Active number of clients down nationally

Companion animal practices across the nation saw a drop in the number of active clients last year. According to preliminary results from the 2011 CVMA Practice Owners Economic Survey, active clients dropped 6% over the last year and around the provinces it ranges from a weak 2% increase in British Columbia to a staggering 21% drop in Saskatchewan. The problem of fewer clients is being felt by everyone with 7 out of 9 provinces reporting a decline in active clients (Figure 1). Surveying the country annually provides 2 valuable pieces of information with respect to the problem of fewer clients. First, it is clear that the drop in clients is not specific to any region and second, within all regions there are bright spots where companion animal hospitals have been able to ward off the attrition. In fact, one of the brightest spots comes from the province experiencing the largest drop in clients.

Figure 1.

Percent change in the number of active clients in companion animal practice in Canada (2010–2011).

What caused the drop in clients? One reason for a drop is misinterpretation of the term “active clients” by practice owners and practice management software. According to the CVMA Practice Owners Economics Survey, an active client is defined as “a client who has been to the practice within the last 12 months.” Contrary to the CVMA survey, some practice management software companies have default settings in which “active” refers to a client who has been to the practice within the last 18 months. Unless the default setting is changed, the number of active clients is overstated on the survey. Historically, the variability in the response to the number of active clients has been quite wide but has been narrowing over the last few years. More sophisticated software and more accurate reporting have been the drivers in narrowing the spread of responses and providing more accurate data. Generally speaking, more accurate responses translate into lower responses in most practices since the reporting period is shortened. Increased accuracy may have created a small change in active client numbers but the dramatic decrease seen in 2011 is not a software glitch.

The most conspicuous reason for a drop in active clients is the prolonged downturn in the economy. Throughout 2011, pet owners in Canada have been bombarded with news of catastrophic events around the world affecting their local economy: a limping US economy, economic crisis in Europe, and natural disasters affecting manufacturing worldwide. The uncertainty in the economy has affected consumer confidence which has been steadily falling all year.

Consumer confidence is measured monthly in Canada with a sample of households providing opinions on the current economy and future economic outlook. If the outlook is optimistic, consumer confidence goes up; however, if it is bleak, consumer confidence falls. Calibrated to 2002 when consumer confidence was set to 100%, the Consumer Confidence Index gives a running measure of consumers’ optimism. At the beginning of 2011, consumer confidence was running at 88.1% and fell consistently during the year to a low of 69.9% in December (Figure 2), which according the Conference Board of Canada, marks a 2-year low.

Figure 2.

Percent consumer confidence in Canada for the year 2011.

One of the questions asked in the brief Consumer Confidence survey is “Do you think that right now is a good or bad time for the average person to make a major outlay for items such as a home, car or other major item?” The same logic can apply to an outlay at the veterinary hospital. As a hedge against future uncertainty, pet owners are putting off the visit to the veterinarian.

While it can be argued that veterinarians are not primarily responsible for the drop in active clients, they can take responsibility for reversing the trend. Dr. Brian Gibbs from Central Animal Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has been taking responsibility for keeping his active client numbers up for several years and he has not experienced the same drop in clients other veterinarians have. What makes Dr. Gibbs different from other veterinarians in Saskatchewan is the way he proactively keeps his appointment book filled.

According to Dr. Gibbs, the trying economic times of late have caught veterinarians unprepared. For years, veterinarians had more clients then they knew what to do with. Prior to last year, life was good; offer good service, charge a fair fee, and pet owners’ appeared on your doorstep. Today, both national and international economic uncertainty has the average consumer and the average pet owner scared to spend money. This reluctance to book a veterinary appointment is new to veterinarians and they don’t know how to deal with it.

For the solution to this newfound reluctance to go to the veterinarian, Dr. Gibbs went to his dentist. He found dentists have been dealing with client reluctance for their entire career and they know how to deal with it. People are reluctant to go to the dentist and dentists know this. Dentists deal with reluctance in 2 ways. First, their staff pre-book appointments before the client leaves; this helps seal the deal that the client is coming back. When a client pre-books, the next visit is never in question. Dentists also combat reluctance by confirming all pending appointments. A dental office will keep calling until that appointment is confirmed. Dentists know that you need to keep calling until the client says “yeah” or “nay.” This can take up to 10 phone calls, but the reward is worth the effort. Staff in a dental office are persistent because it works. In contrast, most veterinarians stop communication after 2 postcards and a phone call. If a pet owner wants to put off their annual visit, they can easily avoid their veterinarian by disregarding the postcards and avoiding one phone call. It is not as easy to disregard your dentist and not so easy to disregard Dr. Gibbs.

To keep active client numbers up, staff at Dr. Gibb’s dental hospital do what the dentists do. They pre-book the next visit before the client leaves and then do not stop contacting clients until appointments are confirmed. “With the right training this works,” Dr. Gibbs offers. “One key component of pre-booking is to tell clients you are pre-booking them. You can’t ask their permission.” Before clients leave Dr. Gibb’s practice, his staff offer to book them into their next appointment; most of the time they simply offer the same day of the week a year from the day of the visit. Dr. Gibbs says less than 5% decline. “This is the same treatment they get from their dentist so it is nothing new.” Dr. Gibb’s explains.

The second key component to pre-booking is to continue until you make contact. The knee jerk reaction from staff is to resist because they feel the client will get upset with them for bothering them. This does not happen in Dr. Gibb’s practice. When asked when was the last time a client lost their cool with staff because they called too often, Dr. Gibb’s paused for a long time and then responded, ”well, I would certainly hear about it if it happened and I can’t remember the last time it happened… it has been quite a while.”