We regularly hear veterinary practice staff talk about their struggle to find time to manage all of the day-to-day tasks like scheduling appointments and handling front office jobs, while still trying to focus on their customers.
Many practices still rely on traditional channels and manual methods to contact customers and schedule appointments, such as reminder cards that are printed and mailed in-house, all during business hours. They fail to take into account that this takes their focus away from customers in the practice and that most clients no longer respond to these methods of communication.
In a typical practice, losing just one appointment a day (Australian average transaction value – $150) can cost up to $54,750 in revenue per year*. This doesn’t take into account the time and money wasted making numerous follow-up calls to schedule and remind clients, as well as money lost through appointment no-shows, which can cost an additional $94,500 per year.
The following scenario plays out in many practices:
Your practice opens at 8 am and immediately the phone starts ringing nonstop. Your morning appointments have begun to line up in the waiting room and now your staff is trying to answer phone calls while checking in clients at the same time. Without the time to focus on daily tasks, they begin making mistakes, throwing other appointments off. Knowing that the customer experience starts from the first interaction, what would the detrimental impact be on your practice if you encountered repeated delays like this?
What if you could reduce in-office delays by streamlining front-office tasks and allowing clients to schedule appointments for times that are convenient for them?
Some clinics now offer flexible online scheduling options that allow pet owners to schedule appointments anytime, from anywhere.
Our Rapport client communications suite offers the only two-way online scheduling tool between pet owners and your practice. Based on your preferences, customers can schedule appointments in real-time, at their convenience, and receive automated appointment reminders. Automating scheduling and confirmation frees up staff time to focus on value-add tasks, such as taking care of customers in the practice.