Just came back from back to back conferences in sweaty Kansas City- -Vet Partners followed by the Veterinary Innovation Summit.
There seemed to be one four syllable word that was the underlying aura of both meetings: millennials!
Millenials are the largest population of the workforce.
Millenials are the largest population of pet owners.
MIllenials were the newest population of new pet owners during COVID.
MIllenials spend the most on their pets.
Millenials have wants, needs, and desires for the manner in which they receive their companion animal care that is NOT what some of us are used to.
So, like it or not, it is time to change to meet the demands of consumers and not expect them to change to meet our delivery models.
Some bullet point thoughts: Communicate with millennials the way they want to be communicated with
Text
Make everything digitally accessible. For example
Making an appointment
Ordering pet food
Ordering or re-ordering prescriptions
Payment
Give them access to answers to questions about their pet care or they’ll use Dr Google as their encyclopedia
Answer text questions
Answer email questions
Send education texts
Send educational emails
Give them access to your knowledge base to help them make decisions
They like choices
Curbside
Tableside
Drop Off
Tele-health
They WANT access to the veterinary team on THEIR terms
Tele-medicine
Text
Late at night
But don’t take my word for it, from Packaged Facts:
"Millennial pet owners, those in the 25 to 39-year-old age group, are the object of special attention. The 37 million Millennials who own pets constitute 27% of all pet owners," says David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts. "Millennials are an especially important consumer group for segments of the pet industry marketing products and services to owners of pets other than dogs or cats. Millennials make up one in three owners of pets such as fish, birds, rabbits, gerbils, and hamsters."
Another reason why Millennial pet owners constitute a key pet market consumer segment is that compared to pet owners in older age groups, 25 to 39-year-old pet owners are more likely to have younger pets that they have acquired recently. The combination of younger, recently acquired dogs or cats leads younger owners to have an immediate need for and a higher propensity to purchase pet products of all kinds.
So, take a look at integrating technology into your practice. Think about where each of the following can fit:
Tele-medicine
On line appointments
Home delivery of prescriptions
Home delivery of diets
Text communications
Social media education
Website educational resources
Email educational resources
Practice specific apps
Medical history access virtually
A simpler more streamlined more efficient experience that gives great value
High tech less invasive tools, think Mella (an unpaid plug)
"If you're gonna make connections which are innovative... you have to not have the same bag of experiences as everyone else does." - Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs made people feel uncomfortable and that is where we really need to be right now. We can’t think “that is the way we always did it”. We have to think and act and ask “how can we make the experience better for the clients, the patients, the team, and the leadership”