Team Meeting Notes

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed our meetings this week and thought they were very productive!  Please return your stay interview sheets to me by Tuesday and I will follow up with you sometime later in the week to sometime the following week.

We will be starting our Monday, Tuesday morning meetings this Monday.  Please arrive 10 minutes before your shift so we can cover a few things.  Please be sure to add any topics to the meeting if you have something you’d like to cover.

Please strive every day to continue to provide our clients and our team a positive environment that feels calm, welcoming, caring and homey.  The pets can sense their environment too!

The top 2 reasons clients stay at a veterinary clinic is trust and likeability!  Please take the time to fully take ownership and engage yourself in every client/patient interaction.

Receptionists:  Please be “greeters”!!  Make sure to greet each client as they walk in the door.  Replace “how can I help you” to “Hello, how are you?  Good to see you again” or “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you, welcome to our hospital, how are you today?”   Help any client to their car and help any client who is struggling in to the hospital.

We need more accuracy with the drawer in reception.  Please slow down and double check yourself as you’re closing the transaction.  Did you put the correct payment type in, did you collect the cash, check, credit card receipt?  Make sure you balance at the end of the night!!  Take the time o figure it out. If you don’t figure out why you didn’t balance, put the deposit in the safe and leave me a note so I can look into it asap.

Triple check yourselves as you are entering charges.  Please make sure the receptionist gets the chart every time they need to close a transaction!!!!  We are missing a lot of charges!!

Thoroughly explain to owners when you hand them a stool container that there is a $34 lab fee and they can either pay today or when they drop off.

Lab work, services, medications need to be paid at the time of service!!!  If you do not collect payment or if you missed a charge, please take ownership of it and contact the client and follow through with it.  If you have any issues or need help or need to explain something please let me know and fill me in on the details.

Technicians/assistants: When you start an appointment, focus on the pet “Hi Fluffy, how are you my friend?” Get down and pet her and offer her treats while starting a 30-60 second conversation with the owner about anything other than the appointment.  “I like your hair, where do you go?”  “I know spring break is coming, do you have any travel plans?”  “I like your shoes, where did you get them?”  Then say “Well, I guess we ought to get down to business, how is Fluffy doing at home?  Any concerns with anything?”  I’ll let Dr. Rutsey know you and Fluffy are waiting to see her.  She will be with you both shortly.”

We will get temps either during the exam or before we draw blood, vaccinate, etc.  If the temp is higher than 102.5, take a rectal and let the doctor know before you proceed with anything.

Don’t say “We practice good medicine”  instead say “We provide top notch veterinary care by attending CE, being AAHA accredited, we have LVT’s, and we are simply just bad ass….”JK

When going over treatment plans at the end of the appointment make sure the owner can focus by either taking and calming their pet, offering treats, etc. and start with “We care about safety which is why we follow our anesthetic safety protocol such as placing an IV< surgical fluids, warm water blanket, monitors, LVT, thoroughly explain the protocol of the whole day: being her for 10 minutes in the morning to go over paper work, pet stays the day, discharges usually between 4-7, plan on being here about 10 minutes at pick up so we can go over home care instructions. Quickly explain the procedure…..the doctor will use laser surgery to declaw and will suture each toe., etc.

We have to approach each client with a treatment plan that they are going to schedule that dental cleaning, surgery, lab test, today.  Say “Dr. Putt told me that Fluffy really needs a dental cleaning.  We need to set that appointment up today for Fluffy.  I’m sure she wants to get feeling better sooner than later”

Receptionists: Start each closing transaction with “I see Fluffy needs a dental cleaning.  I have Tuesday the 23rd or Thursday the 25th.  Which is better for you?” Then close the transaction and take payment.

Did I explain this all well? lol  Seriously, if you have any questions, concerns, let me know!

I need people to volunteer to take time off March 27-April 3.

3/27 2 volunteers to take off

3/28 3 volunteers to take off

3/29 1 volunteer to take off

3/30 3 volunteers to take off

4/3 1 volunteer to take off

Thanks!