Follow these simple strategies to win over the modern shopper who searches for everything on Google
Customer service has evolved.
Over the past 30 years, human civilization has moved from a society that operated primarily on analog systems to one that operates primarily on digital technologies. Although the field of veterinary care has embraced the digital revolution in a myriad of ways related to the practice of medicine – from medical equipment and diagnostics to digital records and product information management platforms – in the Overall, the veterinary profession has been one of the slowest in the world to recognize the impact of the digitalization of our society on client behavior.
Twenty years ago, if a pet owner had a question about their pet’s health, they wouldn’t go to the local library to check out a book on veterinary medicine and research possible answers on their own. They opened the yellow pages and called their local vet. Today, however, more than 95% of people aged 18 to 64 and 75% of those aged 65 and over go directly to the Internet when they have a question about anything, including the health of pets.1
Yet if you ask any veterinarian about the customer service model in their veterinary practice, most will talk about what happens inside the hospital: check-in, exam room, postoperative care and a follow-up phone call. . Meanwhile, the reality is that pet care starts online today with a Google search. Pet owners read blog posts and search for answers on YouTube, Quora, and pet care websites. They gather information from social networks like Facebook and Reddit, they visit local vets’ websites, and they check reviews, all before they even schedule an appointment.
Then, after their vet appointment, they grab their phone and “hey Google” again.
Capitalize on this trend with easy video content
Because it doesn’t look like the world is going to abandon the Internet anytime soon, the answer certainly isn’t to continue ignoring customer behavior. A simple step to capitalize on this trend is to create video content. Veterinarians can start providing pet care information and answering basic pet health questions in the places and communication channels their clients all use today.
This concept sounds good in theory, but many clinicians today feel that they are already far too busy to take on a project involving websites, content, social media, and reviews. However, consider that veterinary professionals spend a lot of time every day throughout their careers answering many questions about pet care and providing the same great information. By reviewing frequently asked questions and service explanations, addressing each one once for your website, and creating an in-depth information resource that local pet owners can access forever, you can save a tremendous amount of time and resources across the span of your career.
For many people, sitting down and writing it down is a slow and arduous process. A quicker and much simpler approach is to start by identifying a specific veterinary service, outlining an overview of the topic and answering the basic questions surrounding it:
- What is the subject?
- Why is this important?
- How can problems in this area adversely affect the health of the animal?
- How can proper care promote animal health and well-being?
- What are the symptoms of problems in this area?
- What is the examination and diagnosis process?
- What potential treatment options are available if the animal experiences these problems?
- Why should pet owners avoid self-diagnosis?
- When and how should the pet owner make an appointment?
- What frequently asked questions do your doctors frequently hear regarding this area of veterinary care?
Typically, it only takes a vet 5-10 minutes to thoroughly cover a topic in this manner. Once the video is complete, it can easily be turned into content for your website, shared on social media, and used by a writer to create knowledgeable blog posts.
Pet owners are constantly turning to Google to ask questions about their pet’s health because they think they can trust the information they find there. When your veterinary practice is the one at the top of Google results, in their social feeds, and in the places they go to find answers about pet care online, you are strengthening your rightful position as an expert in confidence in caring for pets in their lives. .
This is how the world works now. It’s time for veterinary practices to embrace it and reap the rewards.
Reference
Johnson J. Share of adults in the United States who use the Internet in 2021, by age group. Statistical. April 14, 2021. Accessed February 25, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/266587/percentage-of-internet-users-by-age-groups-in-the-us
