If you accept the fact that Veterinary Hospitals are selling services, and that the ability to sell is an important factor in creating a successful practice, then consider how vital referrals are to professional sales people. Studies have demonstrated that sales people who focus on generating high quality referrals will earn four to five times the industry standard. Imagine how healthy your veterinary practice would be if it could increase its revenue on the same scale.

Now that you understand that generating referrals is not the same thing as asking your clients to say nice things about you, it should become easier to create a clear vision for success.
The single, most important factor to developing a successful system is that you have to change the way that you think about referrals. In reality, you most likely know that referrals will not materialize out of thin air and you have to ask for them. In a Veterinary Practice, the opportunity to do that presents itself with every member of the staff. From the receptionists, technicians, and Veterinarians, create a detailed plan for who will be responsible for this.

You must commit to training yourself and your staff to ask consistently for referrals. Not occasionally, not when everyone feels like it or is having a good day, not when the technician thinks that the client like them, but ask every single time a client comes through your doors.
Are you wondering just how to request that referral? While there are many different ways to ask for a referral, they all have one thing in common: phrasing. The way that a question is phrased can have a tremendous impact on the response.

“All good things in life are the fruits of originality” – John Stuart Mill

It doesn’t matter how strong your internal medicine is, or what a talented surgeon you are. If no one chooses to buy your service then you are out of business. In order to create a successful practice, you have to offer an absolute advantage over other practices.
In 2009, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported that there were over 93,000 practicing veterinarians in the United States. Almost 90% of them are companion animal exclusive. What makes you different from the guy down the street?

Step 1: Determining your differential benefit: an exercise in individualism
Your differential benefit is the sum of the traits that make you better, faster, or distinctive. It is the reason why people gain a clear advantage when they choose you. It is not enough that you are providing the same basic services as other practices, or that you practice according to industry stand. That will not motivate people to choose you.

You can start by making a list of all of the ways that your patients benefit from your care. Perhaps the American Animal Hospital Association certifies your facility. Your definite benefit is that only the top 15% of Animal Hospitals in the Unites States and Canada are able to claim that distinction. Or, if your examinations are exceptionally thorough, then your benefit is that you “leave no stone unturned”.
Once you understand what you do well, think about why those things would be important to someone who loves their animals.

Step 2: Know what your competition is doing… and what they are not.
Look past what everyone else is doing. Identifying the gaps in service that your competitors are not filling can be a way to expand your repertoire. Listening to people’s frustrations about the care they receive from other veterinarians is a key way to recognize potential openings.

Step 3: Create a Unique Selling Proposition, or “USP”
This short statement announces to the world how your differential benefit solves a problem. The objective is to develop the statement into something that grabs people’s attention and incorporate it into your advertising campaigns. An example of a highly successful USP is “M&M’s melt in your mouth and not in your hands!”
Since you know that your customers are motivated by emotional needs, it can be helpful to incorporate that into your USP. Don’t be afraid to highlight the negative consequences of not using your service. This is often a great way to get your point across quickly and clearly. Home Again microchips are an example of how effective this is. Their message, “It’s a fact: pets get lost. Prevent them from becoming an unfortunate statistic”, targets an owners fear of losing their pet.

One of the most common reasons why businesses fail is because they do not have an effective marketing plan. This is because these individuals are not planners, but tend to take a more hands on approach to their business. This is particularly common in the veterinarian industry, as every vet has gone to school for years and is now simply wanting to help animals in need and use the skills that has or she received in university. The problem is that without a marketing plan, no one will even know that you exist, which makes it next to impossible to attract customers. The good news is that developing a marketing plan does not require a business degree, but rather a few hours per week taking the proper steps to improve the visibility of your veterinarian office.

The first thing that you must do is understand what those in the market are looking for and evaluating your competition. Many people in the medical field do not understand how much competition is out there, but it is everywhere. In order to develop your plan, you must first look at how many other people are in the veterinarian business in your area to see if there is a significant lack in that service. If you find that the other veterinarian offices in your area are constantly overbooked and are unable to efficiently service the community, you will definitely not have much trouble attracting customers. Your competitors will also likely have weaknesses that you can capitalize on, so make sure that you know as much about each of these others offices as possible.

Next, you must learn to understand what your customer wants, as pet owners are a very distinct group of people. Identifying who your customers are is simple in this industry, as you will be serving people who own pets. Most of your business will probably come from people with dogs and cats, as these are two of the more popular pets that require veterinarian care. You must also be able to identify what these people want from you, which will be simple as well. These people want good care at an affordable price, while having their pets cared for in a way that allows them live happy lives. Many people would also appreciate things like reminders in the mail when a checkup or shot is needed and even a follow up to a previous appointment to ensure that everything is running smoothly. Remember that an individual's love for his or her pet is what drives your business, so you must be prepared to show that you care just as much.

Since you already know who your customers will be, you have to learn how to identify where these people search for information. There are countless places to advertise, but one of the most effective might be at a pet store. Many pet stores will grant you some sort of advertising space and it is even possible to ask about giving customers of a certain pet store a discount at your office. Remember that you want to offer your customers something different than other veterinarians are offering, so giving a discount to first time visitors might be a good way to drive repeat business. If a pet owner has a good experience at a veterinarian, he or she will be very likely to return time after time, so the key is making it worth the customer's while to visit your office in the first place.

Your marketing message will take care of much of this, as in this message you will be able to explain to your customer exactly what you have to offer. Your message must explain why you believe you are the best person to solve the pet's problems and the benefits that the pet and the pet owner will receive by choosing you. Testimonials from other satisfied customers work wonders, especially in the medical field and you must also provide a guarantee that everything will work out for the best. Including some pricing information is also a must, especially if you know that your prices are lower than your competitors.

As far as the mediums go, a veterinarian office does not need to have as aggressive of an advertising campaign as other businesses. This is because people will generally be looking for your services, so you just have to make your advertising visible enough for these people to find. Placing ads in the Yellow Pages and on the internet are very effective because it allows for people to identify your office as an option when someone is looking for a veterinarian service. In addition, flyers and posters in areas where pet owners frequent could be good at attracting those who are already using one of your competitors.

Once you have developed your campaign, you will want to set sales and marketing goals in relation to the campaign. Your goals should definitely be realistic, but also do not sell yourself short. Make sure that you make both financial and non-financial goals, as this will ensure that you can find success in a number of different areas of the business. Implementing an advertising budget is also a great idea because you do not want to invest more into marketing than you can afford. The basic calculation that you will use is how much you are willing to spend to attract each customer, which will give you a solid idea of what your goals should be and whether or not your advertising is helping you to reach them.

Marketing a small office is definitely not all that difficult, as long as you take the time to set up a proper plan. While there are no guarantees that things will work out in your area, there is a good chance that they will if the other veterinarian offices are now following an efficient marketing plan. Realizing how consumers work is the key here and it will definitely drive your overall success.