The colourful consultation is a concept developed by veterinary surgeon, Brian Faulkner, whose particular interest lies with the science of psychology and its effect on veterinary consultations. ‘The Webinar Vet’ organised Mr Faulkner to lead a veterinary webinar advising vets on how to achieve a successful consultation based on this concept.

But what defines the ‘successful consultation’? Mr Falkner explained that four outcomes are necessary: Clinical resolution, client satisfaction, financial resolution and team harmony and happiness. It sounds simple but we all know this is not always easy to achieve. Vets can be technical geniuses but may not be so proficient when communicating with clients or support staff.

Mr Faulkner explained there were a number of useful techniques which could be implemented to run a ‘smooth’ consultation. Remembering that first impressions really count is key; trust is always the first step to persuasion, and the majority of clients will have made their judgements about a vet’s trustworthiness within the first few minutes of a meeting. Clients will also selectively look for evidence to back up their judgement, negative or positive. So always make sure you ‘look’ like clients would expect a vet to look: Smart and professional. Try to run on time, use appropriate eye contact and, having experienced this humiliation on several occasions, try really hard to get the sex of the client’s pet right.

Mr Faulkner also encouraged trying to find some common ground with clients. For example if a clientconsiders vaccinations shouldn’t be given yearly, agree your client is right but explain there is onevaccination, Leptospirosis, that does need to be given yearly. Running a commentary whilst performing a clinical examination is also useful in gaining trust, reassuring clients you are performing a thorough examination.

Getting the timing right when discussing procedures such as dentals is also key. For example, it is likely that dental disease will be identified within the first few minutes of an examination. However Mr Faulkner explains that this would not be the right time to discuss dental procedures as, in his words, it takes several minutes for the client to ‘warm up’. Show the client their pet’s dental disease and then park the problem, explaining that you will discuss this at the end of the consult. By discussing dental disease in the last 2 minutes of a consultation, you are far more likely to get a client to agree to a dental procedure.

This brings us on nicely to another of Mr Faulkner’s techniques: ‘Beware the Bermuda Triangle’. Clients should always be escorted by the vet to the reception desk as they are much more likely to book in, for example, a recheck appointment or a dental if a vet is alongside them. The chances of a client booking in for a dental if they have just been sent to reception alone are greatly reduced. Mr Faulkner calls accompanying a client to reception the ‘walk of gain’ and is a strategy that could make a real difference.

I can safely say this veterinary webinar has already proved really useful having managed to persuade a client to perform a necessary dental on their pet, a selling skill I usually struggle with. I have only provided you with snippets of information from this veterinary webinar and it offers so much more. I highly recommend logging in and seeing for yourself what Mr Faulkner has to say about his ‘colourful consultation’.