By: Carol Hurst, LVT, CVPM, CVJ, VetSupport, Houston, Texas
A branding strategy in a veterinary hospital often takes a back burner to all the other aspects of running a practice. However, many areas of fundamental business management rely on having a solid brand strategy.
As a business owner or team member, being able to articulate “why” we get out of bed every morning is fundamental to running a business. In Simon Sinek’s explanation of the “The Golden Circle” – it is taught that people won’t buy what a business has until they buy into the why. Today’s market is too competitive to not have this idea clearly defined. This exercise should come from the business owner with help from the team. The “why” helps to sustain the culture, providing guidance when everyday stressors build up.
The Mission and Core Values should be the guiding principles for how the clinic operates and interacts with clients. Therefore, they should surface in everything from the job descriptions, policies and procedures and performance management.
Mission Statement
The definition of a “mission statement” is something that states the purpose of an organization. Only when a solid “why” is outlined, can a mission statement can be crafted. Too often, practices generate mission statements that are too generic and don’t accurately represent intent. They can be fluffy, novel statements about helping pets and serving clients that could apply to any clinic. Above all, a clinic’s mission statement should capture the true nature of the clinic’s fundamental principles.
A great example of a solid mission statement is one from Friendship Animal Hospital in Richmond, Texas. Theirs states: “Our mission is to promote longer lasting friendships through exceptional care, service and education.” In fact, they have focused this concept of “friendship” when designing hospital policies and general staff training around their philosophy for client service.
Core Values
Core Values are defined as principles that guide an organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with the external world. Which means they can show clients what a business stands for and provide employees a moral compass to follow. They are typically a list of 5-7 values along with a descriptor that can help clarify meaning.
Core Values need to be defined for the team so that a clarity in meaning is achieved. Responsibility may be applied in different ways to different people. Therefore, by giving a brief definition, you are setting clear expectations for how that core value should be applied.
For example, Sugar Land Veterinary Specialists in Sugar Land, Texas has an excellent section on their website dedicated to their core values.
For example, with their core value of responsibility they say “Consider responsibility as the follow-thru, the commitment to these other Core Values. Each of us has unique talents and tasks to perform related to our individual duties. We are very serious about completing these duties and chores in a timely, accurate and professional manner. We admit the mistakes that we make, discuss and study those mistakes and correct them.”
Sugar Land Veterinary Specialists
Typically, Core Value definitions are limited to one sentence but flushing out the definition can bring an even greater level of added clarity. Likewise, including them on the practice website is great for accountability and transparency.
Saturating the Clinic
The Mission and Core Values should be woven through every aspect of the clinic. Here are some ideas:
- Listed in the employee manual
- Detailed in the job descriptions
- An area rated in performance reviews
- Use a nice wall-art or decal to display in the clinic
- Employee spotlight and reward when displayed (ex. “props” board)
- Topics of discussion at team meetings
- The foundation for which questions/decisions are answered
- Used as topics of discussion in performance coaching
Once the Mission and Core Values are defined and woven into the fabric of the business a solid foundation has been built. Only after this has been achieved can a practice continue to build the other elements of their brand.