgery. I listened, tried her approach, and I now use her technique every time I perform one. It is a better technique and less time consuming than my old approach was. The final lesson: grow in the area of your strengths. Do not be satisfied where you are today; always keep stretching. God has given us all different talents and abilities. We need to utilize the ones He gave us and make use of them the best we can.

As you continue to grow as a leader, always remember that we need to be open to learning and being teachable. Too many people fall into a rut because it is easy. They stop leading because they do not want to change or simply refuse to change. Many great leaders have failed and missed out on many incredible opportunities; simply, because they did not have the foresight to see that there are other options. Next time, we will talk about how my mistakes over the past 30 years in both veterinary practice and leadership have taught me lessons and made me grow into the person I am today. God keeps challenging me every day by allowing me to use my ego and make mistakes; fortunately, each time I try and learn a lesson and improve from these mistakes.

Tags: dr dean severidt, Leadership, veterinary management
Posted in Culture, Growing Your Practice, Leadership, Management | No Comments »

Why Veterinarians Need to Jump On the Social Media Bandwagon

Monday, December 28th, 2009 by Dr. Dean Severidt

In my experience, veterinarians have raised two arguments when asked why they do not advertise as much as other industries. First, they will argue that advertising is too expensive. While this may be true if the advertising is not done properly, many times veterinarians do not realize just how quickly their practices can grow with the right kind of advertising.

Second, they will argue that it is somehow unethical to advertise. While I would agree that it would be unethical to bash a competitor or make false claims in an advertisement, there is nothing in it of itself that is unethical about advertising. If your practice provides a great value to your clients, don’t your think you should let people know about it so they can receive this wonderful care for their pets?

If you still do not see the benefit in advertising your practice there is a solution. The solution is to utilize social media to market your veterinary practice. Social media covers each of the aforementioned objections and can be a huge catalyst to growing your practice. First of all social media is extremely inexpensive. You can get started at no cost and the sky is the limit as to how far you extend your reach.

Second, it is not advertising in the sense that you are overtly soliciting business. Social media is about providing meaningful content and joining in on the conversation that is already taking place. Do you think your clients and potential clients would appreciate it if you provided them valuable information on how to care for their pets at home? You bet they would. Who do you think they are going to call when they need to bring their pets to the veterinarian? You have already built a relationship with them and there is a built in trust that already exists before you ever meet them in person. Now that is efficient marketing, and to think all it takes is a little time.

If you still are not convinced of the power of social media in your veterinary practice, here are a few more reasons you need to join the conversation:

1. Over 80% of Americans use social media on a monthly basis.

2. 60% of Americans interact with businesses on a social media website, and one in four interact more than once per week.

3. 56% of Americans feel both a stronger connection with, and better served by, businesses when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

Tags: Advertising, Social Media, Veterinary Marketing
Posted in Culture, Growing Your Practice, Leadership, Marketing | 1 Comment »

What Seperates Veterinary Practices III

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Dr. Dean Severidt

Showing Love and Humility to your Employees

Why do some practices have a group of people that get along so well, while other clinics have a staff where everyone seems to be fighting and no one seems to get along? I do not think that this overall attitude is from the employees , but I do believe it is from the management and the owner. The way that the leadership treats the employees will determine how the employees will respond. Leadership’s attitudes and actions will always determine other people’s reactions.

If the leadership of a clinic respects and treats people with love and humility, then love and humility will become the action your employees will show to clients and to others. Furthermore, I believe that all good and successful leaders lead by showing love and humility toward their employees. It is nothing more than following the golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Treat people the way you would want to be treated, and see what kind of results you get. We read all the time about developing teamwork and everyone working together. This is a great idea, but the question remains: how do you do this? Many managers and owners have tried and only failed because their employees did not respond properly. This just causes frustration which leaders to anger, and then trying to force your employees to act a certain way which only leads to everything falling apart. The great news is that there is a much easier and less stressful way to lead! Instead, try treating people with love and compassion, and then see what kind of results you get. Tell everyone in your clinic once a day what a great person they are and how valuable they are to your clinic. You will be surprised at how much of a better response people will give you from this as opposed to giving them a raise. All in all, it is simple: people want to be recognized and feel needed. You should never act like you are any better than anyone that is working for you, because in reality, you are not. You just happen to have a degree that allows you to be a veterinarian. Degrees say absolutely nothing about your character. Make people feel important and needed, because without them it would be nearly impossible to function. These little, very important moves will do more for your business and success than anything else you can do.

I do not believe that you have to be friends or “buddies” with your staff; however, you should still treat them this way. Personally, I have made a decision not to socialize with my staff. I work with them every day, but they are never a part of my family or social life outside of the clinic. Socializing outside of work with staff members can be a way for trouble and many unnecessary issues to develop. My staff knows that I care for them and hold a lot of respect for them. I am very humble around them but also a little unapproachable, which keeps me at a distance. You do have to separate yourself a little from the employees in order to have the respect you need from them. However, you must do it out of kindness and humility and not be demanding about it. If you act humble, confident, and treat your employees with respect and the way you want to be treated, they will do just about anything for you. People who are treated this way will go to any degree to make sure things are done correctly and efficiently, because they will take pride in the business the same way that the leader does. If you ever see a staff or have one that is always fighting, watch the leaders and see what they do. Followers are followers because they like to follow. Leaders are leaders because they like to lead. Walk around with a heart of love and humility, and watch your practice grow.

Tags: Employees, veterinary practice management
Posted in Associate Veterinarians, Culture, Leadership, Management | No Comments »

What Seperates Veterinary Practices II

Sunday, December 13th, 2009 by Dr. Dean Severidt

Why do some veterinary practices do better financially than others? Demographics can play a role, but usually an area that has to keep charges down will also have less expenses related to overhead. I believe that the two biggest factors are the average transaction of each veterinarian and the average transaction of the practice as a whole. These are two completely separate items; however, the doctor’s average transaction must be much higher than the clinic’s. If the clinic’s transaction is not high enough, then the staff isn’t doing their job of selling. I have always told people whom I hire, including veterinarians that we are in the business of selling. Many times I have been given odd looks and I could sense their feeling of uncertainty, until I explained what I meant. In the veterinary industry, every day we ask people to take their discretionary income and spend it with us on services or products that we feel are necessary for their pet. A dictionary definition of sale is: “The exchange of goods or services for an amount of money or its equivalent; the act of selling”. As veterinarians, we must get to a point where we are not afraid of the word “sale” and understand that this is a part of what we do. Fortunately, we are not human physicians who are dealing with government and insurance. Instead, we are small business people trying to sell our products and services to a client base of people who love their pets. Luckily, we are in an industry where we do not have to cold call or try and sell something that we do not believe in. The good news is that all we have to do is provide the best possible veterinary medicine that is available and then let the people decide.

Most numbers you see, whether it is AAHA or AVMA statistics, say that the average transaction in a clinic should be over $100. If it isn’t, then we are doing a poor job as receptionists and technicians of selling our products and services to our clients. Clients are still getting these products and services from somewhere, so the question is: why not us? Most numbers say that an average transaction for veterinarians is between $160 and $170. I have seen that this is too low to fairly and adequately provide your client with the best care for their pet. Being over or around $200 provided much better care for each individual pet. A few years ago, I put into affect a bonus system for my associates that paid a percentage of their sales based on average transaction. The top percentage was 21% of sales, if they averaged over $200 for the month. At first, I had some who complained saying that all I cared about was making money, and that they wanted what was best for the client. I proceeded to tell them my thoughts. I believe that if we offer all of the services we provide and then let the client decide, is that good or bad medicine? If we take an x-ray that maybe we could get by doing without, and then find a tiny fracture, is that good or bad medicine? Once everyone was on board, we have not had a month where the entire staff of seven veterinarians has not been over $200 every month. During the recession, even though we saw less numbers at most clinics, we did not dip because our transactions were up to overcome this.

Pay attention to your average transactions in your clinic overall and by your veterinarians, and see what your numbers do. It does not take much effort to get from $160 to $200 on an average transaction, but look at what that does per transaction. Take a month of transactions and multiply that by $40 each and see if you can get excited. Take a clinic where non veterinarian transactions are $70 and raise that to $100 and see what happens. The only difference is getting the people you already pay, selling what you already carry. Get your staff to sell a year supply of flea and heartworm prevention instead of 6 months. Do not get upset over online pet pharmacies; instead, set your prices to compete and sell more. A few little things can change your practice income directly. I believe we spend so much time trying to figure out plans and strategies that we forget the simple things that we can all do. Increase your average transaction and see what your gross income looks like at the end of the year. And always remember KISS (keep it simple stupid).

Tags: Leadership, veterinary consultants, veterinary management
Posted in Culture, Leadership, Management | No Comments »

What Seperates Veterinary Clinics

Friday, December 4th, 2009 by Dr. Dean Severidt

I have walked into veterinary practices that have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the reception area, only to have a person behind a desk that seems to be driving away business. A receptionist that does not readily welcome clients as they walk in the door, staying seated behind a messy desk could leave a lasting negative impression of the clinic. These practices focus so much on the aesthetics that they forget that the person behind the desk is truly what makes the first impression. I have never understood why veterinarians do not put more focus on those responsible for delivering customer service to their clients. I guarantee you if a client is impressed by a receptionist, they are going to leave remembering the excellent customer service they received rather than if the reception area was “shiny” and “new”.

At our clinic we focus a lot of our hiring process on finding someone that fits our “brand”. As a business it’s important to know what your brand is and what you’re trying to deliver to your clients. Sometimes the person with the most experience is not necessarily the best fit. It’s important to find someone that’s willing to adapt to the culture you’ve created. At our clinic, we have created a positive culture where our employees actually care about the well being of our clients as well as their fellow co-workers. If you develop this type of culture, you would truly be amazed at what it can do for your business. Investing your efforts in developing an interview process that is not only geared towards experience, but more importantly towards how adaptable the employee is culture will make you less likely to hire what I call “Siamese Weasels”. “Siamese Weasels” run around looking for other negative people to latch onto. In most cases, if there aren’t other negative people to latch onto, these people end up leaving on their own.

Many companies make the mistake of holding onto these people under the impression that they will eventually change. If they don’t fit your culture, let them go. Keeping this culture consistent throughout every member of your staff is vital. I constantly receive the compliment that we have the friendliest staff of any clinic a client has ever visited. I believe this is the greatest compliment I could receive even more than a compliment about one of my veterinarians. I want veterinarians to do a great job. I certainly understand that it’s a lot more difficult to expect good performance form an employee who makes far less than a veterinarian with a large salary. Regardless of salary, all employees should be a positive force in your business that you want and should demand.

Tags: dr dean severidt, Leadership, owning veterinary clinic, veterinary consultants
Posted in Culture, Leadership | No Comments »