Communication is King!

Ned Flaxman, Small Animal Business Unit Manager at Intervet UK Ltd, reports on the need for veterinary practices to communicate effectively with their clients.

Effective communication with your customers is so important to a veterinary practice. UK veterinary practices are currently facing a curious dilemma. Annual health check and vaccination levels are falling against decreasing dog numbers and a static cat population. Yet from a marketing perspective, practices are in the enviable position that over 60% of clients state the humble booser reminder card is the key factor in getting them to return for their annual health check. Few businesses have such an effective communication channel, so imagine how much more your marketing would be improved, if it was truly tailored for your practice and personalised to your clients.

This may seem straightforward in theory, however on a practical level, veterinary practices find running a marketing campaign an extremely time-consuming task. In fact, a recent survey indicated that practice staff spend between half a day and two days per month processing booster reminder cards alone.

Recognising the importance of the printed postcard, Intervet has developed Chameleon, a web-based solution to allow a practice to personalise its printing – enabling them to tailor exactly what they want to communicate to their customers and thereby developing a ‘unique personality’. 

What is Chameleon?

Chameleon is a unique initiative to enable UK vets to maximise their ability to customise and control the content of their client communications effectively and efficiently in a user-friendly manner. Whilst core to the service is the provision of bespoke booster reminder cards and vaccination certificates, practice teams can use materials produced using Chameleon to relay practice specific messages or key product information to clients. Whether it’s a new addition to the team, a promotion or a move to new premises. By communicating with clients on a personal level it will build the profile of the practice whilst encouraging customer loyalty.

How does it work?

All practices need do is go online anytime 24/7, choose the images and adapt the text they want for the front and reverse of their booster reminder cards. Then simply mail merge their client and pet details to the card, proof and order online. The tailored booster reminder cards are then delivered within 72 hours.

By uploading a file of client details from their practice management system, the Chameleon mail merge functionality allows the practice to print the pet and owner details to truly personalise and address the card. A practice can now despatch a series of bespoke reminder cards to every client who needs one in next to no time.

The Benefits?

By using the system, each practice has the freedom to tailor exactly how its booster reminder cards and vaccination certificates look – the design, logos, text and even the pictures. This enables the practice to create bespoke, message specific communications as and when they wish, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Chameleon’s flexibility also lies in its efficiency. Not only is there a significant administrative time saving for the practice, but from a practice creating the content of its materials on Chameleon, there is a 72-hour turnaround for the customised printed booster reminder cards and vaccination certificates to be delivered.

Case Study 1:David Beiny MA VetMB MRCVS, Vet Principal at Market Square Veterinary Clinic in Northamptonshire

In a competitive market, establishing a ‘personality’ can help to differentiate the practice from its competitors. David supports this concept but, as a single-vet practice, found the opportunities to do just that very limited.

“Expressing our personality to current and future clients was very time-consuming and costly. Often the best we could do was to make use of the printed materials that were available from companies such as Intervet.

“Initially I was using the standard vaccination reminder materials from Intervet which featured cartoons. We had very positive feedback from customers, but I noticed that whenever lifestyle pictures were used these did not engage our clients so readily.

“With this in mind, I started toying with the idea of creating our own cards to truly express our personality. Fortunately, around this time Intervet launched Chameleon and we were able to take advantage of this unique service.”

Whilst many practices using Chameleon are choosing to design their own artwork, David employed a local graphic designer who was able to turn his concept into reality. The result is a colourful and humorous booster reminder card that clearly reflects the personality of the practice.

“The new cards are certainly a talking point with our clients – many are reporting that they have even stuck them on their fridge at home! For a small practice, with only a vet and nurse, creating something like this, which starts to establish our own brand, would be a big undertaking. With Chameleon and Intervet’s support we’ve been able to create greater awareness for our practice, and our personality, within the local area.”

Case Study 2: Sharon Garnett, Practice Manager at Hill Park Vets in Romford and Elm Park in Hornchurch

The importance of increasing revenue from existing clients is fundamental to all successful businesses. One of the ways of keeping clients happy and more likely to make repeat visits is by communicating with them on a personal level. Acknowledging these facts, Hill Park Vets was one of the first practices to adopt Chameleon and could immediately appreciate how this novel idea could help the practice.

“Chameleon has worked for us on a number of levels, but by far the greatest benefit is an increase in business. Each month we distribute vaccination reminder cards and, since our adoption of Chameleon, we can make these work harder by including messages about monthly promotions. Our clients are responding well to these special offers and already we are noticing a positive improvement in our business.

“And on the lighter side, it’s enabled us to have some fun and really involve the team by including images of staff animals on the front of the booster reminder cards.”

Whilst an increase in business is clearly the best outcome for the practice, Sharon has also been surprised at how easy the format is to use.

“Initially we tried a few different ‘test’ batches and we now have a structure and set of templates in place that we are happy with.  These are very user friendly so that anyone on the team can easily update them. Whilst we love the responsiveness and ease of use of Chameleon, for a practice of our size, we are delighted with the recent rollout of the new mail merge facility, as I know this will save us even more time.

“I have been happy managing the early stages of Chameleon and another indication of the success of this concept is that I intend to encourage other members of staff to use the programme.”

Case Study 3:

It is widely acknowledged that attracting customers to any new business can be a struggle, however attracting them in such a competitive market place can prove to be a real challenge. When Foxhall Veterinary Clinic opened its doors to the general public they took advantage of Chameleon and within three weeks, the number of customers and pets visiting the practice exceeded their targets.

Tracey Healy, Practice Manager of Foxhall Veterinary Clinic in Sleaford

"We've only been open for about three weeks and initially we believed that business would be slow. However, Chameleon couldn't have come at a better time! It was the perfect means by which to reach our customer base in a user-friendly and effective format. We feel it's vital to have consistent branding on all of our materials, which Chameleon has enabled us to do so effectively. Although it is early days, the feedback so far has been excellent."

Bob Cook, Logistics Administrator of Foxhall Veterinary Clinic in Sleaford

"As a new practice it's essential to have a targeted marketing campaign to secure a solid client base. We believe a regular, tailored and personalised level of communication with the owner and pet is extremely important.

“Everybody knows that mail shots and marketing in general can be a time-consuming job and that is why a programme such as Chameleon proved so effective and helpful. Not only was I impressed by the quality, but also by the efficient turnaround times. By using Chameleon, I am reassured to know that our practice will have effective and regular communication with its clients and look forward to any future developments in this area."