As I travel around the country I see the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to marketing initiatives. Some have spent heaps of money on ideas that have produced sadly disappointing results. Others have spent little money on ideas that have worked gangbusters.

In the next few articles I’ll reveal are a few of the best I’ve spotted in Veterinary practices that could easily be adopted and adapted for any other type of business.

The Phone Call

We were up the country and my much loved Groodle, Millie, could hardly walk with a hugely swollen paw so I took her to the local vet, Dr Andrew. He couldn’t have been more caring and understanding of both my dog’s problems and my state of anxiety. He made the diagnosis and prescribed treatment and off we went to where we were holidaying.

Two days later the miracle cure (which I, like every owner, expected) hadn’t occurred and Millie looked worse.

Worried I’d be a nuisance, I was pondering whether I should contact the clinic when my mobile rang. It was Dr Andrew, not a team member but Dr Andrew himself, and he had “rung just to check on Millie”. Relief flooded over me. We discussed the situation and I was more than happy when Dr Andrew said I should bring Millie back to see him.

The wow factor happened a few days later when Millie was well on the way to recovery and my phone rang again. Dr Andrew was “just checking to see how Millie was”. Let me repeat, not a team member but the vet himself had taken the trouble to call me… not once but twice. And, I wasn’t a regular client but a blow-in from hundreds of kilometres away!

He didn’t have to do it but he did.

Whilst he’d probably never have me as a client again, I made it my business, for the rest of my stay in that country town, to sing Dr Andrew’s praises to every dog owner I met!