To Reach Millennials, Show, Don't Tell
Millennials. A lot is said about this generation, everything from them spending 85% of their day on their phone to them not really liking baseball. Well, okay. Numbers do show, though, that they’re a generation of pet lovers who a) own more pets, b) listen to advice about their pets, and c) spend more on their pets. They are also a generation that responds better to being shown things, rather than told things, a diagnosis to more fully understand the treatment plan.
The Best Situations to Turn Tell Into Show
Chris Weaver is an imaging specialist with Patterson who says that a picture really is worth a thousand words to clients when it comes to outlining a diagnosis and treatment plan. One area that particularly benefits from showing your client what is happening, is orthopedics.
“There’s just nothing like being able to show a clear fracture or some type of arthritis directly to the client that normally they wouldn’t be able to see. But when you can show them ‘The head of the femur is completely worn’ or ‘There’s a clear break in the metacarpal bone,’ you’re going to get more understanding.”
Better Discover with Faster Recovery
We are living in the future when it comes to video otoscopy. Checking eardrums for redness, swelling, or infection, is something veterinarians do every day. But what does the client see? A veterinarian leaning over and looking down a little scope.
“With the video otoscopy, it sends the image to a monitor that’s in your exam room or directly to an iPhone. The client can actually see what it looks like down in their dog’s ears. That leads to much higher client compliance because they can see all the gunk - or with ear mites, they’ll see the little bugs moving in the ear,” Weaver said.
For Millennials, Seeing is Believing
Weaver finds that practices doing echocardiograms with ultrasound are experiencing better, deeper understanding from clients about their pet’s health. “They actually put the probe on the chest and clients can see the heart pumping. You can record the image, then show the client the valve if it’s actually not working. You could even slow it down. Clients respond really well to seeing this kind of information. The more you can show them, the more there is to relate to.”
A Few Tips and Tricks
Weaver says it’s important to help clients get their bearings when showing them the image. “We look at these all the time but it’s important to help them orient themselves. Point out normal anatomy. Point out normal structures. Walk them through it. ‘This left side is normal, but on the right side, it’s full of soft tissue. This is why your dog has a bloody nose and why we need to get a biopsy,’ for example.”
To better communicate health issues and treatment plans, nothing helps your clients - millennial and non-millennial - see things more clearly than digital imaging. Learn more about Patterson’s suite of veterinary digital imaging offerings here!