WE have sprung the clocks forward and there’s the promise of warmer weather to come, so why do we feel the need to dash off to book a summer holiday on distant shores?
Maybe because we spent last summer permanently in Wellingtons where even the fish in the pond were crying for mercy by late August; everyone who’d had the foresight to book a holiday away was having a whale of a time – weren’t they? Well yes … except of course for those who got caught up in the air traffic disputes or booked with companies which went bust.
Whatever we’re doing, someone else is always doing it better… aren’t they? The “grass is always greener” and those “rose-coloured spectacles” have a lot to answer for!
The good old days…
Eighty years ago, equine was prime focus for veterinary practice. Livestock wasn’t even considered an option until the 30s and 40s when declining incomes “driven” by the arrival of the motor car made the profession look at other ways of working.
Companion animal practice didn’t really catch on big time until the 1970s and now over 50% of practices are small animal. Both veterinary practice and technology have come a long way in a few generations, and none of it could have been achieved without the profession and the industry working together for the benefit of animal welfare.
Multivalent vaccines, rapid anaesthetic induction and recovery, antibiotics, corticosteroids, practical drug delivery systems and specialised diets have all helped pets to live longer and supported veterinary surgeons in applying their skills with more species than ever before.
But times they are a-changing again as more consumer outlets (over 20,000 at the last count) are able to stock, promote and sell many products traditionally sold in veterinary practices; as the profession moves through the 21st century, is this a threat or an opportunity?
Don’t shoot the messenger, but I really believe this could be a fantastic opportunity, if it’s handled in the right way.
Practice now…
Cat and dog vaccination probably has the best track record of preventive medicine uptake in practice, yet analysis shows that even of those dogs seen, over 30% don’t receive a vaccination. The figure for worming at 68% is even worse and flea (80%) worse still.
The picture is no better for cats where almost 70% are either not registered, registered and not seen or seen and not vaccinated.
Even puppies and kittens – a prime group for vaccination – don’t fare much better. Twenty-two per cent of puppies and 45% of kittens are registered and seen in practice in their first year, and still not vaccinated (source: Fort Dodge Index Estimates, March 2009).
So large numbers of pet owners are failing to present in practice and if they are, are not taking up preventive services. Why?
For many the preventive message has still not got through while for others inconvenience remains the driver: if they’re not visiting you with their pet, they’re unlikely to make a specific journey to collect their wormer. Sometimes sheer forgetfulness is the issue – particularly in the main defaulting client group: families with young children.
Demands of the school run, end-of-term plays, out-of-school clubs and birthday parties, etc., mean even veterinary surgeons forget to worm their dogs.
For most, preventive pet care is unlikely to be top of the “must do” list, even though the majority of owners will buy in to the need to provide it – why?
Client responses…
It’s all about client involvement. The theory is that all purchasing decisions are driven by different degrees of desire, impulse and passion or logic, reason and prudence.
Buying a flea product or remembering to vaccinate the cat is likely to fall into the low involvement/rational/emotional categories which tend to be the purchases we make by habit or by impulse.
Low involvement purchases are often (but not always) price sensitive, so clients will shop around when it comes to buying a commodity they’re already familiar with.
Those who see exactly the same product in different outlets won’t buy the one with the £10 higher price tag because they can’t see the justification for it and often it’s cheaper and more convenient to buy it from the internet or supermarket anyway; after all, you do the same with other purchases so why should clients be any different?
Contrast this with the ill pet or RTA case where the response will probably be driven by high involvement/high emotion and specialist advice will be sought irrespective of convenience or price because price is not an issue in the presence of value – i.e. your skill and expertise.
Best pet care and hand biting…
So far from biting the hand that may have fed them, by making products designed to support “best pet care” more easily available and actively encouraging responsible pet ownership wherever pet owners actually shop, means that manufacturers are pushing to increase veterinary practice footfall by including “always ask your veterinary surgeon for advice” on communication and packaging materials.
Working with non-veterinary outlets to reinforce the referrals message means you can still make your veterinary difference count; after all, without the “ask your pharmacist for advice” campaign that ran so effectively in the 1980s, today’s pharmacy would be very different from what it is today.
