You're not bringing in new veterinary clients?

Last month, Dr. Karen Felsted, CPA, MS, CVPM, and Brakke Consulting's Jessica Goodman Lee, CVPM, kicked off their new column by tackling a practice's shrinking patient list. Visit dvm360.com/whatif to review their advice. Now they're moving to help the practice's owner, Dr. Jane Felgo, attract new clients.

The data

Who counts as a "new client"? The most common definition is a pet owner who has never visited the practice. New-client data is easily accessible from most practice software systems, and Dr. Felgo learns that 382 new clients visited the practice in 2012, 354 in 2011. She's pleased but decides to compare her numbers to other hospitals.

Most reports calculate new clients based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors. An FTE doctor is one working 40 hours/week for the entire year; time off for vacation, sick days, CE, and holidays is considered work time, but extended leave is not. Dr. Felgo works about 50 hours per week, and her associate about 35.

Both were at the practice for the full year of 2012, thus the practice has 2.13 FTE doctors. Based on this definition, the new client figures per FTE doctor in Dr. Felgo's practice were 180 for 2012 and 167 for 2011.

Data from Benchmarks 2011: A Study of Well-Managed Practices (dvm360.com/benchmarks) reveals the average number of new clients per FTE doctor is 198. In another study, the average number of new clients reported is 257 per FTE doctor. In either case, Dr. Felgo's numbers are low—she must attract new clients ASAP.

See dvm360.com/fte to download a worksheet to calculate the number of FTE doctors in your practice.

The starting point

There are many factors that bring new clients to a veterinary practice: new pets, clients new to the area, pet owners unhappy with their current practice. Almost certainly, potential clients want a short commute to the clinic—usually within a 3-to-5-mile radius of their home. Potential clients will ask friends and colleagues for recommendations (your loyal fans will have good things to say, right?). They'll also study practice websites, read online reviews, and check for a Facebook page. Fortunately, Dr. Felgo recently invested in a fabulous new website with stellar search engine optimization (SEO). (Not sure about your practice's SEO? Check out "How to be Google's No. 1".) But only a handful of people have "liked" her practice's Facebook page. She also has very few online reviews.

The solution

So how can Dr. Felgo generate positive buzz about her practice online? Here are four ways to e-impress clients:

1. Ask your best and most loyal clients to post a review. Most clients are flattered to be asked; the key is to give them direction. Create a sheet with two or three websites where they could offer kudos to your team. (Google should always be No. 1 on your list.)

2. Ask clients to write a testimonial for your website. This can be especially powerful if a pet has been injured or sick and recovered wonderfully thanks to your care. Use space on your home page for these stories. Add photos of the pets to bring the testimonies to life.

3. Mention your social media presence whenever possible. Add a good-looking "Like us on Facebook" seal to your invoices, reminders, on-hold messages, newsletters, and so on. (See example at left.) For even more of a "wow" factor, buy a roll of stickers with your hospital name, logo, and the Facebook thumbs-up "like" symbol and stick them on everything that leaves the practice—bags of food included! You can use the same method for other social media sites like Twitter; for example, use a picture of Twitter's iconic little bird next to your practice's Twitter handle.

4. Flaunt your social media skills. Include direct links and logos on your practice's home page for each your practice's social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and so on.

Next month we'll focus on average transaction charge and increasing the quantity—and quality—of your care.