communication Archives

Marketing Your Fear Free Certification in the Digital Age

Our friends at Latah Creek Animal Hospital displaying their certifications at their clinic.

So, you’ve completed your Fear Free® Certification or Fear Free®Veterinary Practice Certification. First and foremost, congratulations, and thank you! You have taken a huge step in alleviating fear, anxiety, and stress for your clients, their pets, and even your team. Now it’s time to start spreading the word!

As you move through your Fear Free marketing journey, keep in mind that like all of us, pet owners are busy, and their attention is demanded by many other businesses as well as personal obligations. However, as their trusted Fear Free Certified Professional, the messages you share are often held in their highest regard. To get the most out of this benefit, always ensure that you are crafting your content and messaging in a way that addresses how your Fear Free Certification benefits your clients and their pets as quickly as possible. Align your goals with theirs and you’ll end up with happier, healthier, more relaxed pets and, in turn, happier pet parents.

Whether you have achieved your individual Fear Free Certification, or your clinic has achieved Fear Free®Veterinary Practice Certification, we recommend starting by choosing a few goals, defining specifically what success looks like to you, and then outlining and deploying your marketing plan.

As you work on developing your goals and success measures, here are some tips for getting started:

Marketing Your Individual Fear Free Certification

Your individual Fear Free Certification is a powerful tool that can be used to market not only your personal brand, but also elevate the work you do.

Display Your Fear Free Certified Professional Badge. We recommend adding your certified professional badge to your team member bio on your company’s website and updating it to include more about Fear Free, your certification, and the difference it brings for the pets in your care.Additionally, add a homepage spotlight on your company’s website highlighting the presence of Fear Free Certified Professionals on your team. We encourage you to take that a step further and link the spotlight to another page where you explain what Fear Free is, how having Fear Free Certified Professionals on your team benefits your clients and their pets, and links to where they can learn more (here’s a great page to send them to).
Educate Clients Directly. Weave Fear Free principles into your touch points when preparing clients for appointments, during their visit, and in follow-up communications. Let clients know you are a Fear Free Certified Professional and what that means for their pet by walking them through what to expect and following up with them on that education throughout their Fear Free visit. If they have a pet who experiences fear, anxiety, or stress in the veterinary, grooming, training, or boarding & daycare environment, discuss how their Fear Free visit will be a different and a more positive experience for their pet and themselves than what they may have experienced in the past. Discuss how your team will allow their pet to tell them if they’ve had enough and stop the treatment or appointment if their FAS level becomes too high. Continuing that education from your marketing messaging through to their in-person visit can have a significant impact.
Shine a Spotlight on Your Certification. Ask your company’s marketing team to create a team member spotlight about your Fear Free certification. This can be shared on social media or even in an email newsletter. Have someone snap a photo of you in action practicing Fear Free techniques and pair it with a brief write-up about you, your certification, what it means for pets in your care, and where clients can find more information.
Be a Fear Free Champion in Your Professional Community. Odds are, you are one of many Fear Free Certified Professionals in your community. Use the Fear Free Online Directory to find other Fear Free Certified Professionals in your area. Reach out to them, build relationships, and discuss how you can promote and refer clients to each other to strengthen the Fear Free ecosystem in your community.
Grow Your Professional Brand. Are you working on amplifying your professional brand on social media? Map out your goals for your brand and utilize your certification to support them. We recommend developing a campaign across all the social media channels you use with a few different posts highlighting Fear Free, what it means to be Fear Free Certified, and how that certification can benefit your audience. Use photos of you in action, share success stories, and include calls to action for your audience to take on each post. Our Fear Free Marketing Toolkit, which can be found on the left side panel of your member homepage on our website, includes several social media posts and cover photos to help you get started spreading the word.
Achieve Your Career Goals. Are you looking to move to the next level in your career, find a new role, or build your network? Share regular posts on LinkedIn about the work you put in to become certified, how it is helping you in your everyday practice, and the difference it makes for the pets in your care. Add your certification to your resume and utilize the Fear Free network to find a company that aligns with your professional goals. Find and connect with like-minded Fear Free Certified Professionals through our private member community on Facebook to further work toward your professional goals.

Marketing Your Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification

Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification allows you to not only bring a higher level of Fear Free care to your patients but also opens the door to many new opportunities for marketing Fear Free to your clients and community.

Define Your Differentiators. One of the first steps in your clinic’s marketing strategy should be developing and advertising your clinic’s differentiators. If you haven’t already, gather your team and brainstorm 3 to 5 things that make your clinic unique from others nearby. Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification is a built-in differentiator and a great place to start. Once you define some additional differentiators, highlight them on your website’s homepage, on social media, and in client communication. Tell the story of not just what you do differently, but how you do it differently. Looking for a great example of highlighting Fear Free as a differentiator within a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice group? Check out PetVet365’s homepage and Fear Free Experience page.
Display Your Certified Practice Badge. Add your certified practice badge to your clinic’s website homepage with a brief write-up on what it means to be certified and what it means for your clients. Couple your homepage highlight with an additional page on your website that dives deeper into your Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice designation, the hard work your team completed to get there, and how it will positively affect your clients’ experience with your clinic. Need some inspiration? Check out how Family Pet Health in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, showcases their veterinary practice’s certification on their homepage and an additional Fear Free page.Additionally, your team’s professional certification badges should be included on their website biographies. Spotlight them on social media or in your clinic’s newsletter to continue spreading awareness. Our Fear Free Marketing Resources page, which can be found on your member homepage on our website, also includes social media graphics and client-facing videos you can share to spread the word.
Walk the Walk, Don’t Just Talk the Talk. Marketing can fall flat when it isn’t backed up by your clients’ experiences. Make sure clients and their pets can recognize your differentiators, especially your Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification, in every interaction, from their search online to the preparation for their appointment, from their time inside your clinic to the follow-up after their visit. Don’t let the initial marketing of your certification be the end; keep reminding, educating, and impressing your clients with the Fear Free principles your team practices every single day.Also, remember that word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal, so arm your clients with the education they need to shout your clinic’s name from the rooftops to their families and friends!
Attract and Retain Qualified Team Members. We all know that attracting strong candidates and retaining them is a pain point many practices are experiencing right now. Recruitment marketing is just as important as client marketing and can make a big difference in the types of applications you receive for open positions. Being a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice is a powerful recruiting tool that you should use to elevate your practice above the rest. Include that you are a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice in your job ads, the careers page on your website, and on your clinic’s LinkedIn page, explaining how that designation improves your team’s experience, safety, and medical standards, as well as delighting your clients.
Network, Refer, and Cross Promote Within Your Fear Free Ecosystem. There are likely many other Fear Free Certified Professionals in your community who are looking to ensure that their clients have a Fear Free experience everywhere they go. Use the Fear Free Online Directory to find certified groomers, boarding and daycare facilities, trainers, and pet sitters in your area. Connect with them, build relationships, and develop strategies for referring clients and cross promoting each other. This could look like a postcard or flyer you each give out to new clients that includes a special gift or discount, highlighting each other on social media or on your websites, and referring clients who are looking for a new professional service to a fellow Fear Free Certified Professional.

As with any new marketing endeavor, failing to ensure that you have the resources you need can result in missing goalposts. The great news is that our Fear Free team is here to support you and provide those tools you need to achieve your goals and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress for not just pets, but people too.

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Since 2016, Fear Free has helped to change the way pets receive care from both veterinary and pet professionals. By closely listening to the needs of pet care professionals, Fear Free has built a robust catalog of certification programs and courses that focus on emotional wellbeing, enrichment, and reduction of fear, anxiety, and stress in pets. Over 100,000 Fear Free Certified Professionals are working to change the standard of animal care across the world. We thank you for being an important part of this initiative.

To learn more about Fear Free, register for a new membership, renew your membership, or learn more about Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification, visit www.fearfreepets.com.

Words Count: The Language of Fear Free

Julie Liu, DVMLast year, I watched a great webinar on Fear Free Pets by Dr. Tony Buffington called “Helping Our Feline Friends Feel Fear Free.” He shared a number of helpful tips on helping reduce stress for feline patients, but one of the points he made really resonated with me. He talked about going to an exhibit hall at a conference and seeing a booth selling signs that can be clipped onto the front of the cage, including a red sign that said, “Caution, fractious cat.” He asked if there were any signs that said “Caution, fearful cat,” because when he saw “fractious cat” his instinct would be to take care of himself to prevent injury, whereas if he saw “fearful cat” his instinct would be to take care of the cat.

Based on that conversation the company started making “fearful cat” signs, but it got me thinking about the language of Fear Free and the terms I routinely hear vet professionals use for pets exhibiting FAS (fear, anxiety, and stress): “fractious,” “angry,” “spicy,” “CAUTION!!!”, and of course, a variety of R-rated terms used only in the treatment area. And I totally get it. No one wants to get bitten, scratched, snapped at, or injured, and it seems like these terms will keep us safer when approaching stressed patients. So why could this language be problematic?

Well, I’ve noticed that when there’s a patient alert such as “fractious” for a cat, people tend to approach the pet in an adversarial way. They put on their cat gloves, take a deep breath, and go into the exam room ready to do battle with their patient, which usually includes scruffing the cat to immobilize them. Unfortunately, this approach often has the opposite desired effect. Cat gloves can cause fear in patients, and scruffing is painful and takes away the cat’s sense of control. The “fractious” cat’s FAS levels then escalate, which increases the chances of getting injured.

Changing our language so that it describes and advocates for the emotional health of the patient can keep us safer. Instead of “fractious,” what about, “Fearful, keep in carrier until doctor is ready, prefers hiding under towel for exam and vax”? It’s rare to see these types of patient alerts, yet they take only a few seconds to update in a medical record.

Terms like “fractious,” “angry,” and “&#%!@” also shut down the empathy we should strive to bring to our patients, both feline and canine, and joking that a pet is “spicy” trivializes their emotional experience. Instead, see how it feels when you use patient-focused language such as “fearful,” “anxious,” and “stressed.” Just as most of us felt at least one of these emotions during the pandemic (or even all three at the same time), most of your patients are feeling at least one of these emotions during their vet visit. In fact, many of these “spicy” patients are utterly terrified and completely justified in their emotions considering all of the scary things they experience at the vet. Using terms like “fearful” and “anxious” also contributes to a Fear Free culture and sets the tone for how we’d like fellow team members to approach their patients–with empathy, not as adversaries.

As Fear Free professionals, we have the tools to identify, prevent, and alleviate FAS. Modeling Fear Free language is another important step we can take to bring compassion to the patients in our care.

Resources

https://fearfreepets.com/helping-our-feline-friends-feel-fear-free-with-dr-tony-buffington/

FAS Spectrum Handouts

https://serona.vet/collections/cage-tags-signs?page=1

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Julie Liu is a veterinarian and freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. In addition to advocating for Fear Free handling, she is passionate about felines and senior pet care. Learn more about Dr. Liu and her work at www.drjulieliu.com.

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Crisis Communication: Tips for Calming Pet Owners

Maggie MartonA 2018 article published in Veterinary Sciences synopsized a dissertation examining the connection between owner loyalty to their pets’ veterinarians and their perception of the communication from the veterinarian and staff. The study found that good communication delivered all kinds of benefits, from customer loyalty to trust in the veterinarian to likelihood of following treatment instructions to perception of a greater value for services rendered.

But good communication can be difficult, and it can feel nearly impossible in times of crisis–when a pet is ill or injured, when an animal is dying, or when a client doesn’t understand or can’t afford care options, for instance. While many communication tools are available, one promising model for veterinarians to help calm pet owners is Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

What is NVC?

The goal of NVC is to communicate and express yourself clearly, then receive what you hear back without judgment. The communication model avoids language that promotes disconnection, such as blaming, comparing, judging, or doling out advice.

Leslie Ritter-Jenkins, a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, says NVC is being practiced in the human medical field and fits veterinary medicine well. “Because veterinarians, like many people in the medical world, are people of authority, we tend to give them a lot of power,” she says.

Being mindful of language used matters because people tend to either rebel or submit to perceived authority. This is critical in times of crisis because when a client is triggered–by fear, anger, grief, and so on–that lack of control makes communication more difficult. As the “authority” in the room, using NVC tools can establish trust and confidence between the veterinarian and client while avoiding or mitigating conflict.

It’s just one framework for clear communication, but its principles fit veterinary medicine because the foundation is built on one thing: compassion. In times of crisis, especially when life and death decisions must be made, a compassionate response can shift the tone of the conversation.

The NVC Process

According to the Center for Nonviolent Communication, the model consists of two sides: empathetically listening and honestly expressing. You can’t control what your client says–or hears–especially while facing stress or fear, but you can control your listening skills and your response. Here are the four steps to the NVC process to employ:

Observations: without judgment
Feelings: underlying emotions
Needs: universal and what makes us human (e.g. mutuality, respect, freedom, choice, partnership)
Requests: a clear, doable ask

Ritter-Jenkins points out that what a client poses as a feeling is more often a need, so the NVC skill involves drilling down to identify what’s really going on. She says, “If someone says, ‘I feel disrespected,’ their feeling isn’t disrespect. The feeling is probably hurt or scared. Their need is respect.”

Listen closely to the data your client provides either overtly or through your observations and consider whether there’s an emotion or need masked by the language. It’s a skill that takes time to hone. Practice sessions during staff meetings may be helpful.

How Can NVC Help in the Exam Room?

“All humans share the same feelings and needs. When we get out of right and wrong thinking, better or worse, appropriate or inappropriate, and we speak this language of feelings and needs, we have a language that connects us universally. When a vet can hear behind what the customer, the human customer, is saying and then use a sentence or two of empathy, it’s very efficient connecting with feelings and needs. You can get to the heart of things, what’s really happening with the customer, fast,” Ritter-Jenkins says.

She shares an example from her own life when she faced an end-of-life decision with one of her cats. Her cat suffered from an undiagnosed GI disorder. They tried various approaches, and she ultimately went to the vet for help because her cat wasn’t eating, he was losing weight, yet he was acting completely normal.

“She could hear in that data and say, ‘It sounds like you’re feeling torn because you know that there’s something physiologically wrong and the cat is likely in pain and suffering, and you’re torn because you’re seeing some normal behavior and you’re needing clarity about what’s going on.’ That would’ve been exactly right–an empathic guess,” she says. “Or she could have said, ‘It sounds like you’re feeling exasperated and want some clarity or want some support in this decision.’”

When faced with a potentially costly procedure, a devastating diagnosis, or an end-of-life decision, client reactions run the gamut, but people often shift swiftly into panic or crisis mode. Listen, then present the data, the science, while being clear that you’re not telling the client what to do. Jumping in with unsolicited advice, especially when a client is in crisis, creates a barrier to empathy, as does judging, storytelling, one-upping, and philosophizing.

One of the easiest ways to achieve this? A quick question.

Take some time during or toward the end of an appointment to ask, “Have your questions been answered? Do you have anything else that you’re concerned about that we haven’t covered?”

Practice NVC

The science supports this model of communication. “What happens is the vagus nerve that goes from our brain and feeds our heart, our lungs, and our digestive system, empathy calms that. When someone empathizes with us, our whole body relaxes. We have the beauty of this connection, and it’s not just emotional. It’s physiological,” Ritter-Jenkins says.

Earlier this year, VIN offered a course on empathy and reflective listening, which included the Nonviolent Communication text as recommended reading. The concept is gaining traction in veterinary medicine. On its website, the Center for Nonviolent Communication posts practice group meetups open to anyone wanting to learn and practice the skills. Or pick up a copy of the book, Nonviolent Communication, and practice with your staff.

Bottom line: It’s a worthwhile endeavor to communicate well with your clients, especially during times of crisis, and it might even help build your business by increasing customer loyalty. The NVC model provides a framework to achieve those goals.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Maggie Marton is an award-winning pet writer based in the Indianapolis area. She covers dogs, cats, kids, and often the intersection of all three for print and online publications. Maggie is the author of Clicker Dog Training: The Better Path to a Well-Behaved Pup and the blogger behind OhMyDogBlog.com and TheZeroWastePet.com.

Fear Free Success Story: Too Much Time? Not So Fast!

Kim Campbell Thornton

We’ve all heard nay-sayers complain that Fear Free techniques take too much time. But is that really true? We went to an expert to find out.

Using Fear Free techniques can require additional time, no doubt about it, but in the long run they can save time and reduce stress. Smart scheduling is the secret, says Fear Free Certified hospital manager Taryn Lambert at VCA Manito Animal Hospital in Spokane, Washington.

Extra Time Pays Off

Fear Free success relies on allowing animals more time to become accustomed to being in the exam room and the presence of technicians and the veterinarian. It means making time for Victory Visits or fun visits so that pets associate the clinic with good treats, good times, and good friends. As Lambert says, it’s important to make deposits into a patient’s “trust account.”

But that doesn’t mean adding hours to the day. At VCA Manito, advising clients about the best times to bring in pets for fun visits, planning which patients come in when, and explaining desensitization and counterconditioning techniques all contribute to a smooth-running hospital.

For instance, “happy visits” for anxious pets are encouraged. They can come in, get treats, and maybe get weighed.

“I just let them know, ‘If you see that we look like Costco parking lot, that probably is not the day to come in and weigh your pet,’” Lambert says. “But otherwise, you just come on in.”

Careful Planning

Patient records note the animal’s typical FAS score. If it’s a 4 or 5, an additional 15 minutes is scheduled for the appointment.

“We know which ones take time and which ones don’t, and we schedule accordingly,” Lambert says. “If I have a whole bunch of zeroes and ones, those pets are going to go a lot faster. I would not have five fives in a row. That is not strategic scheduling.”

Receptionists play a key role. They manage the logistics of patient flow to ensure that bottlenecks don’t develop. The result is less stress for team members.

Messaging Matters

Communication with clients is also an important part of Fear Free time management. If arrival of an emergency case has veterinarians running late, clients may be called and asked if they’d like to come in a little later or reschedule the appointment. That ensures that they don’t have to put their dog or cat in the car, drive to the clinic, and then have to wait for an extended period before being seen. That’s less stressful for all the animals and humans involved.

Clients are also more willing to return for additional visits if they think it will result in less FAS for their pets. Take nail trims, the bane of most pet owners—and their pets. Lambert says VCA Manito has begun “bundling” nail trims into multiple visits, using desensitization and counterconditioning techniques to get pets through the procedure without fuss and teach them that it doesn’t have to hurt or be scary.

“Pets come in five to nine times,” she says. “The owners do not mind this. You would think that owners will not come back, but yes, they do.”

Implementing Fear Free may take more time upfront and it can require more time for certain patients, but overall it’s a win for veterinarians, staff, clients, and most important, pets.

“I can’t imagine ever not doing Fear Free,” Lambert says. “I think once you understand it and actually walk the walk, it just changes your view.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.