When many people decide to begin careers as veterinary technicians, they think that knowing how to deal with animals is all that is important to being successful.
However, this is simply not true. In fact, interacting with clients is a main component of veterinary technicians’ tasks and can take up a large portion of their time.
When you choose to become a veterinary technician, you must keep in mind that animals do not bring the money into your clinic or hospital: their owners do.
As such, it is just as essential for you to learn how to interact with clients as it is to learn how to interact with the animals you will be caring for.
Telephone Interactions
As a vet tech, you will find that many client interactions occur over the telephone. While some of these calls may require a quick answer to a simple question, others may require lengthy conversations.
Furthermore, veterinarians often have their vet techs make outgoing calls for various reasons.
Listed below, you will find some of the most common types of incoming and outgoing phone calls that vet techs may encounter.
Incoming Calls
- Requests for Appointments/Rescheduling Appointments
- Requests for Medication
- Messages for the Veterinarian
- Inquiries Pertaining to Office Hours
- Inquiries Pertaining to Fees
- Location Inquiries
Outgoing Calls
- Calling Clients with Blood Work Results
- Calling Clients with Other Test Results
- Calling Clients with Postoperative Updates
- Rescheduling Appointments
- Ordering Inventory
- Calling Insurance Companies
Interactions at the Front Desk
Other common veterinary technician/client interactions take place at the front desk of the animal clinic or hospital. Just as with any other business, it is essential for vet techs to greet clients in a cheerful manner and assist them with whatever they may need. It is important to make clients and their pets feel as comfortable as possible. Typical front desk interactions are as follows.
- Checking Patients In
- Taking Payments
- Collecting Insurance Information
- Scheduling Appointments
- Answering Questions
- Collecting Medical History and Other Information
Interactions in the Examination Room
Finally, much of your day as a veterinary technician will be spent interacting with clients and their pets in the examination room.
It is here where vet techs will collect animals’ medical histories, record any problems they may be having and take their vital signs. Typically, animals may be quite anxious at this point, and their owners may be nervous as well.
For this reason, you will need to do what you can to make them feel at ease. Entering the examination room with a bad attitude will only upset clients and may scare their pets.
Furthermore, when clients are not happy with the service they receive, they often take their business elsewhere. Of course, you do not want this to happen.
Keep in mind that many people today think of their pets as members of their families. As such, it is extremely important for you to leave a positive impression when interacting with clients. In this way, they will feel much more relaxed and willing to trust their four-legged friends to your care.