Profitability Gets Tight Fast When Veterinary Pricing Outruns Pet Owner Perceived Value: Reworking Financial Strategy, Client Communication, and Marketing

Don Adeesha (Host): Good evening. I'm your host for the session, Don Adeesha. Tonight's topic on Veterinary Business Institute's webinar is one every practice owner feels in their gut. Don Adeesha (Host): Profitability getting tighter and tighter, when veterinary pricing outruns pet owner perceived value. Don Adeesha (Host): And how to rework your financial strategy, your client communication, and your marketing so that it stops happening. Don Adeesha (Host): So, a few quick housekeeping notes before we begin. First, yes, we are recording, and you will receive a replay link in your inbox after the event. However, do not let that make you passive. The real value is happening right now, right here, live. So, go ahead and ask Don Adeesha (Host): Any of your questions that you may have for the panelists. Don Adeesha (Host): in the Q&A box, or else share your thoughts amongst your colleagues here in the chat. I have my eye on both the feeds, and will do my best to weave in your thoughts and concerns as we go along. And if at any moment you have to drop out. Don Adeesha (Host): A quick feedback survey will pop up in a new browser tab. Please take a moment to fill that out. Let us know how we're doing. It means the world to us, really, and it'll help us make our events better and better. Don Adeesha (Host): Right then. So before we meet our panel, if tonight is your kind of conversation, you'll love the Veterinary Business Podcast. Don Adeesha (Host): New episodes drop every Thursday, 6am Eastern, hosted by leaders across the profession, including, Don Adeesha (Host): ECWA CEO and founder of the Veterinary Business Institute, Naren Eril Raja, Dr. Amanda Landis-Hanna, Dr. Mark Rusen. Dr. Joel Parker covers the real pillars of practice, success, profitability, retention. Don Adeesha (Host): operation systems, and much more. So give it a follow, wherever you listen your podcasts. It's a great companion to nights like this. Don Adeesha (Host): Right. Don Adeesha (Host): And of course, tonight is made possible by our Platinum sponsor, ECO Marketing, and I want to take a moment to recognize them. ECWA is the Veterinary Practice Growth Partner and trusted by clinics and practice owners around the world for over 15 years, built for veterinary professionals. Don Adeesha (Host): who want fewer wrong-fit clients and more right-fit Pet parents. The CEO, Narend Arulraja, as you saw earlier, is also a co-founder of the Veterinary Business Institute. Don Adeesha (Host): And, ECWA focuses on three things. SEO and visibility, conversion-focused website, and content and social authority. We'll hear a bit more about, well, from ECWA a little later in the program, because they have given us the green light to share a wonderful resource with everyone. Don Adeesha (Host): Right… Don Adeesha (Host): Couple of key takeaways of our discussion here tonight. Diagnosing the real problem is the pricing, operations, or perceived value, before you touch your fees, and then improving profitability without constant fee increase. Don Adeesha (Host): I mean, that's a mystery right there. I'm really excited to get to know more insight on that. And then, of course, building client trust through better conversations, marketing your value before price, and aligning price, messaging, and client experience into one consistent Don Adeesha (Host): Fantastical. Don Adeesha (Host): journey. Don Adeesha (Host): Now let's get to know our panelists, and then into the work. Don Adeesha (Host): So, first up. Don Adeesha (Host): My apologies there. Don Adeesha (Host): Right, our first panelist is Crystal Tavares, founder of Blooming Advisor. Crystal is a veterinary practice management consultant and strategist with over a decade of experience helping clinics improve profitability, team performance, and client experience. Don Adeesha (Host): Through Blooming Advisor, she supports practices with financial strategy, operational systems, and sustainable growth planning. Don Adeesha (Host): Specializing in pricing strategy, workflow optimization, and leadership coaching for owners and managers. She's bringing a practical, people's-first approach to tonight's conversation, so expect answers you can use Monday morning. Crystal, welcome to the panel.

Thank you, Dawn, I'm happy to be here. Don Adeesha (Host): Happy to have you here, Crystal. Don Adeesha (Host): And next up… Don Adeesha (Host): We have, Nickolas Biermeier. Nicholas is a partner at First Light Veterinary Advisors, firm dedicated to helping veterinary practices achieve financial clarity, operational excellence, and long-term success. Don Adeesha (Host): Nickolas specializes in financial analysis, strategic planning, and practice valuation, working closely with owners and leadership teams to make confident. Don Adeesha (Host): data-driven decisions. He's also experienced in mergers, acquisitions, and practice transitions. So, he's seeing the whole arc of a practice financial journey. Nicholas, welcome to the panel.

Thank you guys for having us. Don Adeesha (Host): Absolutely. And our next panelist, Lester D'Alves. Don Adeesha (Host): regrets to inform us that he will be unable to make it tonight because he has come down with a sudden flu and is barely able to talk a couple of sentences at length. Don Adeesha (Host): He, wishes us all the best, and we wish him Don Adeesha (Host): a quick recovery as well. So… we're all good, though. I'm sure I can, Don Adeesha (Host): Keep our panelists in the loop, for the next hour, and we'll get a wonderful conversation going, Don Adeesha (Host): With Nickolas and Crystal here. Now, before we get into the main discussion, I do want to align our conversation to our attendees' pain points. So, we are going to launch a quick poll. Here we go. Don Adeesha (Host): just do… Don Adeesha (Host): Get a pulse check on the room. What are the main concerns here? So, the question is, what's the number one thing squeezing your practice's profitability right now? Is it A, rising costs, outrunning your fees, or B, clients pushing back on prices, declining treatments? Don Adeesha (Host): Or, C, operational drag, that scheduling, workflow, inventory. Don Adeesha (Host): And then, of course, D, Pet parents can find us, or don't see our value online, or, of course, there's the last option. Don Adeesha (Host): Of, I don't know, or not sure, which is a completely understandable, answer as well. So, we'll take a couple seconds here of… well, you know, the major thing that is, leading the score right now is option B, clients pushing back on prices, declining treatments. We know it's a Don Adeesha (Host): tough economy right now for everyone, so we are seeing that across the board, so, and of course, followed up by rising costs, as well, so it's… Don Adeesha (Host): intertwined, so let's see where our discussion goes tonight, and we'll do our best to address your concerns to the maximum of our capability. I'm going to end the poll now. Don Adeesha (Host): share the results with our panelists here, so we know, what the room is like, and how they're feeling. And, Don Adeesha (Host): prioritize our conversation a little bit towards that direction. Of course, we're going to discuss Don Adeesha (Host): Majority of the things that, we promised to our attendees, and then, of course, our, Don Adeesha (Host): on-demand viewers as well, but yeah. Thank you very much for pulling in, everyone. Really appreciate it. Keep the energy going throughout the night, and let us know, if you have any clarifications or questions and concerns that are very specific to you. Don Adeesha (Host): Right, then, let's get into the discussion here. Crystal, my first question goes out to you. Don Adeesha (Host): A practice may have carefully calculated its fees and still struggled to improve profitability. What operational efficiencies, or rather inefficiencies, most commonly prevent a sound pricing strategy from producing the expected financial results?

In my experience, what I see…

Frequently happening after price increase,

are a few things. Schedule optimization.

It's a huge one.

Staff education, I think I would put second.

And, I mean, we've already talked about it a little bit, is value perception from… Both the team.

and the clients.

I think, operationally, I'll speak to the value a little bit, and I know Nick and I have talked about this a lot, so he'll probably jump in here, too.

the value piece is so important, and what I've seen a lot in practices is the team.

And very frequently, the CSR team?

Doesn't have buy-in to the value of what they're doing for folks' pets.

Oh, sorry, 3 to 4 minutes. I'll, I'll shorten it up. So…

what I've had great success with is making sure they're more educated, both in the costs of the practice.

And the value that they're offering to the client, be that in the packages they offer, or specific skill sets of your doctors and your nursing team. Don Adeesha (Host): So, Crystal, what's the, most pet-parent-friendly way of communicating that value, you would think?

the most pet-parent-friendly way. I mean…

making it specific to the individual pet. And what I mean by that is…

why does my 7-year-old need a blood panel at 7 years old? He's fine, he's acting fine, like…

So, reinforcing to the pet owner.

what value that brings, what proactive treatments the hospital can offer if something is caught early. I'm just using that as an example, because I feel like it's a big one, right? A lot of clients are, like.

I don't need a full-blown blood panel, my dog's running around like a happy little…

my cat is jumping on my computer screen. Like, it's… everybody's fine, right? So, it's really…

talking about next steps and what the preventative care pieces are is what I see teams

Lacking in, and then have great success in when they're a little more educated in how to explain that to the pet parent. Don Adeesha (Host): If an owner wants to find one leak this week, where should they look first?

Oh, gosh. I mean, that's a loaded question, Don. Don Adeesha (Host): No big deal.

I would look at the front desk first.

Yep. Don Adeesha (Host): Any reason why? Can you, elaborate a little bit, if you don't mind?

I think, there's a lot of leaks that can happen there. Scheduling drops happen there, knowledge base, frequently, you run into a front desk team member that's

Discouraging treatment and not even realizing it.

not proactively scheduling, not fitting things in. I mean, that gets a little bit away from value, but it gets back to, like, we just did this gigantic price increase, but we're not hitting.

And a lot of times, that is…

Because of volume coming in the door. And if you have a front desk person.

Blocking that… those visits in any way, shape, or form, that can have a dramatic effect.

on what? Don Adeesha (Host): Hmm, that's right.

you're seeing. Don Adeesha (Host): That's right. Don Adeesha (Host): On desktop.

I'd add to that, Christel, because I think you're correct. You know, I think a lot of it goes back to what…

what opportunities are we giving for education to that front desk? They see the… they see the beginning, and they see the end, right? So they're… they're taking the phone calls, and they have to be the ones that truly believe that over the phone first, and then when they see them in person. So, I do think…

I do strongly agree with you that if we're not educating our staff, or if we're not putting it back in and investing into our staff around price increases and letting them fully understand why this has to happen, that is a big opportunity for a leak to happen. Don Adeesha (Host): Appreciate that. In one of our other panels, I heard the front desk team being called as the Director of First Impressions. I really like that title, you know. It's perfect. Don Adeesha (Host): Right. So, Nickolas, when a veterinary practice is busy, but profitability remains tight, how can the owner determine whether the real issue is pricing, operational performance, or the value clients believe they are receiving? Don Adeesha (Host): How can we make distinction?

I think it comes twofold. You gotta look at your compliance right away, and so we're talking about our compliance going down, or the pushback of clients coming in for the pricing and whatnot, so…

as a hospital.

go back to what Crystal mentioned, like, what is our staff education? Do we have ownership in our roles and responsibilities? And then it's easier to dissect where we're at and how we're trying to get there. And so, to answer the question a little bit more, is you're looking at communication to the clients, you're looking at

which technicians, which doctors are having the best compliance, and if there's one doctor having a good set of compliance, or they have a high compliance rate, I should say.

what are they doing differently, right? And I think if you're in a one-doctor practice, that's different than if you're in a five-doctor practice. You know, so just kind of a roundabout way to get to the question of how are you breaking it down.

what are we looking for, what's our opportunity, and then what are we hearing? I go back to the census a lot. When I work with hospitals.

a lot of times, we're not listening to the questions that the clients are asking. We just know that we have to say this, that, or the other. That's what we've been told to do, and we're not truly listening. And there's so much… there's so much we can gain from

Seeking first to understand.

And then changing how… I think Crystal mentioned this, is individualizing that to a pet, right? If we recognize that there's a pricing issue.

we gotta know that as a team, and does our team know how to react to that question without just saying what we always say? So, that's kind of how I look at it, is really looking deeper into our team to make sure that they understand what's happening, looking into what team members are having the best compliance, which team members are not.

And then working as a team to fix, or to make that a…

There should be no knowledge gap in the team, is a big part of that, so…

That's what I would start with. Crystal, if you disagree or you have something else to add, please add.

No, no, I concur. Nick, agreed.

No, I don't have a lot to add. Sorry. Don Adeesha (Host): I'm mad. Don Adeesha (Host): Nick, I do have a little bit of follow-up there, so what would you recommend to our one doctor practices? Where can they find the benchmark for ideal compliance rates?

I'm gonna go back to what Crystal said, that's a great question, it's a loaded question. Ideal compliance rates…

Have you worked with your team? I think it goes back to…

we gotta go back to being brilliant at the basics. So, if we want to set an ideal compliance rate, have we discussed that with the entire team? Is that… has that been a team huddle or team meeting? Has that been a goal set by the team or the owner in that practice?

And so I really think a lot of that comes back to communication. If we as a team are all on the same page, and we're all working towards a similar goal, and that's repeated throughout the process, or throughout the day, and throughout the week, that is how I like to work

Through and with problems with a team, especially in our own practices, is

if you set a goal, the whole team should know about it, the whole team should be behind it, and then how are we celebrating that goal as we hit those increments? And so, if we wanted an 85% compliance rate, which would be amazing, across the hospital, how do we get there, right? It starts from the bottom. Let's say we're at 45% or 50% now.

every 5% increment, are we celebrating that and getting that similar goal to the finish line? So, I think that's often forgotten, especially in the smaller practices, is we get overwhelmed really fast, our compliance rate drops, and then our communication is non-existent. So, that would be my recommendation, is internal communication at its…

just on a T, like, it's gotta be your number one thing you're focused on, and setting goals together. Don Adeesha (Host): Okay, because I have seen, Don Adeesha (Host): Couple of teams, you know, they get into this huddle, they're doing it weekly, daily, even, but the messaging is inconsistent.

Yep. Don Adeesha (Host): Have you… have you seen this?

Yeah, absolutely. Don Adeesha (Host): So then it becomes a bit of a… I mean, it becomes like Jack Sparrow's compass, right? You know? Don Adeesha (Host): It's just pointing everywhere. There's no direction. What would you recommend to practices that are in a similar situation like that?

who is owning those huddles? And so, this is just my opinion, and so this is…

I always like to say that when I'm gonna go in strong on something. I don't want the Owner DVMs

running that huddle. At the end of the day, if our staff truly believes it, and I've got a team member that's like, hey, we're gonna hit 70% compliance today.

And it should be a constant conversation, and it's a staff member leading it, that's way more impactful than the owner coming to the table saying, hey, we're gonna hit 70% compliance, because in a staff member's mind, that goes, because you want more money.

Because you want to get to this number, because we have this financial goal, take that away and empower our staff. Sorry, I told you I was gonna get, I was gonna get past.

No, no, I, like, support and agree a thousand percent, Nick, and it… I've worked with a few owners who…

Who get real excited to share the financial goal with the team.

which I can empathize with, and I got it when I was a team member, but 95% of the team doesn't… doesn't get it. So it… it's…

like, I mean, I'll come back to education a little bit. It's usually not my… my podium, but I guess it's where I'm going tonight.

is… you know.

most of those nurses or technicians and assistants and CSRs are there because they love the pets, plus minus the clients, and…

They need to understand how that goal translates into…

Rabies vaccines given. Puppies taken care of. Puppies fixed.

Dentals done, and what that does for the health of the pet.

And I love your point, Nick, about…

letting the team own it, or maybe you said it, Don, sorry.

About letting the team own that goal, and broadcast, like, we are gonna… vaccinate…

100 puppies today. Well, maybe not… in a one doctor practice, probably not 100, but, like, this is what we're gonna do, right? So it… it…

It just gives them so much more… momentum. Been hearing…

We gotta hit $5,000 today. They… Don't care.

jump.

about $5,000, unfortunately. Usually. Most of them don't. Sorry, Nick, maybe I'm speaking out of that.

No, I agree. I think it… a lot of it comes back to the consistent messaging has to be owned, right? I think so many parts of a hospital… I think there's some questions here that we'll get to, Don, that… that will exemplify the fact of ownership from within the hospital, and even that conversation is inconsistent.

you know, who owns what, unless there's something spelled out with exact job duties or whatever it might be. So, to not get away from the question, you know, the inconsistencies, especially around the morning huddles or the meetings.

I don't want the owners leading those a whole lot of the time. I mean, there's got to be some conversations, owner doctors, that they have, but if your team members can own that, and they can truly believe that, I feel like the consistency will follow. And in fact, I know the consistency will follow. Don Adeesha (Host): Love that. That's a great segue to my next question, inconsistencies. Crystal, how can inefficient scheduling, poor delegation, inventory waste, or inconsistent workflows increase? Don Adeesha (Host): The true cost of delivering care, even when those costs might not be immediately visible on the financial statements.

So, say I wrote, like, 7 pages on this question, but I'll try to make it a 3-minute answer, John. Don Adeesha (Host): Take your time.

I think for that one, when I looked back at my 7 pages.

A lot of it goes to scheduling, and you know, we've already touched on a little bit of, like, clear communication amongst the team. What can we see efficiently and effectively?

In a day. And that is doctor-dependent and pet-dependent and team-dependent sometimes.

And I actually work with a lot of one-doctor practices.

And it's sort of… I've also worked… I've also run gigantic specialty emergency practices.

And it's sort of nice in the one-doctor practices, because

You get to know very precisely what

this team, this team, and this team can do, and what they're best at, right? And…

One of my favorite stories is I… it was a two-doctor practice in Brooklyn.

And the… the medical director came to me and said.

I really like to really do internal medicine consulting type level in a general practice, and my partner likes to do surgery. Can we just do what we love?

And I said, absolutely.

And they optimize teams for both of them.

And their profitability doubled that year. So it was really just about, like, what do you do great?

Own it, live it.

And get your team to do it with you.

And I guess that maybe doesn't entirely answer the question, but the way I see it answering the question is.

think about what your team does best, and try to optimize that as much as you can. And the other stuff will fall into place.

And scheduling is tricky, you know, you can't see all technician appointments in one day.

And have a profitable day. You gotta sprinkle in some surgeries and some other things, so… But

circling back, I think, to our main point is that's team communication, right? Like, wow, this looks really booked.

Can I squeeze this in here? And making sure your team is comfortable asking that question.

to your doctors.

Early and often.

I don't know, Nick, you have anything to add on that? Oh, sorry, Dawn. Don Adeesha (Host): No, no, go ahead. Yeah, Nick, do you have anything to add there?

I think the…

You did a great job, Crystal, on that answer, because there's a lot of different questions in there. The thing that I see when I think of, like, poor scheduling or poor delegation in a practice is what kind of medicine are we practicing? And so, me not being a DVM, I'm never going to speak to medicine on that. I married a DVM, she's incredibly smart, deserves all the credit.

But I think…

when I think about that is the inefficiencies that come from all of that, it then trickles down into the medicine that we're able to provide, and how is that helping the pets to the best?

there's a lot of people out there still in this world that do not have a problem paying for the best service out there. But I think those clients are often forgotten because we

have poor scheduling, poor delegation, not good team communication, and we kind of just treat everybody the same. And so, that's the… the kind of the kickoff to that, Crystal, that I would go is, all those things line up with

medicine being dropped because we feel overwhelmed, or we feel rushed, and we can't get through the day, and people are stressed. So, that's the only thing I'd add to that, is the medicine is so important to keep in mind as we're looking at all these internal operational needs. Don Adeesha (Host): Now, Crystal. Don Adeesha (Host): I would like a little bit of clarification. Why were these two doctors asking you, if they could specialize? I mean, were they just doing… Don Adeesha (Host): were they just being more general, like, in their operations? You know, putting on all the hats that are available, in the practice?

I mean, they were both sort of doing all the hats, yes, and they realized that one was strong and one, and one was strong in the other.

And then, honestly, their profit… they're in Brooklyn, so getting a good… I don't know if either of you have ever managed practices in New York City, but the rent makes it really hard to get a good profit margin, is what it boils down to.

Especially when you only have two doctors.

and I was sort of their regional person at that point, so they were very nervous that specializing would

Make their profit margin even worse.

But it didn't… I mean, it made it significantly better. Don Adeesha (Host): Why? Why were they nervous? I'm really curious. Why were they having that kind of perspective on, specializing?

Their biggest concern… Was the way they initially mapped it out was they would potentially see less pets.

Like, pure headcount number of cases seen.

But what we found… they didn't wind up seeing that many less pets.

But their average ticket, as much as I hate to go down that road, their average ticket almost tripled.

When they were doing what they did best, and focusing on that.

I agree. Don Adeesha (Host): great insight, you know, quality over quantity right there, and really believing in that process. That's what we want, right? The average ticket price going up. We are here at the Veterinary Business Institute, so don't worry, Crystal, these words.

I can… I can use those words here. Don Adeesha (Host): use those words here, because that's what we are here to do, right? We are here to normalize all this business terminology, and we have been, you know… I'd say we're doing a good job at that, you know? So, we even had a podcast episode just on how selling is Don Adeesha (Host): is not a bad word, you know, how to… how to change that mindset, Chip. So you… Don Adeesha (Host): Don't worry, please feel free. And these are insights that we are really looking for. Thank you very much, Crystal, for sharing that. Nick, what financial and operational indicators should a practice examine before deciding that another fee increase is necessary?

So…

I think there's kind of a couple-step process to this, and so I hate fee increases. I think everybody hates fee increases, but they're kind of a necessary evil in the industry that we're in at this point.

So much of the fee increases are out of our control, and we have to do the market appropriately, right? Or we're gonna lose our inventory sales to a different company or a different online pharmacy. And so, that's my pitch to say I hate fee increases. I know that we have to do them.

But I always look internally, Don, and Crystal, please jump in on this, but…

it… if I can get away from focusing on fee increases on inventory, and focus primarily on my services as a hospital, what services may we be able to add? What services can we adapt and improve? What services do we need to drop? There's… there's…

in my opinion, again, there's so many opportunities to look elsewhere other than looking at our fee increases. And so, a big part of what I'm looking at is that average ticket price, transaction that we just talked about. Crystal, I'm gonna… now I'll jump in with you on that, because I got the approval.

But I don'.

If I'm looking at that.

What… what percentage of that ticket price should be inventory or sales, over our services?

And that's a big number to me. When I'm… when I'm thinking about what…

what value are we bringing? You can't go online and get that doctor in person.

physically working with your pet, doing that surgery, doing whatever it might be, and so that's where I focus. And so, when I think about circling back and looking at financial opportunities to do that, I'm looking at each one of my team members, I'm looking at each one of my doctors, I'm looking at whoever's in that practice physically.

that we can add to and make our value even greater without doing a price increase. I hope that makes sense, that was a lot of words for a short amount of time.

But that's kind of the route I take, is if I can avoid

fee increases, I'm going to, except for the necessary… the necessary ones you have to do. Krista, what would you add to that? Is… am I on the same track as you?

I would agree.

a thousand percent. I think a couple of things that I've stumbled on recently…

circling back to value, I think you and I are saying the same thing here, Nick.

you know, how many practices still don't charge for the nail trim? And we all love to not charge.

Bingo.

trim.

Right, yes.

But it's sometimes 45 minutes of somebody's time, right? So, like, there's that value component.

And I'm not saying you gotta charge truly 45 minutes, but charge $15 for it, and it makes a gigantic difference, right? So…

I look for some of those little things, and then the other thing…

that I've seen a lot recently, is people will look at outside pricing.

I'm not sure if this fits in this question, but I think it's an important point to make. The look at outside pricing and look at line items.

Whereas what they actually need to look at is the total bill for a similar surface.

So, like, I've had clients be like, well, they're only charging X for a rabies vaccine, and I'm like, okay, but what are the people walking out the door paying?

And that… when you start to get into price comparison, which is another, like, mucky water, but it's really important that you're looking at

total cost out the door, not just single line items. And I've…

I've found some room to make adjustments in there.

As well. Don Adeesha (Host): Hmm…

Yeah, and I think the only thing I'd add to that, Christo, would… not even add to, but… yeah, I guess add to.

do we have a number we're shooting for for that month, or that quarter, or that year, right? It all comes back to, in my opinion, a strategic planning is a huge opportunity for any hospital. Sit down for a day, figure out what goals do we want to hit, and then even if you have some lower days, our ticket items are a little bit lower.

are we hitting our goals? And is that goal appropriate with the amount of compliance we're seeing, or the amount of clients coming through the door? Because at the end of the day, you can't take a one-day average and say, oh, we failed.

you gotta take a couple months, you know? Even a month is too short at times, so taking a quarter at a time and saying, are we hitting these goals? And if we are.

then you can dissect it even further. So I agree with you wholeheartedly on that, is if you have a service you're offering, you gotta charge for it. A nail trim, it can't be free, because it's time, it's our energy, it's taking up a room. We see a lot of that still, and I'm sure you do too, Crystal.

Yeah, I mean, and everybody wants to take care of the pets, but it's… there's a value there, right? Like, if…

you know, I don't… I don't cut my own cat's nails anymore, because… Clearly, she's a menace. Don Adeesha (Host): And, being a menace your wonderful cat might be, they're also getting, you know, an amazing service, right? Because that's what I was thinking when you mentioned, Crystal, the total bill for the service, the value, right? People are not seeing that their cat was… how their cat was treated. Don Adeesha (Host): Not necessarily their issue, but rather just in general. What am I trying to say? Perhaps, like, the feel they got. Don Adeesha (Host): Is that also an important part of the conversation?

Yes.

Absolutely. Don Adeesha (Host): Trying. Appreciate that, because I thought, okay, maybe I'm…

You're on point, Don, you're doing great.

You got it. Don Adeesha (Host): And, I would like to take a quick pause right here, because I got a fantastic resource to share with Don Adeesha (Host): the practice owners in our audience, so, as I mentioned earlier on, ECW Marketing, as a token of appreciation from our team at ECWA for the practice owners who registered and joined us tonight. Don Adeesha (Host): We have for you a completely complimentary one-on-one marketing strategy meeting designed specifically for your needs. Don Adeesha (Host): So, this session is built to answer one key question. When a pet owner in your city searches for dental cleaning for dogs, emergency wet open now, perhaps, cat vaccinations or nail trims near me, is your practice the trusted answer? Don Adeesha (Host): So, in your strategy session, you'll sit down with the senior marketing analyst who already works with thriving wet clinics across North America. You'll get a live audit of how you can attract more clients, build your reputation, and grow sustainably. Don Adeesha (Host): The marketing analyst will actually spend several hours researching your online presence, your competition, your local SEO, everything. And they'll come to the call ready to walk you through custom recommendations just for your practice. Don Adeesha (Host): This session is designed to help you answer those questions and fix anything that's not quite working. It's usually a $900 valued session, completely complimentary for you tonight. You'll see a QR code on this screen, you can scan that with your phone to book your session, or check the chat for a direct link. It takes less than a minute to book. All you need to do is enter in Don Adeesha (Host): where your practice is located at, perhaps if you have a website, your website details, and of course, any concerns you want to really address in terms of a marketing situation. Your ideal clients are not coming in, how can you fix that? And how can you be more visible? Don Adeesha (Host): To the pet parents who really need you. Don Adeesha (Host): Availability is limited since, as I mentioned, every audit does involve real research into your market, so perhaps here's how to think about offers like this. What's the risk if you say yes? Honestly, it'll just be your time, there's no obligation whatsoever Don Adeesha (Host): But what's the risk if you don't? You might be missing out on something that could truly help your practice grow beyond 2026. Don Adeesha (Host): And into 2027. So I'll leave that with you, but truly, I encourage you to grab this opportunity, book your session with ECWA, it'll be time well spent. Don Adeesha (Host): Right. Don Adeesha (Host): Back into our conversation. Don Adeesha (Host): Crystal, what signs should practice leaders look for to determine whether disappointing margins are being caused by their prices, or by the way services are being delivered?

What sign should they look for? Boy?

Something that I always look for…

I mean, that's where I really sort of dig into the numbers, Don, and Nick, I'll be interested to hear your answer on this one. But I really start to dig into…

How many clients are we seeing?

What is our capacity of clients that we could see?

And then, frankly, why are they not walking?

In the door, if we're short.

that's where I usually go to first.

If we've seen a market decrease in clients, then I will try to look at sort of a pricing analysis of the region.

But as we've already said.

the pricing comparison and pricing analysis gets… gets weird, no matter what. I mean, it's a little bit simpler in the general practices, which is probably most of our attendees. When you get into trying to do it in specialty emergency, it's a

It's impossible to compare to your competitors, so it, again, it really circles back to

Making sure you're holding up to the value that you're promising to the pets and the pet parents, and…

A lot of that is, what is your team communicating? How is the pet going home? How are the pet parents feeling?

When they come in, and when they leave, and what are they saying about you once they walk out the door. Sometimes that's hard to do, although it's a lot easier to do now than it was 15 years ago, because a lot of it lands online.

In one way, shape, or form, and if you've got somebody monitoring your socials and things…

You start to be able to pick out trends, really.

Quickly, unfortunately.

I'm already less… I guess. It depends. Go ahead. I guess if you're missing Mark, it's probably unfortunate.

Yeah.

I was just gonna add into that, too. I know Les was not here tonight, but there's so many companies out there now that can help track

the missed… the missed calls, right? Like, that's a big one.

And so, I know a lot of this is… the question was really around, like, determine whether disappointing margins are being caused by the prices, or by the way services are being delivered.

So much that can be told through who's canceling their appointment the day of, who's no-showing.

who's, you know, comes in, they're bummed about the pricing in general, and so there's so many companies out there now that can help you determine and help you break down what's causing this problem. And I think that that's something we've started to see move forward, Chris, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but in the last year or two, I've noticed a big push in that

the… the statistics that people are offering to show you, hey, you're… you got a call… a missed call volume of this. Well, that's now not a pricing issue, that's a… that's an inefficiency issue. You know, we've got all… we've got 13 missed appointments today. Well, were they new clients, existing clients? Have they been good clients? Have they never missed before? Like, what questions are we asking to truly determine that? And I don't think you can make a huge…

I think there's a big argument for how do you figure that out, is you have to do the homework before, and you can't just say, yep, we missed calls, or yep, they just no-showed. There's a reason why behind that. Did we offer them an appointment that next day? You know, there's so many questions we could ask and go down this… this rabbit hole, so I'll stop there, but that's what I wanted to add in.

No, no, agreed, and I think…

I mean, this is an even deeper rabbit hole, but…

with the addition of AI and some of the AI-generated answering systems.

I've come across quite a few practices that

aren't doing that follow-up. Like, in the old days, before all of that, you answered the phone, you found out why they weren't coming, you tried to reschedule within the next 48 hours, and…

And… the AI is getting used as a crutch.

and frequently from teams, I've gotten the answer of, oh no, well, they just said that in the chat, and they just didn't come in. And I'm like, okay, no. What do we do next? So it's… it's really digging into why they're not.

getting there. And maybe they got a flat tire, but then all the more reason to call them and reschedule for the next day, right?

Agreed, Nick. Don Adeesha (Host): 43 minutes. It took us 43 minutes to get to AI.

That's pretty good, I feel like.

Good job, Crystal! It is! Don Adeesha (Host): It's amazing, you know? I'm doing my own little research here, don't mind me, because it has been almost 99% of, like, all our webinars, events, we have mentioning, you know, mentions of AI. Don Adeesha (Host): It was just only just one Don Adeesha (Host): one webinar, I remember specifically that we got through without any mentions of AI. Now I'm trying to figure out when does the word get dropped first in the event.

I love that you tracked that. Don Adeesha (Host): Yeah, it's, I don't know. It's just so interesting to me, because AI is just so… Don Adeesha (Host): everywhere at this point. Everywhere, right? We can't escape it, and Don Adeesha (Host): It's really, one of our panelists really put it very nicely in a completely different vertical Don Adeesha (Host): law, actually. They said, lawyers, AI is not going to take, you know, AI is not going to beat out lawyers out of their job. It's the lawyers who augment AI into their practice. Don Adeesha (Host): that's who are going to beat out the ones who are not augmenting it into their practice, and I think that really stands for Don Adeesha (Host): Industries across the board.

jump. Don Adeesha (Host): And what we're seeing right now. So, yeah, I don't know.

43 minutes. You did good, Crystal. Don Adeesha (Host): 43 minutes, yeah. Actually, Crystal, I have a follow-up, and this is actually a registrant question, which is… Don Adeesha (Host): something you just touched on. Don Adeesha (Host): submitted to us by Jeff Stanford. Many veterinary practices report that 70-80% of their appointments are urgent on problem or emergency-based, right? Where is this original question? I paraphrased it, unfortunately. Don Adeesha (Host): Give me a second here… Don Adeesha (Host): Yeah. If most practices are 70-80% urgent, how do… how do you present value when wellness is not seen as a priority, especially with pricing?

So 70%… 70% to 80% urgent. How do you… Don Adeesha (Host): Yeah, so I think…

Sorry.

When things are not perceived as urgent. Don Adeesha (Host): when… It's not seen… wellness is not seen as a priority.

Yes, okay. That's what I was thinking, but I was like, am I missing something in the question? So thank you, Don, for clarifying.

I mean, I think it goes back to what Nick and I touched on in the beginning, from my perspective, is education, right? Why…

Do I need to get my 7-year-old cat that's running around cuckoo bananas?

Why should I get it?

wellness blood work. What's… what's the why behind that?

And it's… it's talking those owners through…

She's, like, grabbing my shoulder while I say this.

it's talking those owners through what preventative measures can be taken so they don't wind up in the ER, and I think…

you can spin that to money if you want to, right? Like, doing a wellness check and doing some preventative medicine, one, makes your pet healthier and happier, but two, could save you

A large, very significant sum of money, if you don't have… especially if you don't have pet insurance.

headed to the emergency room at 2 o'clock in the morning. So… so to me, I think you can… you can talk with education to your team.

You can talk owners through the value, both from a wellness perspective and a financial perspective.

Frankly, for the longevity of their past. Don Adeesha (Host): So, when are you having this conversation? Don Adeesha (Host): After… the emergency procedure… During it… Before?

Oh, oh, so this is more like if they've actually already crossed that threshold and haven't done the. Don Adeesha (Host): Yeah, yeah, they're here, you know. Don Adeesha (Host): Lead in, you know.

No, I mean, for that… that conversation, to me… Nick, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

But to me, that conversation happens at discharge, when you're sending that pet home as healthy as you can make it at that point.

And… Giving them a very gentle coaching in, here's some wellness tips.

So this doesn't happen again, or doesn't happen to your other cat.

And I'd add in, if there's a recheck coming, right, if that pet has to come back in 2 weeks, I would do what Crystal mentioned, but I'd also be prepared for when they come back in.

To have those conversations about, hey, this happened, but here's what could have prevented it, and here's, you know, moving forward, here's what we'd love to see. But it is all going to come back to how does that client feel when they leave after that emergency or that urgent care visit, to will they trust you enough to come back for the recheck? If they trust you enough to come back for the recheck.

you've got an open door to be polite, respectful, have the team prepared. Hey, this could be a client for the next 10 years, right? Are we having that conversation? And I think to that question from Dr. Jeff there is.

a couple of our hospitals, and this is maybe 3 of 3, and so this is not a big study that I've done, but it's 3 of 3 on urgent cares. It's upwards of 55% of our clients that we're seeing are… they don't have any relationship with the small animal GP anymore.

they're saving all their money for urgent care, or emergency surgery, or you name it, whatever the opportunity is that they've had… have presented right now, they haven't been to a small animal GP. And so I've been taking that into a lot of consideration when I'm thinking about price increases. I got passionate about that earlier, is

there's a reason why they're not going in, and I think all the studies we've seen, I shouldn't say all of them… a lot of the studies we've seen this year, the last year and a half, is the lack of trust from our client base in the veterinary industry. And so, a big part of that is.

Gas is $4 a gallon right now.

well, if they can't trust that they're gonna come into our vet clinic for less than $500, they're not gonna show up. They're just not gonna come. And that's very hard, because financially, we all need to make a living, we all want to take care of our pets.

But they just can't do it. And so that's where I feel I'm seeing these numbers from these urgent cares of.

55% of them don't have a small animal GP, but if they come back after that urgent oper… that urgent emergency surgery, that's when I want to have my team prepared to make them feel and see everything that we have to offer, that they keep coming back every 6 months, or a year, or whatever it might be that we're recommending. So that's what I'd add to that, Christos, I think you were spot on. Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing. Thank you very much, Nick and, Christoph, for that answer, and I hope, Don Adeesha (Host): Dr. Jeff, Don Adeesha (Host): You got something out of that? Yeah, because he had mentioned, especially with pricing, so we… spot on. Thank you very much. Nick, how can practice leaders distinguish genuine price resistance from a communication or client experience problem that is making clients question the value of the recommended care? Don Adeesha (Host): Questioning.

That's a good one. I feel like that…

Assumption has to come from in person.

I think it'd be very hard to diagnose that over the phone.

And so, for them to question that,

and Chris will jump in on this, I think I'm gonna get my tongue twisted on this one, but I think that that has to be…

recognized

in the exam room, that there's a problem, and then how are we going out of the exam room to meet with the team to come up with, hey, here's plan B, right? Like, this is what we've heard, this is what we're doing,

But I feel a lot of us miss that step, is we just jump to, well, we can just do the rabies today, and we just let them go. But Chris, I'd love your input on this, because I feel like it has to happen, it has to be diagnosed in the exam room when that question comes up, because they're already in the building. A lot of times, if it's on the phone, they're just not going to show up.

I agree with you, Nick, on that. I mean, I think it's hard to tell until you're standing in the room.

Yeah.

having the conversation. I think where it does get tricky…

Is if you're losing them over the phone, and you're consistent.

instantly losing them over the phone, right?

Which, again, you know, your first question, or second question, Don, was where's the biggest leak? And it circles back to the front desk. I mean, and God

Bless them.

because they…

have the hardest job in the hospital, hands down, because they're… they're fielding things from all four sides all day long, right?

But it's really making sure that those team members are on board. And I agree, the best place to have that conversation is

that's when…

unless you've got some really skilled technical team, is usually best really dug into by the doctor in the room, but you gotta get them in the building. So that's where having that front desk team trained

To gently have that conversation, but not promise the farm over the phone, is super important.

Yeah, and I think as a doctor, too, again, I'm not a DVM, I've worked with some amazing DVMs for the last 10 years, but the most efficient and best compliant doctors I've worked with

They go with gold standard medicine, and that's how they're starting to gauge it, is we're gonna offer… we're gonna recommend everything we truly believe that needs to be recommended, and then if that client cannot do it because of pricing.

they have that second option, right? Or that third option, and so that's one way you could track it in person, is do we have 3 options, or are we just like, nope, this is our recommendation, and they're walking out the door and they can't pay for it? Or are we truly looking at that client and putting them in our shoes, saying, okay, if I was in this shoes.

This is still good medicine, it's not the absolute best.

But this is good. And then that starts really catching on to that average Client Transaction, or ADT, right? Like, are those numbers dropping, and then how are we working with that number to build our compliance to that exact question there, Don, of…

what's causing that? Pricing or value? And there, you can start to break that out. Don Adeesha (Host): Appreciate that. It's truly hard to figure out where the lack of trust comes from over the phone, but when you're in person, it's a…

Yeah. Don Adeesha (Host): you can truly feel it. Now, there was another question here. Well, it wasn't necessarily a question, it's more like, Don Adeesha (Host): it was from, Dr. Melissa Rivera, Don Adeesha (Host): If they could add information geared towards mobile practitioners, it would be helpful. So I'm just wondering, Don Adeesha (Host): How can we adapt these pricing, financial, and client communication strategies discussed today? Don Adeesha (Host): Adapted for, mobile practice model.

Great question. I'm gonna do my best here. Crystal, you jump in. I think if…

For Dr. Melissa,

what is the number of appointments we want to hit per day, and are we hitting those? Because it's a totally different landscape. Do we want to do 5, and if so, how are we getting to 5? If we can't book 5, what marketing opportunities do we have to get to 5, and then…

is that 5 taking us till 9 o'clock at night, or are we done at 5 o'clock like we want to be? And so, I always break down per doctor, what's your goal you want to hit this year for a number, right? So, as an owner for a mobile practice.

I go, okay, here's our goal, this is how many appointments per day we have to hit with an average ticket transaction of

X. And if we're not hitting that, then I'm starting to dive into everything we've talked about tonight, but maybe on a smaller scale, because we don't need to see 15 or 20 appointments a day, it's to those 5, and how are we maximizing those 5?

And so, if we're going for mobile practice in the house, we know that there's gonna be more of a sliding scale of what the exam's gonna cost, you know, what is our… just our exam fee, because we're driving to that home. Like, it's gonna be a little bit higher. And so, starting to gauge where that ticket number is at, to Crystal's point, and that's gonna help set a bunch of it up. And then.

Circling back even a little bit further, the education is going to be key to whoever you hire for that mobile practice. Are we setting up, you know, are we setting up vaccine clinics on a weekend or a Saturday to boost that, to get our name out there? Are we, you know, what are we doing differently, but still similar to what we've talked about tonight? And so.

Dr. Melissa, I hope that helps you in the sense of

We don't need 15, we need 5, but how do we maximize those 5, and what is our internal operations looking like behind that?

communication's still gonna be key, and staff education's gonna be through… that is… those are probably my two number… my number two, one and two of what I would recommend there. And then as far as pricing.

That's gonna be a little bit harder, again, because you're really gonna have to gauge what our ticket price average is, in my opinion, to start

looking at that and breaking it down. Hard question to answer on the spot.

But I hope that helps, is it's kind of just bringing it back to the basics of, okay, we've got 5 instead of 15, how do we maximize this 5, or 8, or whatever the number is, to get us to that end-of-year number, or quarter number that we're shooting for?

Yeah, and I think I would add…

It's sort of a broad question when it comes to mobile. Like, what I've worked a lot with my mobile clients on is…

is looking at your circle. And to your point, Nick, like, if you need to see 6 a day and you're only seeing 3 a day.

how can you get 6 or 7 in that same circle? Because.

Yep.

I've worked with some mobile clients who are, like, driving all over the place, and they're like, I'm not making… I'm like, well, we gotta find a circle. Which seems…

Sure, everyone's trying to do that, but there's some very strategic marketing strategies that you can use.

Absolutely.

To try to hit…

Clients within a radius, so you can see 6 or 7 and still get home for dinner and not be doing that until 10 o'clock at night, which nobody wants to be doing.

I worked with a client in Alaska that had a mobile unit, and it was, it was this city on Monday, this city on Tuesday, and it was very hard.

I've won in Wigby Island, and…

Yeah.

Outside of Seattle.

It's the same thing.

It's like, you gotta drive everybody. An hour here, and then an hour here.

I think the strategy behind scheduling for a mobile practice is probably my number one, like, business goal I would shoot for, is how are we scheduling efficiently in an area, to your point, Crystal, of that circle. Don Adeesha (Host): I love that. I mean, when you mentioned about Alaska, I was wondering. Don Adeesha (Host): How are… who are the… yeah, like, how are they… Don Adeesha (Host): Sustaining, you know, through these gas prices, too, going for.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Probably the coolest clinic I've ever been able to work for is that mobile clinic. I got a picture of them working on a caribou one time, and I was like, my… my career is made.

He's like, I'm done. Don Adeesha (Host): That was my next question, too. What are the animals researching there?

A lot of sled dogs and a lot of, exotic creatures. Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing. So we are reaching the end game here, Don Adeesha (Host): Right, before we do, I would love to ask both of y'all Don Adeesha (Host): for a golden rule. A golden rule, perhaps in a minute or so, on what is… Don Adeesha (Host): The golden rule for protecting your profitability without losing your client's trust. Don Adeesha (Host): We can start with you, Crystal, and then Nick?

Golden rule, huh?

I mean… I'll probably oversimplify by saying prioritize the patient.

And the clients will trust you and come back.

And I'm making a long golden rule, but don't be afraid to tell them, I'm gonna look it up, or I don't know. Like, it's a huge trust builder.

For clients.

I'll take a different… because you kind of stole mine a little bit, Crystal, and I liked.

Sorry, I mean, I feel like it's just legal. You did good. I think…

It's not a… my golden rule would be, as a veterinary owner or a manager, it's not wrong to make money.

But it's wrong if we're only in it for the money.

Right? And so, my golden rule there would be, it's not wrong to make money, but how are we building a team to have a career, not just a job? Because that's ultimately what's going to come back to your pet or your pet parent on how we're doing it, how we're treating them, how we're bringing them in the door, everything beyond. But I think I'd go the financial route there, Crystal, and just say it's not wrong to make money.

But are we in it for only the money? Yeah. Don Adeesha (Host): Love that distinguishment. Meaningful, and purposeful work, right? Don Adeesha (Host): At the heart of it all. Yeah, if you are in it to make money, well, perhaps… Don Adeesha (Host): Banking might be a bit of a easier route to go.

Yeah. Don Adeesha (Host): If you're all about the money, the Benjamins. Right, that being said, I do want to, quickly remind everyone, to make Don Adeesha (Host): best use of that complimentary $900 marketing strategy meeting from ECWA, which is still open. Spots are limited. If you meant to book it, but caught up, listening, scan the code now, on your screen. Oh, it's there on the left, Don Adeesha (Host): bottom corner, or else go to the, link in the chat box, VeterinaryBusinessinstitute.com slash msm, that's VeterinaryBusinessinstitute.com slash msm. Don Adeesha (Host): Right. Don Adeesha (Host): That being said, Crystal, Nickolas, where can our listeners and attendees find you? Don Adeesha (Host): And your work.

Christy, you can go first.

I can go first. I'm pretty easy to find, I'm just bloomingAdvisor.com, is my website, or on LinkedIn. You can find me that way, too. Don Adeesha (Host): Nick?

I would agree with that, First Light Veterinary Advisors, on LinkedIn, or on my LinkedIn page,

I love emailing, love phone calls, and so if you… if you do want to connect, or you have something to just even ask a question about, we're just open for anything, for a conversation, or however we can help. So, LinkedIn is probably the easiest, or our… or our, our website. Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing, thank you very much. Crystal Nick… Nickolas, thank you so much for really spending this, hour with us, and… Don Adeesha (Host): Being so graceful, with the insights, that you delivered to our audience members, Don Adeesha (Host): Amazing. And to our attendees here tonight, thank you for spending this hour and investing it truly into the success of your practice. As you exit, a quick feedback survey will pop up. It takes less than a minute to fill it out. Don Adeesha (Host): Just let us know how we did, what can we do better, and yeah, that way we can make our events even more meaningful. Don Adeesha (Host): for you in the future. That being said, it has been my pleasure and privilege to host this session on behalf of the Veterinary Business Institute. Until next time, take care, everyone. Don Adeesha (Host): Good night. Don Adeesha (Host): Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Thank you. Don Adeesha (Host): Absolutely.