Starting a referral practice

Starting a new business of any kind is super tough, especially life AC (after covid). It would be wonderful if, after you qualified, you could hang a sign outside your door and clients would just flow in and all the veterinarians would refer to you because they see so much value in what you have to offer, but alas this is not how it happens.

It is slow, arduous and you have to have tenacity and keep your sense of humor.

Here are a couple of ideas to help you get the practice you want

• Network as much as possible. Introduce yourself to the vets you would like to cultivate a relationship with, spend some time with them, discuss cases and even possibly go with a patient & client to their follow up appointment which shows that you care and are interested.
• Over-communicate. Send your detailed notes, call them, discuss concerns and triumphs with them.
• Be humble, leave your ego and self-esteem issues at the door and let them know that you want to learn from them. This is particularly important in communicating with the surgeons, but also for anyone in rehab when communicating with the general practice DVM. On one hand, it panders to the other person’s ego and you might have something to truly learn from them as well! Fighting a specific point to death does not foster good relationships. Pick your battles and be careful what words you choose

The final comment was to be aware that building a rapport is cumulative. So it’s going to take time, consistency, humility and many many success stories. But it can be done!

Know what you know and know what you don’t know and work to your strengths.

Knock their socks off.