The ultimate goal of any veterinary practice is to build a business recognized by pet owners as the place to go for superior care and expertise. 

With 90,200 professionally active veterinarians in the United States, there’s more competition than ever before in local communities.

So, beyond providing excellent care for pets, practices need to provide excellent customer service for owners. With SimpleTexting, you can:

• Message 1-on-1 with pet owners
• Introduce curbside check-in
• Send follow-ups and review requests
• Send automated appointment reminders
• Answer prescription refill requests
• Provide an emergency text hotline

It’s why many veterinary practices invest in text messaging. In the words of our customer Dr. Keith Hnilica, owner of The Itch Clinic, it’s a common-sense approach to improving your pet owner’s experience with your clinic.

Using our vast experience working with veterinary owners and practice managers, we put together this guide on veterinary practices.

In the following section, we’re going to cover some of the ways veterinary clinics use text messaging to communicate with pet owners. We’ll also provide you with example texts to better understand what it looks like in practice.

1. Send appointment reminders

AAHA reports a 9% industry-wide no-show rate. For roughly every 10 to 11 scheduled appointments you have per day, one won’t show. You can reduce this number drastically with text reminders. You can even schedule recurring campaigns to deliver automated reminders on a monthly or weekly basis!

2. Eliminate phone tag

Nearly 90% of customers don’t answer phone calls anymore. That’s why veterinary hospitals use text messaging to avoid playing phone tag with clients.

3. Make it easy to ask questions

A lot of veterinarians use texting as a way to respond to an emergency or a postoperative complication. Outside of business hours, you can keep an eye on incoming texts using the SimpleTexting mobile app. It’s a great way to foster trust and build lasting relationships.

4. Grow the number of reviews you collect

According to the Boston Consulting Group, small businesses see an average $8,000 increase in annual revenue by using review sites like Yelp. Text messages are a great way to check in on an owner’s pet’s health and request referrals or online reviews that ultimately grow your practice.

5. Create a contactless check-in experience

As a result of COVID-19, the last thing you want is a group of customers waiting in a room with their pets. Texting can help you maintain social distancing with an easy-to-manage waitlist.

Before we get any further, we should state the obvious: we’re one of the many veterinary practice text messaging services out there. 

We encourage you to do your research. Be sure to find a platform with plenty of reviews on third-party sites. 

You’ll also want to double-check that they offer all the features you need, have a responsive support team, and an extensive library of resources.

After you make your choice, you’ll need to follow a few steps to get started. Each platform works a little differently, but here’s how SimpleTexting works.

1. Choose a phone number and add team members

Once you upgrade your SimpleTexting account to a paid plan, the first step is to decide what number you want to use: a 10-digit local number or a toll-free number. You can also provision a dedicated short code. 

Note: If you choose a local number, you’ll need to have it registered. For toll-free numbers, make sure to have your number verified. These steps help ensure that your messages won’t be disrupted by carriers.

You can also choose to text-enable an existing number. You still receive calls as you normally would, and texts are routed to the SimpleTexting platform. One of the benefits of this option is that your customers are likely already familiar with this number. You can read up on number types here.

The next step is to invite colleagues to the SimpleTexting platform so that you can share the workload. We don’t charge for extra additional users either, so the more, the merrier.

2. Promote your new number

If you want existing or potential customers to text you, you’ll need to promote your phone number and let your customers know you can receive texts. Here are some of the ways we see veterinary practices promote their text-enabled number.

• You could add text messaging to your Google Business Listing
• Other clinics add a click-to-text button to their website
• You can update your existing contact form or section to include the option to schedule an appointment via text message.

3. Set up SMS reminders (optional)

This step is optional. Only follow it if you want to send SMS reminders. 

Firstly, it’s worth checking if your practice management software integrates with Zapier. If it does, chances are you can automate the process by connecting it with SimpleTexting.

If you’re not familiar with Zapier and how it works, then check out this article.

Otherwise, you can create an easily editable template within SimpleTexting and then set aside twenty minutes to schedule reminders for the coming day. (We recommend sending them about 24 hours before the appointment.)

You can learn how easy it is to create a template here. 

4. Make the most of our powerful SMS inbox

Our powerful SMS chat inbox allows you to assign conversations to colleagues, keep your inbox organized, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. 

You can also create an away message that sends 24/7 or just outside of your clinic’s hours. Use it to let customers know when they can expect to hear back from you, or give them another means to get in touch with you. Learn more about setting up an away message here.

You’ve gotten this far and you’re excited by the idea of texting your clients. However, you’ve got one last major question: does your practice really need texting?

Simply put, it’s the most effective way to communicate with pet owners. Study after study shows that people open and act upon text messages at rates far superior to other communication channels. 

Consider the following:

• 80% of people check their text notifications in under five minutes of getting a text.
• Appointment/reservation reminders are the biggest reasons consumers are opting in to receive business texts.

These texting statistics translate into fewer missed appointments, more efficient front desk staff who aren’t wasting time leaving voicemails, and happier customers who appreciate the convenience of texts.

If you’re ready to give text marketing a try, we encourage you to sign up for a free 14-day trial account. You can send your first texts, import contacts, and explore the platform before upgrading. And yes, it’s free. No credit card, no contract, just free.

When you’re ready to upgrade to a paid account, just change your billing plan from the dashboard. Simple!