Let products sell themselves

Pet owners spend millions of dollars each year on pet products, but only a fraction of that money is spent inside veterinary hospitals. Grocery-store pet aisles accumulate most of the profits. Why do pet owners buy supermarket products that are less effective than hospital brands?

The answer is simple: Most pet owners don't know the difference between store-bought and hospital brands-so it's your job to educate them. In fact, as a pet advocate and healthcare professional, it's your responsibility to inform clients about their product options. And doing so offers significant benefits for your patients and your hospital.

Keep track of what you sell

Introducing passive marketing

Passive marketing lets you educate clients about your hospital's high-quality flea- and tick-control products, shampoos, vitamins, ear cleaners, diets, and more. Plus, this approach gives you a way to sell healthcare products without feeling that you're pressuring your clients.

Here's how it works: Say that during an office visit, a client asks the technician what comb or brush to use for her dog's matted hair. The technician removes a comb from the exam-room shelf and explains to the client why the hospital team recommends that product. Then he or she places the item on the exam-table corner closest to the door. If the client wants to take the technician's advice and purchase the product, she simply picks up the product on the way out-and 85 percent do. That's a truly amazing return for your effort!

Use your patients' seasonal needs to decide which products to display on your passive-marketing shelf. For example, you might market flea- and tick-control items in the spring and summer months and dental products during the winter.

You also can target each patient's particular needs by reviewing the medical record, determining what product may be appropriate, and educating the client about that item. Ask yourself what products you would want to know about if the pet on the exam table were yours.

One caution: The whole idea of passive marketing is to let the products sell themselves, so don't oversell clients. Focus on the one or two products that are most important to the pet's welfare, explain the benefits of the product, make it available to the client, and leave it at that.

Taking action

Ask your hospital manager or owner to install one or two shelves in each exam room and one behind the reception desk. The shelves don't need to be huge-4 to 6 inches deep and 30 inches wide should be plenty big. Place one unit of each product your team wants to market on the shelves.

Be selective about what products you feature. I think it's much more effective to showcase five or 10 popular products than to display 15 or 20 that collect dust.

Another consideration: The shelving unit must be an open display so you can see all the products and pick up any one quickly and easily. Affix the retail price to all items so clients don't need to ask how much a product costs. Also label each product with foil stickers that list your practice's name, address, and phone number. This approach gives clients who buy products a subtle reminder to come back for more.

To make passive marketing effective, all of your team members need to be prepared to talk about the products' features and benefits. For example, if a client asks why the shampoo you offer is better than another, everyone on the practice team needs to be able to answer her question.

One great way to learn about a product: Try it on your own pet. This approach gives you firsthand knowledge about the product, its benefits, and how to use it. With your experience in mind, you can speak with conviction, improving sales.

Passive marketing benefits everyone on the healthcare team: The patients win because they're treated with the best products available. Your clients win because they get the best health care for their pets. The hospital wins because selling more products generates more practice income. And finally, staff members win because educating clients and selling more products makes them valuable hospital team members.

While discussing a pet's skin condition with a client, Richard L. Branson, dvm, owner of Cherokee Animal Clinic in Overland Park, Kan., can pluck the appropriate shampoo from the exam room's shelves. Cherokee Animal Clinic is a 1999 Practice of Excellence.

Mark Opperman, CVPM, the author of The Art of Veterinary Practice Management (Veterinary Medicine Publishing Group, 1999), speaks nationally on staff issues in his seminar "It's What's Up Front That Counts," and serves on the Firstline advisory board.