Do you have a waiting room full of pet owners sitting there long past their pets’ appointment times? Below, we'll explain the negative impact that occurs when veterinary practices schedule too many clients and discuss a few options you can use to solve this problem.

Overscheduling client appointments is a widespread problem for veterinary practices across America. Packing your workday with too many client appointments can cause some serious harm to your office and its reputation.

How Does Overscheduling Pet Owners Impact Your Practice?

To successfully run a veterinary practice, you must provide your clients with a positive experience and high-quality care. 

However, some practices focus more on profitability than client satisfaction, and one of the most common problems resulting from that mindset is overfilling their schedule.

Consider the following reasons why client overscheduling is harmful to your veterinary practice:

Rushed Work

If your practice’s schedule is full, the only way to ensure that you see every client is by working faster. But, as you know, rushing your work often leads to mistakes, unhappy clients, an increased stress level, and poor quality of care.

Making a mistake can have severe repercussions for you, your clients, and your business. Of course, clients must give informed consent before any treatments or procedures, but that doesn't provide comprehensive protection against you for making a mistake due to carelessness.

No Breaks

Another inevitable result of a packed appointment book is that both you and your staff have to sacrifice your breaks or, at the very least, cut them short. Remember, an unhappy employee is one who has to work through their lunch break! In addition, if your staff members are unhappy, they are more likely to become irritable with clients, negatively affecting your practice.

Ultimately, if this continues, it could lead to staff burnout and turnover, something very common in the veterinary space at the moment.

Poor Feedback

Receiving poor feedback and negative reviews is one of the most significant impacts overscheduling can have on your veterinary practice. 

One of the first factors potential clients research when looking for a new veterinary practice is reviews and feedback. If you're receiving negative feedback because of long wait times, poor quality of work, and overworked front desk staff, it will undoubtedly affect the quality of your business.

How Can Your Veterinary Practice Stop Overscheduling?

Adjust Your Appointment Schedule Blocks

If the time you spend with each client tends to exceed the allotted appointment time on a regular basis, you may need to spread out your appointments by 5-10 minutes each. Seeing fewer clients per day will give you higher-quality time with the clients you do have, which can improve retention and lower stress levels in your office.

Offering Online Scheduling

One of the best ways to avoid overfilling your appointment book is by upgrading to online scheduling with Chckup. Our Online Scheduling lets clients book their own appointments directly into your practice management system without you losing control of your. Plus, it frees up your staff to devote time to other important tasks.

Use Appointment Reminders

Another effective way to streamline your scheduling practices is with appointment reminders for clients to help them remember their upcoming appointments. No more of those little scheduling cards that get thrown out or lost! Use texts and push notifications instead.

Consider a Scheduling Coordinator

Instead of overburdening your office staff with all the administrative work, why not consider hiring a veterinary scheduling coordinator? A scheduling coordinator manages the entire flow of your workday and scheduling practices. 

Then, you can rest easy knowing that your workday will be smoother, more efficient, and more productive.  

Invest in Your Veterinary Practice with Chckup

Overscheduling can harm your veterinary practice in more ways than one. From negative reviews, unhappy clients, and overworked staff, your business will gradually see the adverse effects of poor scheduling habits.

Instead, consider upgrading to Chckup. Our advanced software solutions provide the tools and resources veterinary professionals need to improve the quality of care and streamline their practice. Reach out to us for a demo of our Online Scheduling and other tools.