You send out postcards and make phone calls. And still some clients don't get their pets into your office. How do you reach
those likely well-meaning but slow-off-the-mark pet owners? Try these strategies: 1 Make your reminders stand out.
You sort through three to six inches of magazines, catalogs, credit-card solicitations, and bills each day, right? Well, your
clients do, too. So you need to do everything you can to make sure they don't lump your postcard in with the junk mail—or
stack it up with the other foot of paper that's sitting on the counter by the front door waiting for attention.
Fine-tuning a typical reminder system
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The first step: Determine which kind of postcard will stand out to your clients. If you use free stock from major manufacturers,
even if it has your logo, you run the risk that it will get lost in the shuffle. "So many companies use that stock," says
Tracy Dowdy, CVPM, the owner of Management Resource Group in Bedford, Texas. "You need something that will jump out."
Dowdy recommends using a larger postcard and putting a photograph on the front. "A glossy, color photograph of a pet, professionally
printed on a 5-by-7-inch postcard will be easier to distinguish from junk mail," she says.
If you print your own cards, some software systems let you put the patients' photos on the postcard. "We print a picture of
the client's pet in the left-hand corner," says Lisa Yackel, CVPM, the practice manager at Case Veterinary Hospital in Savannah,
Ga. "Our clients really like getting pictures of their pets in the mail. They put the photo on their refrigerators and never
lose the card."
2 Get the client and patient involved.
Broader uses for reminders
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Rick Schulkey, a practice manager at Madison Veterinary Hospital in Madison Heights, Mich., says another way to increase compliance
is to have clients address their postcard reminders to themselves. "We hope seeing their own handwriting helps clients recognize
the reminder when they receive it," Schulkey says.
You can also address the reminder to the pet instead of the owner to help distinguish the postcard from junk mail. To take
this idea even further, write the whole card to the pet. For example, your postcard could open with:
3 Educate your clients.
"Your reminders need to do more than say it's time to visit," says Christine Merle, DVM, MBA, CVPM, a consultant with Brakke
Consulting Inc. in Zionsville, Ind. "With all the information available about pet care, clients have become accustomed to
getting more details. So explain the benefits of the services you're recommending and address any potential concerns."
For example, if you send reminders for annual exams, you could say, "Our comprehensive physical exam includes checking the
ears, eyes, nose, teeth, heart, lungs, bones, joints, skin, and abdomen. Pets that are a bit older, on regular medications,
or have had an illness should be examined at least twice a year."
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