Raise Vet Fees Without Creating Friction
When you implement fee increases without explanation, office chatter revs up.
Believe me. While helping vet practices over the years, I heard all the hospital staff chatter.
"Of course, we're raising fees again. They're probably planning a trip to Europe or buying a new car?"
“Clients are going to be so upset. And they deserve to be.”
When you announce a fee increase, your staff doesn’t know how you intend to reinvest the money.
They don’t know how that reinvestment will benefit the practice, clients, and staff, and they don’t understand how to communicate the fee increase to the clients effectively.
And here’s the thing:
they don’t know because, in most cases, they weren’t told.
When staff are left in the dark, they feel isolated when they are forced to explain rising fees to customers.
Avoid the murmurings of confused staff and ensure client satisfaction when raising fees by:
Helping your staff understand why. You don’t need to share your whole Profit and Loss Statement. But, you should involve your staff in fee discussions to give them insight into why fees are rising and where that income is going. New equipment, employee benefits, raises, etc.
Planning incremental fee increases. Make a plan and increase fees by small percentages over the year. More palatable increases make it easier for your staff when communicating with clients. Raising fees in small increments also helps your clients to accept them. Most times, they don’t even notice there has been an increase.
Office chatter might seem harmless. But confused staff will lead to confused clients.
Take the appropriate steps to raise fees and avoid friction by keeping your staff informed.
If you hate having these tough conversations, enlist help. You don’t have to run your practice alone.
Empower your practice manager to take on the tasks of fee setting and fee increases. Your practice manager can ensure the increases are communicated clearly, consistently, and fairly and take this task off your already heavy plate.
If you do not have a practice manager to help delegate these tasks, it is time to hire one!
For more on better practice management, call me, Shirley Lockhart, for veterinary management consulting.
