Getting over our money guilt – Let’s be confident about charging for our services.

 Do you ever feel guilty about charging a client for veterinary services? Can clients make us feel ashamed about what we do everyday?

I think the answer is absolutely yes, if we let them.  It is one of the main reasons that our profession is so wrought with anxiety.  I can feel it almost daily, wondering if the next client will give me a hard time about charges.   Just last week I made up a treatment plan, including prices for my services, presented it to a client for approval and the client looked up at me and said, “Are you kidding me? You are CRAZY doc, I can’t afford that.”  (Exact words from an actual client)

How would this comment make you feel?  Embarrassed, humiliated, angry, and resentful? What can we do to combat these negative feelings and learn to feel differently about charging for what we do?

Remember that you don’t set the prices and most clients have no idea how much it costs to keep a veterinary hospital open, or any business for that matter.   Check out your hospital’s financial statements and see the tremendous amount spent on overhead.  The veterinary hospital needs to make money to be sure that the bills get paid, the team gets paid, and ultimately the doors stay open for another day. If the hospital is not open, many pets and clients will not be served. 

Remember that veterinary money usually comes from clients' discretionary income.  They may argue with us about our prices, then go to the Apple store, Starbucks, or Amazon and gladly pay the price marked on the products. They may think that it is perfectly reasonable to have a $500 smart phone and risk their dog’s health by declining an $20 vaccine or pay for Netflix and decline heartworm preventative.  Great!   They get to do what they want with their extra money.   Your job as a loving veterinarian is to explain to the client why our services are important and valuable to their pet’s wellbeing. If they understand the value behind what is being offered, most will gladly pay for your services.  If they choose to spend their money on fancy coffee or cell phones, it is out of your hands.  

Be aware of what you are actually giving away.  All those little charges that you decide to discount to appease your guilt may add up to a lot of money over the course of a month or year. Every recheck exam, nail trim, ear cleaning and tooth extraction that you fail to charge for, or discount, come off of your bottom line and the bottom line of your practice. It cuts into the salaries of you and your support team.  Just think about it, or track it for a month and see how much money you are truly giving away.  You may be shocked at the amount of cash that your guilt costs you. I am not saying that you cannot give anything away, just be aware of it when you do and what it is costing you and your team.

You are part of a unique and wonderful profession that deserves to be well paid.  Keep these things in mind the next time a client challenges your services or attempts to guilt you into a discount or free service.   You can be generous with your time and energy and still charge for what you do.   You can be kind and helpful and still earn a living.

So the next time you start to feel anxiety or guilt over a fee for your services, remember that most of our clients think we are well worth what we charge. The clients that don’t will spend their money elsewhere and that is OK.    

Once we embrace our value we can feel confidence and pride in our profession and charging appropriately for the brilliant work that we do.

Dr. Julie Cappel

Let’s Love Receptionists – taking care of you and your business.

 Last week I was working harder than normal because my two associate veterinarians were away at a summer conference.  For part of the week, I was the only doctor working at my very busy hospital.   It can be fun to be the only doctor on one hand because I have the entire support team at my disposal.  The down side to this arrangement is that I am responsible for everything – every pet and client that comes through the door.  It can be overwhelming especially when clients don’t behave as expected.

Thank goodness for my veterinary receptionist team, defending the front of the house.

Veterinary receptionists are terrific at handling everything important from the initial client contact by phone, to the collecting of charges, to the “Have a nice day” goodbye.  They handle very important things, which I sometimes forget, as I am frantically moving from exam room to exam room. They are rock stars as they deal with a steady stream of clients and pets.  They handle phone shoppers, appointment scheduling, price quotes, prescription and food pick up, client concerns, dogs barking and even the occasional “accident” on the reception room floor. They handle our regular cast of client characters, with style and grace.

I saw a great example of this Tuesday.  Early in the day I was scheduled to see a woman and her teenage daughter with the daughter’s little pet bird.  The mother was obviously unhappy from the minute she walked in the door about having to spend money on an inexpensive pet.  The mother scowled as the technician escorted her into the exam room. She sat with her arms crossed, glaring and grunted while her daughter talked with me about the pet bird. She didn’t say much of anything except when I suggested that surgery maybe needed. “We are NOT going to pay for surgery on a nineteen dollar bird.”  I told her that I understood and I would do my best to treat the pet with medication, which I sent home.

Once she was back at the front desk the woman exploded at my receptionist. She berated the receptionist, who had nothing to do with the charges, and threatened that she was going to leave a bad review for us on Yelp because of her outrageous bill.  My receptionist kept calm and cool explaining the services rendered.  She was kind, warm and patient.  She may not have won over this particular client but she did impress the observers.

The very next client was a couple that had seen the interaction between the receptionist and the woman.  They came to me impressed and in awe that my receptionist had stayed calm in the face of the rudeness. I told them that it was all in a days work for these rock stars of my front desk.  It is something that they deal with infrequently, but also far to often.  They take the brunt of most of the problems that occur in any business. They are client service professionals of the highest caliber.

So remember to love your veterinary receptionists.  Pay attention to their needs.  They are so important to the success of the veterinary team.  I would argue that they are key to your success.  They are the people that guard you from the cruel world that waits outside your veterinary hospital doors.

I would like to honor Joanna, Adrian, Erika, Jace, Miranda, Danielle and my manager Kathy for the terrific job they do everyday to keep the problems in the front from affecting the doctors in the back. 

We appreciate and love you everyday.

If you have a receptionist that you love please leave a comment here so they will feel your support.

Dr. Julie Cappel

"Yes, but..." - How to handle client objections.

How many times have you stood in an exam room with a loyal client, given them your undivided attention and your best advice only to have them say, “Yes, but…”

They may make excuses, argue with you or just completely ignore your recommendations.  Sometimes you may even find out that they disregarded your instructions completely to take the advice of a groomer, friend or relative.

They say things like, “I already tried that.” “He won’t eat that prescription food”; “I am too busy to do that.” Or “I can not afford it.”   Being faced with all of these objections can lead us to feelings of inadequacy, frustration, stress and even hopelessness.

Just this week I had a client almost lose her bird because she ignored my warnings about taking a bird outside unrestrained.  She was very fortunate to get him back safely, but why didn’t she listen?  I could give you at least five more examples of objections that I received this week from my clients and even from my veterinary team.  I have the most amazing loyal clients and fabulous ambitious team, but their human nature causes them to voice objections to recommendations almost daily. 

How can we manage our minds around these objections and accomplish our goal of serving our clients while decreasing our stress?

Fully listen to the objection.  There are some objections that are valid and have nothing to do with disrespecting you.   Do not get defensive or discouraged.  Listen to the reason that your client has for objecting and see if you can come to some kind of compromise to satisfy your interest (the pet) and theirs.  If you truly listen to everything that they have to say about the subject it will increase your understanding of their situation. Through careful listening, you will be better able to get to the solution that they desire and keep yourself from feeling frustrated. After all, your job is to serve the client as well as their pet.  If you listen with an open mind, your client will leave your office feeling heard.

Ask questions about the objection.  I find that asking questions about a particular objection not only helps me to understand my client better, but can also move them closer to my way of thinking.  Asking questions to gain understanding helps me to design my discussion to better educate the client around the importance of our medical advice.  Asking questions will help you get a feel for their capabilities and understand their concerns. It will also go a long way to strengthen your relationship and bond them to you as their veterinarian.  Ask honest open-ended questions to really get to the root of the objection.

Respond with kindness and understanding.  There are many circumstances where our clients want to do what we ask, but they are just unable to do so.  They have budget constraints, they have physical constraints, they have family issues and even personal things that can prevent them from properly treating their pet.  If you remember that clients are human beings with their own unique set of problems and seek to understand their challenges, you will be better able to agree on a solution that they are more likely to follow.  

If you approach each client interaction with the heart of a teacher, listening, seeking to understand, and responding with kindness, you will be better able to deal with objections and turn objections into successful satisfying client interactions.

Dr. Julie Cappel

“An objection is not a rejection; it is simply a request for more information.”  Bo Bennett

It is only money.

One of the most significant daily concerns for working veterinarians and veterinary technicians is money.  Our client’s money influences how we can treat our patients.  Our practice’s money influences the equipment that we use or the drugs that we have at our disposal.  Our personal finances determine our lifestyle and our families’ future.

Our beliefs about money and our discipline around it will determine the abundance that we are able to create.  Money thoughts can certainly give us anxiety unless we learn how to manage our mind around our situation and change our habits when it comes to our personal finances. 

According to a study by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the average debt load for veterinary school graduates was $167,534.89 and over 20% of those graduates have over $200,000 and up to $300,000 in debt.  Those numbers will truly give you nightmares.  A recent poll of college students with loans found that 30% of those students used student loan money to pay for spring break vacations and other lavish lifestyle enhancements.  What were they thinking?

When I got my first job as a veterinarian fresh out of school, I bought a new car. In fact I have a photo of myself standing by my new red Ford Escort ready to drive to my first day as a veterinarian.  My mom took that photo, just like she took photos of me when I was going off to my first day of school.  When I think about that picture and the fact that I had serious student loan debt at the time, I can’t believe how stupid I was.  Why didn’t I just drive the beater car that I was driving in veterinary school until my debt was paid off?  What was I thinking?

Now that I am older and have learned from my many silly mistakes with money, I want to encourage you to do things differently.   Smarter decisions will put you well ahead of your peers and move you toward financial security and even millionaire status if you practice some simple money managing principles. 

First, bag the new car!  If you have debt, the last thing you need is a car payment.  The average car payment in America is over $450.00.  That is insane!  Buy something cheap with cash. You drove a beater in college and it got you where you needed to go, so continue to drive the paid for beater and put that car payment towards your student loan.  Once you have your debt paid off you can buy yourself a new car with cash.

Make a monthly budget.  Write down your spending every month so you can teach yourself to behave with money.  If you have a plan before you start passing out the cash, you will learn where you spend and where you can cut corners to get rid of the debt faster.  Bring your lunch to work, make your own coffee, skip the latest fashion trends and don’t spend money on vacations that you can’t afford. 

Do not use credit cards to buy things.  It is much easier to overspend with plastic than with cash.  Cash leaving your hand causes much more pain than the plastic card.  

Take advantage of your hospital’s 401K or IRA plan.  Many hospitals match the contribution that you make, so once you have your debt paid off, max out the allowed contributions to get the free money match.  Who would be so stupid as to refuse free money?  You would be surprised how many people do.

There are many programs, podcasts and budgeting tools that are free to the consumer to help you manage your money.  I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman but you can study anyone with financial common sense.  Talk to a parent or relative that is winning with money and follow their advice. Think about every dollar that leaves your hand as a step towards your financial freedom and future generosity.  Work to change your mind around money and financial success will follow.

Over the years when I expressed worry about my financial situation to my Dad, an accountant, he would always say, “It is only money.”  I think that he was teaching me that if I applied common sense and controlled my spending, that money is just simple math.  

I think I finally got it.

Dr. Julie Cappel