Social Media Good For Businesses, Including Vet Clinics

At Primoro, Inc. we have a strong interest in seeing medical practices use social media as a communication, education, marketing and advertising tool. The same holds true for other businesses, including veterinary clinics, hospitals and emergency facilities.

You may recall that during last year's holiday season, brick and mortar retailers embraced social network site Facebook to offer their "Fans" discount codes. These codes, in fact, were only available to their fans. In other words, their fans had a purchasing advantage over all other consumers.

While we are not suggesting veterinary clinics use these sites for discounts or specials, the consumer at large is using these sites to determine who their vendors will be. If you think about it, a business that is active with social network sites suggests to the consumer, that they are an active part of the community and worthy of consideration as a supplier or vendor.

If you are currently using social media as a communication outlet, you should. Companies, like PrimoroVet, build social media systems that remove all the drudgery of social networking participation, and can make it as easy to use as writing an email.

If you need more convincing, take a look at this article from March 16, 2010.

Robert Rosser, Owner & Senior Consultant

PrimoroVet

404-394-0014

PrimoroVet, A New Consulting Option

PrimoroVet was founded in early 2010 as a division of Primoro, Inc. Our mission is to provide the practicing veterinarian an option in business consulting services. We focus on the four key business metrics:

• Financial Performance
• Business Processes
• Human Resources
• Client Relationships

PrimoroVet is pleased to offer new clients a one hour free consultation. So whatever you are considering, PrimoroVet can offer you an opinion or recommendation at no cost to you. If, during the initial consultation you need is outside of our scope of services, we may have another service provider to recommend.

For the very best in practice building consultations, give PrimoroVet a call.. Our tag line is what we do...Building Better Practices.

Robert Rosser

Owner & Senior Consultant

PrimoroVet

404-394-0014

Customer Relationship Management

Recently, I've been working with a pharmaceutical company in development of some consultative tools their sales team can use with customers. One topic the company asks I comment on is customer relationship management (CRM). CRM is broadly defined as strategies designed to manage a company's interaction with customers and prospective customers. Typically these strategies involve the use of computer software organize and automate the various business functions such as sales activities, marketing of products, customer service and other support.

CRM in itself is very interesting to me as most organizations view the CRM strategy from a company centered point of view. That is to say, a company will use these strategies only to the extent the system is beneficial to the company. For me, that seems backward.

As I have written many times, I have never seen a case where excellence in customer service was bad for business. Likewise, I've never seen any computer software deliver excellence in customer service. Excellence in customer service is always delivered by PEOPLE!

Now I do not discount the value of technology helping house customer data, making it easily accessible to those who need and the ability to mine data to help a company understand their customer better. But in the end, your business cannot depend on computer systems to deliver the service your customers expect. In today's technology driven business world, too few companies really train their people in customer service.

I am reminded of the customer service story I found as part of my research. A well dressed lady visited the local Nordstrom's shoe department. She jokingly asked saleslady, "I bet you won't sell me one shoe. As you can see I have only one leg." Well the lady lost the bet. This story exists because of Nordstrom's commitment to developing a customer oriented customer service policy. It should be no surprise that Nordstrom continues to be very successful clothing retailer.

Using technology to help you gather and maintain customer information, but remember to invest in the people who interact with your business's customer.

Office Efficiency Can Lead To Greater Profits

Experience over the years illustrate that many medical practices, including veterinary practices, are likely to be inefficient. With the demands of running a practice as challenging as they are in today's economic environment, it pays to operate as efficient as possible.

As the best example, benchmarking data from Veterinary Economics show that the best veterinary clinics collect $157 dollars per veterinarian per client visit. Now imagine, if you could increase your client schedule by simply 1 additional client in the morning and one additional client in the afternoon. This would mean you clinic's annual revenue would increase by $56,520, assuming a 4 day work week and 45 working weeks per year. Of course, you actual numbers may vary, but the point is that improving efficiency improves financial performance.

So how does one improve efficiency? There are three elements that contribute to efficiency:

• Doctor's capacity - the ability and comfort of the doctor to process "x" number of clients per hour.
• Staff capacity - the staff's ability to process the check-in, check-out processes as well as the back office clinical processes.
• Your office - generally speaking, your office must have an efficient flow of clients throughout the physical space of the clinic.

It is the combination of these factors that either enhance or detract from your efficiency. Consulting firms, including PrimoroVet, can assist you in determining your level of efficiency. As you can see the financial opportunity, it may well be worth your efforts to seek out professionals to assist you.

Oh, and if you are wondering about that $56k, remember, you would have already paid your practice's expenses, including staff. That $56K goes in your back pocket!

Robert

A Customer Service Story

Primoro, Inc and PrimoroVet provide a full range of business consulting services for the medical community. As many of you know, a key focus of our organizations centers on assisting medical providers in establishing customer service standards within their practices'. By improving customer service, businesses tend to retain current customers, enhance "word of mouth" referrals, and produce better bottom line results. As I have stated before, I cannot think of a case where good customer service was bad for business.

Today, I would like to share a personal customer service story about our local auto repair shop. The car in question is a European make (Volvo) and as you might expect, not the cheapest in general maintenance costs. This visit included oil and filters, tire rotation, etc. In specific, the cabin air filter was to be changed at a cost of about $90. As the technician inspected the existing filter, he determined that the existing filter did not need to be changed, thus saving me the $90. As you might expect, I enjoyed the savings, but more importantly, I appreciated this professional's evaluation and ultimate recommendation.

I cite this as top notch customer service. Rather than trying to sell me something I really did not need, this repair shop focused on what was best for the customer. In addition, my observations of the staff, the shop's cleanliness and the overall experience are all results of the owner's vision of what a repair shop should be, and, his leadership to execute his vision.

Excellence in customer service is no accident. Make excellence in customer service part of your vision and lead you team in executing your vision.

P.S. In case you are wondering, my repair shop is AllSpeed Auto Works.

Customer Service

So often we think our practice is providing the best in customer service. Very often, veterinarians measure customer service based on their own perceptions of the office and/or their professional experiences and knowledge. Frankly, clients view customer service from a different perspective, and, clients typically use the same metrics to measure customer service without regard to the business they internally evaluate.

Simply said, customer service, or customer value, is a combination of;

• Price
• Access
• Quality

It is with these metrics that client/customers determine VALUE. My experience suggests that while customers complain about high prices, what they are really saying is that they did not receive VALUE for the price they paid. For example, Starbucks did not attain its level of success based on low prices. Instead, Starbucks offer great access with lots of locations, high quality of coffees from all over the world, yet the prices they charge are 2-3 times that of your local fast food joint or local corner gas/food mart. So how do they do it?

Simply put, Starbucks creates an unsurpassed customer experience that the consumer interprets as high value. So how do you create the unsurpassed customer experience? Well, it depends on your practice, your staffing, your location, office hours, etc. In short, it depends.

A good start could be conducting a short customer satisfaction survey. Typically, the data from these surveys reveal the very best of your customer service and the very worst. Direct feedback from your clients provides insight to areas of your practice you may have not yet considered as an opportunity for improved customer service.

Fayetteville, Georgia, March 1, 2010 - - Robert Rosser, today announced a new alternative for veterinarians seeking practice consulting services in these recessionary times; the creation of the veterinary division of PRIMORO, Inc., PrimoroVet. PrimoroVet provides consulting services focused on building better practices. Mr. Rosser finalized the formation of PrimoroVet on March 1, 2010. The formation of PrimoroVet expands the veterinary practice consulting service choices for veterinarians in the Georgia market area.

PrimoroVet specializes in veterinary practice management consulting with experience in financial analysis, business processes, human resources and client relations. PrimoroVet provides the client management consulting with the benefits of personalized service and unsurpassed value.

“This is an exciting day for PRIMORO, Inc. as PrimoroVet offers the practicing veterinarian another choice in practice consulting services,” said Robert Rosser, President. “PrimoroVet is a niche company and provides its clients with the best in personalized service. Unlike other consulting firms, PrimoroVet serves a relatively small number of clients offering each client customized solutions in concert with the client’s business culture.”

About PRIMORO, Inc.

PRIMORO, Inc., with headquarters in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, is a consulting organization offering its clients with “thoughtful medical practice consulting.” Improvement in the cornerstones of business operation, financial analysis, business processes, employee relations, customer relations, drive behaviors beneficial to the physician-owner and the patient alike. The context of your business to develop and implement the strategies necessary for success in today's market driven climate is the focus of PRIMORO, Inc.

Additional Information

PRIMORO, Inc is registered as a Corporation in the State of Georgia.

Contact Information

PRIMORO, Inc.

Robert Rosser, President

404-394-0014

robert@primoroinc.com

www.primoroinc.com

www.primorovet.blogspot.com