Cross the finish line with style

An open house lets you show your pride in your new facility, demonstrate client appreciation, and spread the word of your services. So let your clients see all the great improvements and even tour the behind-the-scenes areas of your practice. Opening up your new clinic shows your pride in your sparkling clean, comfortable, and efficient hospital-and shows you've got nothing to hide.

Before your open house, take these steps to prepare:

• Send out flyers, e-mails, or other invitations to your clients and their pets several weeks before the big event.
• Clean, clean, and clean some more. Don't overlook your parking lot and walkways. You don't want dust or rubbish to steal that great first impression.
• Provide a guest book that clients can sign, and use it to gather their contact information for future mailings.
• Offer visitors beverages, snacks, handouts, and brochures about the various services you offer.
• Ask staff members to provide tours of the facility. Help everyone prepare by discussing features you want to point out and the benefit of each feature for clients and patients. For example, team members might say, "Our in-house lab-testing capabilities help us get the information we need to treat sick pets quickly."
• Post pictures of your old hospital on a board next to images of your shiny new practice so clients can see just how far you've come.
• Assign one person to take photos of all visitors and post them on a bulletin board in the practice. You can even offer a contest for the pet and owner who look the most alike.
• Set up educational displays promoting vaccination compliance, flea and tick treatment, dental cleanings, and more. You could even use a stuffed animal to show children how animals undergo surgery to remove a foreign body. Or post &Can you guess?& radiographs of foreign bodies with prizes for the correct answer.

Ideally, clients will learn something during the open house. And just as important, they'll feel more comfortable and confident in your new hospital and with your expertise.