The importance of the pet owner experience

Vet practitioners are often not aware of their environment. They never stay in the waiting room of their practice for long. They sometimes even enter the practice through a different door than the one used by their clients. A bad pet owner experience is a matter of small detail but it is proven that it has a huge impact on the efficacy of the clinic. This chapter will also explain the concept of Net Promoter Score which is very useful to assess your clients’ satisfaction. Research-based on the Net Promoter Score methodology shows how positive client experience results in higher revenue and improved profitability.

Self-assessment: find the 15 errors

Below is the story of a client that could have happened in your practice. Read it carefully and identify the “errors” made by the practice.

" On Thursday, shortly after 19:30, Marianne could hear Vicky meowing softly in her box in her car on her way back home.

It had all started on Tuesday evening. Marianne was surprised that her young kitty was not trying to get her attention and her usual routine of strokes on coming home around 19:00; Vicky stayed in her corner. Preoccupied with finishing an assignment, Marianne was not worried right away, as Vicky could be rather independent. On Wednesday morning, Vicky had hardly touched her kibbles and Marianne decided to call the vet to set up an appointment with Dr. Samson.

After 6 or 7 rings, Marianne finally got somebody answering the phone and Marianne was able to explain what was going on with her pet and to request an appointment for that evening, preferably after 18:00. She would leave work earlier, avoid rush hour, get home in about 45 minutes, pick up Vicky and, in about fifteen minutes, would have arrived at the clinic. The first person she spoke to explained that Dr. Samson was not in on Wednesday and that the late afternoon consults were completely booked. Why not come the next day, Thursday, a spot being available at 17:00 (but not with Dr. Samson). Marianne insisted on having an appointment the same day, or on Thursday but later in the late afternoon, but this was impossible, she eventually accepted the appointment Thursday at 17:00. On Wednesday night, Vicky’s condition had not really deteriorated, but she still had hardly eaten and remained in her corner. At least, Marianne had had time to arrange a half a day off on Thursday afternoon to drive her cat to the vet. [...]