Your questions answered:
Q: How do I know it will work?
Practice Plan for Vets is the market leader in veterinary membership schemes. With a wealth of experience, we will work with you to develop a tailored scheme that will meet your practice’s individual objectives. We will also help you to establish a pricing structure that benefits your practice and supply marketing material that will enable your practice to inform clients about the scheme.
Q: Will it be easy for our clients to sign up?
It’s very simple. Each client only needs to give their address and bank account details, as well as brief details of each pet. Our dedicated team will provide full training to everyone who works at your practice to discuss alternative ways of signing up clients.
Q: Will our clients want to pay monthly?
The plan simply offers the client another way of paying for routine preventative services at the practice. It gives them the facility to budget monthly, as well as the convenience of paying for Direct Debit – increasingly popular with busy clients.
Q: How many people can we expect to take up the scheme?
This can vary from practice to practice and depends largely on the commitment of the practice. We encourage practices to aim for at least 20 per cent of their active client base. The effect of the plan is to secure these clients, ensure retention, reward them as “members” and importantly, to increase their unit transaction value.
Q: How will you help us promote the plan to our clients?
We will work with you to create a brochure and other marketing materials that will clearly set out the benefits and features of your scheme. Our customer care team will support your in-house staff in following up the initial mailing with telephone support. In addition, our practice development manager will meet with you after the first three months to discuss and review your progress.
Q: Are there other vets we could speak to who are running the scheme?
Of course. Many of our veterinary practices who have their own scheme are delighted to speak to colleagues who are considering doing the same. Just contact us for more information.
Q: What happens if a Direct Debit fails?
If a client’s Direct Debit fails, we will notify you on your monthly statement and inform the client that we will collect two installments the following month. If a client cancels a Direct Debit mandate with their bank, we let you know.
Q: How do we manage the scheme on our practice computer software?
The scheme can be easily incorporated into most software systems allowing you to identify clients and their pets, manage discounts and register Direct Debit payments. Our training manager will also be able to suggest a standard operating procedure as a guide.
Q: It is possible to source accidental insurance cover through the scheme?
Yes – accidental injury cover can be included in the scheme at a very low premium of £1.75 per month securing £2,500 insurance for any one incident (£5,000 in any one year) for each animal on the scheme. What’s more, this insurance frequently covers animals that have never been insured on the grounds of their clinical history or their age.
Q: What is accidental injury cover?
Accidental injury cover protects your pet “following an accidental injury by an identifiable and known cause and occurring at a specific date sustained during the period of insurance”, for example, if your pet is in a road traffic accident or is attacked by another animal. However, illness and medical disorders or conditions are not covered. The premium for the accidental injury cover is only £1.75 per month per pet, which includes insurance premium tax, and is added to the normal monthly fee.
Q: What about referrals?
Specialist referrals for accidental injury cannot be made without the express written permission of the underwriter, either by fax, letter or email. However, referrals can be made for equal treatment if the vet with whom the animal is registered is off duty and has on-call arrangements with another vet at the time of the accident. Referrals can also be made where the vet is unable to perform the standard procedure required.