The average price for a canine and feline sick pet exam is $50.85, and exotic sick pet exams are a few pennies less, note the authors of The Veterinary Fee Reference: Vital Statistics for Your Veterinary Practice. If you’re charging more, unless you can communicate the value of that higher fee, guess what? With an existing client, you may lose the appointment. With a potential new client, you may never get her to walk in the door.

That’s why it’s critical, especially with new clients whose only contact with your practice is that initial phone call, to train staff on how to communicate the value of your fees, especially if they are higher than your competitors.

Keep two metrics in mind when reviewing your fees: the number of new clients per veterinarian, and your phone shopper conversion rate. If the number of new clients has been declining, or your practice does a poor job of persuading new clients to make an appointment, new clients may have a problem with either the price or the lack of value communicated, note the authors of The Veterinary Fee Reference: Vital Statistics for Your Veterinary Practice.

Additionally, some practices don’t mind if clients go elsewhere for preventive care services. In addition to the loss of income for a preventive care exam, which ranges between $43-$45, you also lose the opportunity to build long-term bonds with patients when they are young. 

The Veterinary Fee Reference: Vital Statistics for Your Veterinary Practice provides pricing tables and information for statistics such as those above. It also provides rationale, suggestions, and ways of thinking differently about multiple fee areas in a practice, in light of median household income, metropolitan status, and more. 

Photo credit: © iStock/fatido