Have you ever wondered why some veterinarians are very successful as far as keeping clients happy and having profitable average transactions and others either make everyone mad or have horrible average transactions? There could be many reasons for this, but over my thirty years of experience, I have seen a lot of young veterinarians come and go, some with a lot of success and some with very little. Last week I talked about the different attitude of professionalism that we see from our veterinarians today and how it does not have the same meaning as it did years ago.
I believe from experience that the number one common denominator that most veterinarians lack is their people skills. This is their ability to relate to and communicate with clients. I have overheard veterinarians talking to clients in rooms and can pretty much guarantee that the client has no idea what they were just told. So why would they approve a procedure that they do not really understand? I have learned from firsthand experience as well as watching other veterinarians, that going into a room and talking on a level that the client understands will pretty much always result in the client opting to perform the procedure. Although the old school veterinarians may have not been the smartest people in the world, many of them are extremely down to earth people who are dedicated to their profession and do not feel superior to anyone; this allows them to relate to people at their level. Today I think that schools put so much emphasis on grade point averages that many of the young veterinarians that come out of school are very intelligent. However, although, they are way smarter than I ever dreamed of being, they cannot always relate to people. They can diagnose just about anything and everything, but they cannot explain it or simply will not explain it in simple terms to a client; therefore, leaving the client frustrated and unhappy with the services. I believe that many do this because they feel so superior to their clients that they have to talk in this way in order to build themselves up. I hear them complain about how dumb clients are, yet they can be so self absorbed that when it is 6:00 and time for them to go home, they will leave whether someone is standing in the waiting room or not.
I have never put any significance on grade point averages when hiring someone. My philosophy is that anyone that can get into and get through veterinary school is given the opportunity to be a good veterinarian. I look for people that can talk simply and do not present themselves as someone special, but just are who they are. They should carry themselves with confidence but not be condescending. They will stay for people that are late because they understand that they are doing this job for the client and the pet, and not just for themselves. Do not get me wrong; there are a lot of good veterinarians coming out of school today, but some lack so much professionalism which carries over and they cannot do the job that someone else can. Indeed, some knowledge is important to be a veterinarian; however, listening to people, understanding their needs, and truly caring for them and their pet will be much more successful than the smartest person in the world that cannot relate to clients.
If you understand every aspect that determines good veterinary practice management, then that means you understand what motivates your workers. As a manager, what are you going to do in order to build an environment where every employee feels comfortable and able to participate? What can you do to increase the productivity and satisfaction of your employees at the same time? How can you employ talented people and keep them? How will you train your staff in an effective way, introducing them properly to the practice while involving others in the process? All these questions are the fundamentals of veterinary practice management that must be answered sooner or later.
