Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
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| HOT TOPIC Author's Note Don't Forget the Value of the In-Clinic Conversation This article highlights several ideas that support a comprehensive preventive medicine program but it's important to recognize the most influential tool: the in-clinic conversation. As veterinarians, we still are the most influential member in a pet owner's decision making. It's important that we, as a profession, don't lose sight of the importance of the "personal touch" and take the extra examination room time to ensure our message is heard. The right program varies between practices and we only presented a few ideas. There are many more programs ongoing in the veterinary industry that have been present- ed previously. r Heartworm Hotline: Heartworm Testing—A Yearly Necessity (May/June 2012, page 16): In this article, Dr. Clarke Atkins recommends offering free yearly heartworm testing when clients purchase one year's worth of heartworm preventive. r 12.12.12 Campaign (join121212.com): This campaign offers pet owners $12 off 12 months of heartworm preventive purchased from their veterinarians. The campaign also provides practices with several tools for pet owners, including monthly email reminders and education materials and web resources (merial.com). core preventive products recommended by the practice with preset reminder repurchase intervals. Products and services supported by reminders garner 20% to 40% greater compliance than those same offerings without reminders. If it's important enough to inVlÕ`iÊinÊÞoÕÀÊ7-" ]ÊÌhinÊinVlÕ`iÊiÌÊinÊÞoÕÀÊÀimin`iÀÊ database." 3. Build Your Own Online Pharmacy It's hard to compete with online retailers unless you make the effort to have a presence yourself. Home delivery platforms are available from several providers that allow you to offer a prebuilt, customized online ÃÌoÀi°Ê"niÊ ovÊ ÌhiÊmoÃÌÊ inÌiÀiÃÌin}Ê iÃÊ ÌhiÊ ,imin` iÊ *Ào}À>m]Ê>Û>il>LliÊvÀomÊ6iÌ-oÕÀViÊvetsource.com). Through the practice's online store platform, a client can receive both heartworm and flea and tick products monthly, instead of the traditional 6-month packages. This service can be effective because it addresses three needs: 1. It establishes a monthly "touch point" between the practice and pet owner. 2. It enables the client to spread out the cost of pre- ventive products across the 6-month period. 3. Each delivery acts as a built-in monthly dosing reminder. 4. Limit Your Offering If you're really feeling the strain of retail competition, consider changing your product offering. UÊ/hiÀiÊ >ÀiÊ «ÀiÛinÌiÛiÊ «Ào`ÕVÌÃÊ onÊ ÌhiÊ m>ÀkiÌÊ 72 Today's Veterinary Practice July/August 2012 today that are more tightly monitored in their distribution than others. Multiple manufacturers market the use of tracking technology for flea and tick products as a way of ensuring their product line is only available through a veterinarian. UÊ1Ãin}Ê>ÊÕniµÕiÊÀoÕÌiÊovÊ`iliÛiÀÞÊiÃÊ>noÌhiÀÊo«Ìion°Ê ÃÊ >nÊinjiVÌ>LliÊ«Ào`ÕVÌ]Ê*Ào i>ÀÌÊÈÊanimalhealth. pfizer.com) may only be administered by a licensed veterinarian. We acknowledge that there are always ways around these restrictions. But if you find your practice under significant price pressure for traditional products, it's worth thinking about ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the market. IN SUMMARY Preventive products, along with the entire in-house pharmacy, will be a topic of great debate for the fore- seeable future. But as the pet owning market contin- ues to evolve in their expectations and needs, there are options available to us that will enable today's veterinary practice to maximize patient compliance while remaining competitive. ■ WSOC = wellness standards of care References 1. http://nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2007/Convenience__ Not_Price__Drives_ Online_Holiday_Shopping__According_to_Nielsen_ Online_Pre-Holiday_Survey.html 2. http://www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/tag/how-many-people- shop-online/ Travis Meredith, DVM, MBA, Diplomate ACT, and Christine Meredith, VMD, are Managing Partners of Axxiom—The Practice Impact Group. Dr. Christine Meredith received her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and is a former owner and operator of an AAHA- accredited practice outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. Her professional interests include practice development through advanced services and building effective marketing messaging. Dr. Travis Meredith received his DVM from Texas A&M; University followed by residency training in theriogenology at University of Pennsylvania. He then received his MBA from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. His professional interests include new practice development and transition planning for the practice owner. You may contact the authors at tmeredithdvm@axiomm-impact.com.