Number of active clients bounces back: Why?

After a dismal performance in 2011, the number of active clients in companion animal practices bounced back in 2012. In 2011, active clients fell in almost every province, and nationally the figure was down 6%. For 2012, most provinces experienced an increase, and nationally active clients were back up 6%. After 2 years, the average Canadian veterinarian is right back to where she/he started at the beginning of 2011. So who was driving the bus? Were Canadian veterinarians simply along for the ride during this time or did improved communication policies and harder work stop the decline in active client numbers.

Last year around this time, the CVMA Practice Owners Economic survey showed a 6% drop in active clients and that information was presented in The CVJ alongside a falling Consumer Confidence Index with the suggestion that veterinarians were a cog in a slowing economic machine. It was offered that while falling consumer confidence was clearly to blame for decreasing numbers of clients, veterinarians needed to step up their efforts to get more clients through the door. Improved communication, pre-booked clients, and persistent follow-ups were offered as possible solutions.

Consumer confidence is measured monthly in Canada with a sample of households giving opinions on the current economy and future economic outlook. If the outlook is optimistic, consumer confidence goes up, and if the outlook 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. Consumer confidence figures in the last 2 years look a lot different. In 2011, the figure looks like a fairly steep slide, and 2012 looks like a flat but bumpy road (see Figure 1). The important difference is the flattening of the index in 2012.

Figure 1.

Consumer confidence indices for 2011 and 2012.

In 2011, the consumer confidence index fell at a steady rate from 90% to 70% and the woes of the average consumer were translated into no-show visits at the veterinarian. Attitudes bottomed out in December 2011, and 2012 presented a lot more consistency. Throughout 2012, consumer confidence ebbed and flowed a bit, but at the end of the year, consumers felt they were not much better off than they were at the end of 2011. From a consumer or pet owner perspective, not much changed in 2012.

If veterinarians were simply cogs in the economic machine, then the number of active clients should have stabilized at best for 2012. The fact that they bounced right back to 2011 levels (Table 1) while consumer confidence remained stagnant suggests that veterinarians and staff were responsible for the change.

Table 1.

Changes in mean numbers of active clients by province between 2011 and 2012

Active clients	BC	AB	SK	MB	ON.	QC	NB	NS	PE	Canada
2012	962	868	1045	953	953	1222	899	1074	921	978
2011	907	955	898	914	850	1068	1105	900	1073	919
% Change	6%	−9%	16%	4%	12%	14%	−19%	19%	−14%	6%

BC — British Columbia, AB — Alberta, SK — Saskatchewan, MB — Manitoba, ON — Ontario, QC — Quebec, NB — New Brunswick, NS — Nova Scotia, PE — Prince Edward Island.

An active client is defined as a client who has made a purchase at the veterinary hospital in the last year either for professional veterinary services or retail products. Many veterinary hospitals will define an active client as anyone who has been to the hospital in the last 3 years, and that definition is used to determine who to contact for reminders. The CVMA Practice Owners Economic Survey uses a 12-month format to capture active clients because the figure is used alongside revenue which is always measured in a 12-month format.

While the national figure was up 6%, many provinces experienced quite different results. Alberta, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were the only provinces to experience a declining number of active clients for 2012. New Brunswick and Alberta performed quite well compared with the rest of the provinces in 2011, and it could be argued that the economy finally caught up with them, and that a drop in clients was inevitable.

The provinces that performed the worst in 2011 had the best performance in 2012. In 2011, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia posted declining active clients of −21% and −14%, respectively and then bounced back with positive gains of 16% and 19%, respectively.

Ontario and Quebec veterinary hospitals saw average active client numbers drop in 2011 but bounced back with higher growth in 2012. British Columbia was the only province to have consistent growth in active clients over the 2-year period.

So is the economy responsible or are veterinarians in control of their own destiny when it comes to active clients? In 2011, the economy, consumer confidence, and active clients all declined sharply. In 2012, the economy and consumer confidence were stagnant but active clients rose. One explanation for causality could be that the economy is to blame for the drop and veterinarians are responsible for the gain. It is easy to fall into complacency during the good times. Prior to 2011 many veterinary hospitals had never experienced a drop in clients, or if they had, they believed it would be a short-lived problem. They were using the same communication techniques and policies they had been using for the last 20 years. The economic events of 2011 created reluctance on the part of consumers to spend money and veterinarians were caught unaware. The result was that numbers of active clients dropped.

In 2012, many veterinarians changed the way they communicate with clients; they tried harder and embraced technology. Some started sending e-mail and text reminders, and others increased the frequency of callbacks to book annual appointments. There are some veterinarians who even have options to book appointments from their Web sites. The efforts paid off in many cases and active clients rose during a very lacklustre economic year with stagnant consumer confidence. This is good news since it suggests that the profession is better equipped to communicate with clients, and when the economy finally does turn around, veterinarians will be in a better position to outperform the market.