Sambo Veterinary Books & Vet Stationery Printing

Nothing infuriates me more than having to wait for an appointment. When you make an appointment for a client, you enter into an agreement that you will be available to see them at a particular time on a particular date. That agreement should be taken seriously and not be broken unless something unforseen happens like a patient emergency. If the practice has an emergency, putting the vet behind schedule, all clients should be notified, with apology that you are running behind schedule, given an explanation why and an opportunity to re-schedule.

You can also give the client an opportunity to arrive closer to the ‘real time’ that the vet will now be available eg arrive half an hour later or to re-schedule the appointment for another day. By re-scheduling or allowing clients to come closer to the ‘real’ appointment time, you are sending a clear message that their time is very important to you. What a fine display of customer service.

Clients don’t like to wait and there is nothing worse than sitting on a reception desk listening to an angry client huffing and puffing as each minute ticks by. The client is not happy; the reception nurse is uncomfortable as s/he waits for them to approach the desk to angrily ask ‘how much longer will the vet be?’ and you are doing your practice no justice at all. I’ve seen nurses ‘abandon ship’ and hide in the surgery area during these long waiting times, just so they can avoid being on the receiving end of a client about to lose their cool.

Making appointments is not only for the benefit of the practice but for the benefit of the client also. They have places to go, people to see and their whole day does not revolve around you. Clients are there to give you their business so take their time seriously. If you have no intention of keeping to a schedule then you have no right to make appointments.

If you are finding that you are forever behind schedule then it’s time to review your policies and procedures to work out what you can do to improve your time management. Maybe you need to increase your consultation times or admit animals for bloods etc. The practice spends a lot of money on advertising (yellow pages, internet, telephone on hold, newspapers, reminders etc) to get clients in the door and then when the client accepts your invitation, you make them wait!

Remember that clients have a choice and unless you are the only vet within a 100km radius, your clients can go somewhere else if you don’t show respect for their time. It is our privilege that the client has chosen to spend their money at our practice, not the other way around. Be mindful of your clients time and keep on schedule.