Staffing for maximum profit
Every practice faces the challenge of having the right level of staff, in the right place, at the right time.
Get it wrong and staff can be hanging around.
Or the worse scenario, are so busy they run constantly behind:
- frustrating customers,
- stressed out
- stressing other staff.
A combination of relatively simple analytical tools can go a long way to making sure you have the balance right. This will result in happy staff and even happier customers.
Customer surveys can help
The first, the most basic but can be the most insightful, the customer survey.
We’ve all done them but how recently?
Do you really know what hours your customers want you to be open?
When are they most keen to book in routine surgeries?
How do you ensure you get a high level response – enough to make the figures meaningful?
Ask the right questions
For surveys to be of relevance they need to ask the right questions.
Sounds obvious, but it’s very easy for the assumptions we all have about our practices to creep into how we word the questions.
So take a “green fields” approach with your survey by either out-sourcing or at the very least getting a completely independent party to look over the questions first.
Make sure the questions are open and invite a more than yes or no response.
Meaningful results
For survey information to be meaningful you need a reasonable level of response so think carefully how you present this to your clients.
How do most of your customers like to be contacted:
- by email,
- text, or
- good old snail mail?
Are you prepared to incentivise?
If so, there are ways you can do this without it costing you an arm and a leg yet still be meaningful to your customers:
- a free check-up
- free services (eg, flea treatment)
- gift card
- free product that’s meaningful to the customer
There are pluses and minuses of offering incentives. Some clients may feel bought, others not. However, avoid the trap of thinking the incentive has to be huge, because it doesn’t. Your most loyal clients will want to do the survey simply because they love you, not because you’re offering something in return.
Analyse
Finally, analyse the data and from this come up with a list of actions.
Remember to look at the responses with an open mind. Sometimes our customers tell us what we don’t want to know.
What changes are they asking for?
For example, they may be as simple as having an extra nurse on at peak times to open and close consultations. This will allow vets to focus more on the clinical part of a consultation only.
Perhaps moving staff around to different areas at different times may suddenly relieve bottlenecks…?
Productivity Matrices
The second highly useful and frequently underused tool is the productivity matrix.
Widely used in other industries, it can be directly applied to the veterinary industry, sometimes with startling results.
The principle behind the productivity matrix is a formula that takes into account floor space, FTE hours, opening hours and $$ generated per hour.
The beauty of these matrices is they can quickly highlight discrepancies between areas of earnings and are an excellent tool to rationalise placement of staff and within which hours.
What changes are happening in the wider area?
What type of staff do you need?
Have there be changes in the area that you draw your clients from?
Increasingly rural areas on the fringes of major centres are moving from production into lifestyle blocks and this brings a very different customer into the practice.
Shifting clientele needs a review of the services being offered and with it the staff you are recruiting.
Your long term plan
Lastly what is the long term plan, where do you plan to be in 5 years, is selling the practice on the radar?
Maximising use of staff will maximise profits helping to create an attractive selling proposition.
Most importantly rationalisation of staff, opening hours and rosters, will help create a stable and rewarding environment in which both staff and customers will flourish.
Helpful links:
Survey Monkey – free questionnaire software (up to 10 questions). Requires login account.
Survey Hero – free questionnaire software (unlimited responses). Requires account setup.
The team here at VetStaff are used to asking people questions to get truthful and relevant answers – get in touch with either Noel or Julie for more info.
