Practice Reduces Call Volume and Sees an Increase in New Clients with PetDesk
See how this veterinary clinic was able to grow their practice while reducing phone call volume with PetDesk’s online scheduling system.
Appointments Booked Since September 2023
Appointments Were Booked After Hours
New Clients
%
of Total Visits Were New Clients
st. francis
Meet St. Francis Animal Clinic!
- Websites
- Online Booking
- Client Management
St. Francis Animal Clinic was founded in 1967 by Dr. Dale Adourian. Dr. Adourian was a pioneer in the field then, being one of the first female veterinarians practicing in the Waterloo Region. The clinic operated on Frederick Street before the Pandora Avenue location was constructed in the early 1970s. Dr. Adourian continued to serve clients and their pets until 2011 actively. Dr. Patricia Weir took the helm of St. Francis in 2005, becoming clinic owner while continuing to work closely alongside Dr. Adourian. St. Francis Animal Clinic flourished under the guidance of these two inspiring women and their teams.
In October 2021, Dr. Weir passed the reins of St. Francis Animal Clinic to Dr. Anna Skorobohacz and Dr. Meredith Murphy. Dr. Anna and Dr. Meredith feel honored to carry on the tradition of keeping St. Francis a privately-owned, female-directed clinic dedicated to serving the Kitchener-Waterloo community and beyond.
Today, they are a full-service companion animal clinic. It is their commitment to provide quality veterinary care throughout the life of a pet. Their services and facilities are designed to assist in routine preventive care for young, healthy pets, early detection and treatment of disease as pets age, and complete medical and surgical care during their lifetime.
‘Our phones were ringing constantly’
When we spoke to Meredith, co-owner of St. Francis Animal Clinic in Ontario, she told us how the phones were ringing off the hook when she and her partner acquired the clinic in 2021. The vet techs, instead of helping them with surgeries or other important things, were constantly running to answer the phones.
“We’re a small clinic and my techs would constantly be leaving me to grab the other lines that were ringing. There would be times when I would be standing around waiting for a tech to come help me with a blood collection or something but no one was free. Everybody was on the phone.”
“…my techs would constantly be leaving me to grab the other lines that were ringing.”
With almost 330 appointments booked last year (without having to chat on the phone), Meredith finds that PetDesk’s online scheduling system has changed the efficiency within the clinic and made it smoother than it was.
‘Personally, I don’t like to call anyone to book appointments anymore’
In her daily routine, Meredith likes to use websites to browse for anything she needs. When convinced with the look and feel of it, she books online or purchases the product.
“I don’t like calling anybody. A website provides a lot of information and people look at it. I get clients who come in and reference something from the website that they looked at before making a decision.”
St. Francis Animal Clinic is located in Kitchener, a well-known tech hub in Ontario. Given the tech-savvy nature of the area, they needed to adapt to clients’ preferences for booking appointments after work hours instead of making midday phone calls.
“Our clinic is uniquely positioned near both the city center, attracting young families from large apartment buildings, and the city’s suburban outskirts, where many of our senior clients reside. While our location has helped us significantly reduce phone calls, we still receive a few from those who prefer direct communication.”
Meredith finds that PetDesk’s online scheduling system has changed the efficiency within the clinic and made it smoother than it was. Their appointment slots are now filled, booking almost 330 appointments last year, without having to talk to people on the phone and she sees that as a big positive.
“I now have my technicians available to me more than I would have before so that has improved efficiency and just allowed people to book appointments or make a change themselves instead of calling in.”
‘We have seen a reduction of 15-20% in phone call volume and a 20% increase in new clients’
By implementing PetDesk’s online scheduling system, St. Francis Animal Clinic not only experienced a notable decrease in phone calls but also achieved significant growth in its practice.
“It is not so much about the percentage reduction but about the growth of the clinic. With PetDesk’s online scheduling platform, we saw a 20% increase in the number of new clients and I am happy about it.”
Meredith says when booking online she likes to see what the availability is in real time. This is common for her demographic and definitely for people younger than her. When asked what made her choose PetDesk’s online scheduling system, she said:
“People like to book after hours when they’re home and aren’t always thinking about it at work. Also, since we are a small clinic and have just one person at the front desk, juggling in-clinic client needs and constant phone calls was overwhelming, especially since it diverted our technicians from their primary duties. We urgently needed a solution…”
With PetDesk’s online scheduling platform, we saw a 20% increase in the number of new clients, and I am happy about it.”
Some of the biggest impacts we have had:
We save 8 hours a month on average with PetDesk’s tech tools
Clients with a new or sick pet can now book an available slot, even when the clinic is closed.
The vet techs are now available to help with patients
‘In February 2024, we saw 210 new users come to our website from organic search’
‘The number of users we have on the PetDesk App is larger than I thought it was going to be’
When Meredith and her partner decided to implement PetDesk’s online scheduling system they realized that they probably didn’t need the client communication system, as a lot of their problems were solved by the booking tool. In fact, they discovered that over 450 users were happily using the PetDesk app, far more than expected!
“I feel like now it’s not something that I can’t just take away as most of the users have pets with chronic health problems and they keep requesting refills of medications or being able to see what their pets are due for. People with multi-pet households who need to contact us frequently really like the App. Even for us, it allows us to send our reminders more efficiently, which has been very helpful.”
They have also had some great feedback on the App from pet owners.
“I have even had some seniors tell me how much they like the App as it helps them keep everything organized, and use it for reminders. From all my conversations with my clients, I have heard great things about the PetDesk App.”
“…They were very responsive to our ideas and what we were looking for, probably even more than we had even thought about when we were first setting it up.”
‘PetDesk’s websites brought us under your umbrella of services’
When Meredith and her partner took over the business in 2021, the website was not pleasing at all. It looked outdated with no organization, a couple of staff photos, contact details and no social media integration. The team knew they needed a revamped website which would look visually appealing.
PetDesk took over the role of maintaining their website, constantly posting on their social media platforms and collecting Google reviews and testimonials from clients from time to time.
“When we used Petdesk’s website services, we were very happy with the website they designed. They were very responsive to our ideas and what we were looking for, probably even more than we had even thought about when we were first setting it up.”
It was this service they received that brought Meredith and her team to other tech tools offered by PetDesk. They did, initially, do their research, looked at other brands and decided on PetDesk for online booking and client management.
‘Our problems have been addressed fairly quickly’
With the onboarding and set-up processes, the clinic staff were not overwhelmed which means a lot for any owner or Practice Manager. With all three tech tools, Meredith could easily sit down and define the parameters she wanted to implement in her clinic.
“PetDesk is usually pretty quick with things. We have not had too many problems with them. A few times that I’ve chatted with someone about the online booking system, we were trying to customize it, there was some email back and forth and eventually he asked me to just get on a call. Easier!”
‘Yes, I recommend PetDesk to other clinic owners’
For Meredith and her team, choosing 3 tech tools from PetDesk made more sense to let the communication flow easily and she hopes all of this comes together under one dashboard which would make life so much easier.
PetDesk’s online booking system was something that has contributed to her business by letting clients book after hours, especially as they are a small clinic that does not have extended hours.
“We are not open after 6 pm nor on weekends. And those are kind of key times when a lot of people figure out their personal lives and their schedules. I do think it’s super helpful and I also think it’s becoming more and more expected by clients.”
With almost 42% of bookings coming from after hours, St. Francis Animal Clinic has been using PetDesk to scale their business and really focus on acquiring new clients and offering quality veterinary service that they promise.
