PROFESSIONAL MARKETING: THE WAY TO A MORE PROFITABLE VETERINARY PRACTICE.

 Image result wey dey for veterinary marketing profession picturesAs the veterinary practice slowly, but certainly, finds its rightful place as a career within the top of professions in the developing world and Nigeria in particular, there is the need for veterinary profession in all its ramifications to be rather a pioneer divine call than just another profession on the roll. It must in this vein be practiced in such a way that impacts in all-time success dimension. Most Veterinary professionals feel uncomfortable with the idea of marketing because the scope of activity has been more often than not, poorly understood. Often times, the connotation of marketing is advertising. Fortunately, advertising with all its numerous pros and cons, is only less significant aspect of the total marketing picture. Professional marketing has numerous definitions but the one that will be used here is the communication of professional services and goods. Professional Marketing consists of activities which support the promotion of professional services and goods. Marketing includes client relations, appearance of the hospital, clinic or ambulatory vehicle, listening to client’s opinion, convenient practice location, polite sport staff,  offering full-service care, sending clients service reminders, being clean and neat, using business cards, sending newsletters, providing nutritional counseling and dietary management, providing emergency service, offering pet and livestock supplies, giving career talks at Secondary schools, attending dog/cat/horse and farm animal shows/exhibitions, being involved in a community service club, providing handout materials to clients, having an attractive and well-located building sign, sending thank you and sympathy cards to appreciates clients, appearing as a guest on radio or television shows, writing a newspaper animal column, using attractive letterhead stationery, sponsoring and advertising in magazines, becoming active in National Veterinary Medical Association  and other local veterinary professional associations. This list is exhaustive. The veterinary profession needs to continue to be acutely aware of professional ethics and maintain the highest degree of professionalism. Professional marketing is not opposed to veterinary ethics and philosophy when properly applied. The question is no longer whether to market, but how we should market. The first step must be to accept marketing as a useful unalienable practice tool. The next step is to gain understanding techniques available and then apply the techniques to the practice and profession.
 THE BUSINESS OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.
In order to conduct a successful business one must be cleared about specific business objectives. Some practitioners believe as long as high quality medical surgical skill is delivered, the clients will continue to use their service based on the quality of service alone. The average clients lack the professional back ground to accurately judge the quality of medical surgical services performed. Nevertheless, they do have the ability to judge the quality of care they received personally and the value of service received. Veterinary Medicine is in the people service business. Veterinary medicine provides professional care for animals and also provides professional service to their owners. Immediately one perceives clearly that his/her service is a people oriented one, his/her practice will incurably assume a different approach. Veterinary practices do provide high quality professional service to animals but only after the agreement support of the owner/client. Thus when clients call odd hours, they do not intentionally wish to interrupt the veterinarians sleep, or time in the examination room/surgery room. In fact, they are the reason why the examination room or surgery room is being installed. The professional success of most veterinarians is the result of interpersonal skills rather than strictly clinical skills. The ability to relate with people and their problems will allow the practice the opportunity to provide high quality veterinary medicine and services.
SPECIFIC MARKETING TECHNIQUES.
Professional marketing can be divided into internal marketing and external marketing. Internal marketing are the day to day activities that occur within each practice, whereas external marketing involves techniques used outside the practice. The purpose of both internal and external techniques is to enlarge the potential market.
(A) INTERNAL MARKETING: Internal marketing is aimed basically at the existing plan base. It aims at the attempt to educate and inform current clients about various veterinary services and service programs.  The following methods may serve as a guide;
(i) CLIENT RELATIONS:  The most important strategy here is to enforce a personalized, sincere client care. Most often than not, clients require as much attention and care as the patient. Personalized services that place emphasis on each individual clients will allow the opportunity for excellent communication to be established.
(ii) PRACTICE APPEARANCE: The visual appearance of the clinic, hospital or laboratory vehicle is the first outward signal to the client concerning the potential quality of service. Looks can be deceiving, but how often are outside appearances use when first selecting a restaurant, taxi, cyclist, or hotel? Without additional information, often times the outward appearances becomes a critical issue. In marketing an overall marketing plan, one must consider the appearance of the building (repair, paint) cleanliness and the grounds. Planting and grass must be neat and trimmed and the parking lot clean and well signed for parking. The interior decoration must be good and not crowded. Silent marketing messages are sent to clients through appearance of the facility. This does not in any way insinuate that a practice facility must be new or have the latest equipment to project a positive image.
(iii) SUPPORT STAFF UTILIZATION: A significant level of the internal marketing carried out within a practice will be through support staff. Support staff activity will augment the efforts of the veterinarian in client relations and personal appearance. Primarily, staff will be responsible for recommending services or goods and following-up on hospital programs that require appointments or individual client contact. Staff is an extension of the veterinarian and must therefore have a professional approach to client management. Professional sells point displays have another level of service for clients. This display needs continuous monitoring by support staff to allow on-the-sport professional information. Areas in which support staff should have full knowledge include: nutrition, parasite control (ectoparasite and endoparasite), grooming aids, dental care, immunization programme and rearing orphan animals. Beside this, support staff members must be on the constant looks out for new clients and additional services. New clients may not be aware of services offered, so all staff members must be willing to provide programme information at any time. When certain key support staff are given a small percentage of income from all new service and new clients they provide the practice, a new way of enthusiasm may develop in everyone.
(IV) FULL-SERVICE CARE:- In small animal practice, full-service care would include: pre-purchase counseling concerning pets, human animal bond counseling, nutritional management boarding, geriatric care, dentistry, bereavement counseling, euthanasia/cremation service plus full routine veterinary care. The service would extend from birth to death. In full-service practice, various programmes can be packaged for marketing. The goal of marketing is to sell programme not an individual service. A small animal practice might have a complete health maintenance programme for new pupils and kitten. This programme carries into adulthood and on to geriatric period.
(V) CLIENTS REMINDERS:- This is for routine immunization, routine cleaning, annual physical examination, geriatric care etc.
(VI) PERSONAL NEATNESS:- The personal hygiene and appearance of each staff member is a reflection of the quality of service. Clients quickly relate personal appearance to the sanitation and level of quality of the practice.
(VII) SYMPATHY AND THANK-YOU COMMUNICATION:-Regardless of the format used, the use of personal messages and its specific purposes has an everlasting positive effect. In the case of newly referred clients by current clients, a note or card to both the referring clients, (thanking them for the referral), and the new clients (welcoming them to the practice) is very appropriate.
(B) EXTERNAL MARKETING: Activities here are aimed at expanding current clients activities and identifying new non-clients activities
(i) PROFESSIONAL ADVERTISING: This includes hospital signs, professional business card etc. Use of persuasive exaggerated sign board is unethical.
(ii) RADIO AND TELEVISION: These are expensive but the subject of animals and animal behavior is a fascinating subject to listening and viewing audiences. For completeness, obtaining a website in the internet may be helpful.
(iii) COMMUNITIES ACTIVITIES:- Getting involved in activity such as humane societies, pig, poultry, and other farm animal production clubs. We provide a much wide clients contact base. I hope that the implementation of some or all of these tit bits will surely make the practice more dynamic and exciting.

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