October 17, 2024 • 39 mins
Meghan Bingham, a seasoned expert in veterinary practice management from Granite Peak Associates, uncovers the hidden dynamics behind successful veterinary operations in this engaging episode of the Veterinary Blueprint Podcast. From her humble beginnings as a kennel assistant to her pivotal role as a Senior Operations Manager, Meghan shares invaluable insights into the intricacies of practice management. Discover how her journey shaped her ability to optimize areas like marketing, staffing, and operational efficiency, especially in smaller practices where veterinarians often tackle both medical and business roles.
Listeners will gain practical advice on implementing performance improvement plans and the necessity of keeping job descriptions current to foster staff motivation and career advancement. Meghan explains why transparency in roles and salary ranges is essential for inspiring ambition and development within the veterinary team. She also delves into the strategic use of performance improvement plans as tools for accountability and supportive work cultures that enhance employee retention and satisfaction.
The conversation shifts to innovative growth strategies essential for scaling veterinary practices. Meghan shares her experiences on the critical role of communication in preventing workplace issues and emphasizes the need for clear policies, such as those regarding cell phone usage. She also explores how expanding services with options like acupuncture and telemedicine can drive practice growth. Finally, Meghan discusses the pivotal balance between digital and verbal communication, underscoring its significance for maintaining clarity with both clients and team members. Tune in for a wealth of knowledge and strategies designed to propel veterinary practices toward greater success.
Host Information
Bill Butler – Contact Information
Direct – 952-208-7220
https://butlervetinsurance.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billbutler-cic/
Schedule a Strategy Session with Bill – Strategy Session
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Veterinary Blueprint Podcast
brought to you by Butler VetInsurance.
Hosted by Bill Butler, theVeterinary Blueprint Podcast is
for veterinarians and practicemanagers who are looking to
learn about working on theirpractice instead of in their
practice.
Each episode we will bring yousuccessful, proven blueprints
from others both inside andoutside the veterinary industry.
(00:21):
Welcome to today's episode andoutside the veterinary industry.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to today's episode, welcome to another
episode of the VeterinaryBlueprints podcast, where the
worlds of animal health,entrepreneurship and business
ideas converge.
I am your host, bill Butler,and today we have a truly
inspiring guest joining us MeganBingham from Granite Peak
Associates.
Starting over two decades agowith a summer job at a
neighborhood vet, megan Binghamfrom Granite Peak Associates.
Starting over two decades agowith a summer job at a
neighborhood vet, megan'spassion for veterinary medicine
(00:50):
has seen her journey from kennelassistant to the heights of
veterinary practice management.
She worked her way up frombecoming a practice manager,
transforming a small bustlingpractice into a 12-doctor
entrepreneurship dream.
Her career trajectory didn'tstop there.
Megan later took the role ofSenior Operations Manager,
(01:10):
overseeing operations at 25different urgent, emergency and
general practice facilities,pushing them towards their peak
potential.
Now, at Granite Peak Associates,megan finds herself in what she
calls her dream job, where sheenhances processes for those
dedicating their lives to pets,setting up veterinary practices
for success.
Not only has she earned a BA incommunications, but she also
(01:34):
has recognized a leader in thefield, currently holding a
position of vice president forthe Houston Veterinary Practice
Managers Alliance and recentlyserving on the board of
Directors for the VeterinaryHospital Managers Association.
A voracious reader, she also asif you're watching along on
this she has a Star Wars andLego aficionado.
(01:54):
Thanks to her husband,firefighter and 10-year-old son,
she brings a unique blend ofpersonal and professional
insights to today's discussion.
So stay tuned as we dive intoprocesses and strategies to help
drive successful veterinarypractice with Megan, as we
explore how to adapt any ofthese for your practice
environment.
Welcome, megan.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Thank you, bill, I sound lovely.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We all do.
On introductions, on podcasts,that's kind of the deal.
Well, welcome to today'spodcast.
Podcast, that's kind of thedeal.
Well, welcome to today'spodcast.
And why don't you tell ouraudience today I kind of gave
the LinkedIn bio there but whydon't you tell our listeners
today kind of how we gotconnected at Granite Peak
Associates and how you wound upthere and kind of your
(02:38):
trajectory in the vet world andanimal health?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I mean, you can go anywhere in vet med, right,
there's a job for everyone.
I hooked up with Granite Peak.
Jared the CEO sent me a messageon LinkedIn and said we are
looking for a certifiedveterinary practice manager.
And I thought, for sure it wasa scam, right, like all the
other messages that you get onLinkedIn.
And I was in my yes phase and Iwas like let's just see where
(03:03):
this goes, and so I love.
So Granite Peak is a CPA firmthat's focused on veterinarians
and so I'm there for the non-taxrelated stuff.
So as we're going through P&Lsand looking at budgets and that
kind of thing, then you know saylike, oh, your cogs are a
little bit out of line withindustry standards.
(03:24):
And then the clients would saylike, okay, how do I fix that?
And they'd be like well, youcan adjust your prices.
So now I'm here to like getdown to the nitty gritty.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
We're talking marketing, we're talking
staffing, we're talking all ofthe things operationally that
can help improve your businessand make your P&L a little bit
cleaner and a little bit better,and so you took all of your
experience working in practicesto help advise for a business
(03:55):
that looks at the high levelstuff from a tax and planning
perspective, and now theybrought you on board to assist
internally with their clients,do what you were doing on the
front line, but now in anadvisory role instead of a
frontline role.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Right, and so now I can help 150 people instead of
just my one practice.
It's really like the dream job.
Also, like no one's ever goingto call out to me no one's ever.
I don't ever have to run apayroll, I don't have to fix a
toilet, like all of these thingsthat you have to do as a
practice manager.
So I get to take all the sweatequity that I've put in and now
hopefully share and make it alittle bit easier for someone
(04:31):
else.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So when we were doing some prep for this, you know I
sent you say hey, what?
What should we chat about?
You have a lot of expertise inthe in the vet, vet world,
veterinary, animal health worldfrom a management perspective,
and the number one question thatyou sent back was I love all
things operational.
That was actually the response,and so within that I think
(04:53):
there's so many different things.
So you've got a strong passionfor all things related to
operations and I think there's acouple of elemental components
to that right.
So, like foundational elementsfor handbooks, job descriptions,
raises, that sort of thing.
So why don't you talk aboutwhat you see in your experience
in talking about operationalaspects of a vet practice and
things that veterinariansnecessarily don't love dealing
(05:15):
with?
It falls to the practicemanager hey, we got to get our
employee handbook up to speed,so why don't you talk about some
of those operational components?
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Sure, and that's great, right, if you do have a
manager to pass it off to you,that's fantastic.
But I think there's so manysmall practices out there that
just have the DVM that's tryingto do their best to practice
medicine and run a business, andthen man that gets the waters
get muddy on that.
So I've found talking toclients at Grand Peak.
I'd say, well, what does yourhandbook say?
And they'd say like oh, wedon't have a handbook or a job
description or any of that kindof stuff.
So I just feel like that's thetime right.
(05:49):
Your handbook is your Bible.
You got to list out your do'sand your don'ts and you can make
them.
As long as they're withinfederal and state laws, you can
kind of make it whatever youwant.
If you want to talk aboutappropriate nail length for your
technicians that they can'tcome in with, you know, two and
a half inch long nails or facialpiercings or any of those kinds
of things.
When we talk about vacation,accrual or requesting time off,
(06:12):
like those are the things thatwe can put in our handbook and
have rules, and so we're fair,moving forward right.
We're not picking and choosingwho we're allowing these
benefits for, and the same withjob descriptions.
Like we're setting up our teamfor success and we know what's
expected of them and how we'regoing to judge them and what
we're going to teach them.
Like it's so important to formthat foundation so that we're
(06:34):
all moving forward on the samepage.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, and I think you know, I'm in Minnesota and
practices all over the countryare different.
We have a lot of legislationhappening on a state and
national level.
Ftc just rolled out can't havenon-competes.
There's a lot of conversationhappening right now in the vet
community about that.
Overall, I mean, in my industryinsurance we have the same
thing a lot of non-competes.
But so staying up to speed onthose things and you know,
(07:01):
having a resource, you know ifthey're a client at Granite Peak
, obviously hey, no-transcriptin this year, and so that's
(07:30):
mandatory.
And making sure that youremployee had we just had ours
rewritten this year to make surewe comply with the Minnesota
stuff.
So I was doing the same thingsyou're talking about, but it's
not a put it on the shelf andforget about it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It's a living document that needs to be
updated, right.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Definitely.
It definitely needs to be aliving document that we're.
It's really like I kind of howI work on SOPs, like the thing
that's giving you the mosttrouble, the hiccups that you
run into time and time again.
That's what we need to address.
So if there's, you know, callouts every Monday morning, let's
write it in our handbook.
Let's have a policy on this andthen let's dole out fairly the
(08:08):
repercussions.
I think that's so important.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Now I heard you mention something there every
Monday and I think a lot ofpractices don't meet every
Monday or every Friday or everyWednesday.
They have a monthly meeting orthey have a meeting every six
months.
Why don't you talk about thatfor just a second in your?
You know, as your bio state, 20year plus experience in
practice management, workingyour practice how important do
(08:31):
you think that is, that weeklycheck in versus that monthly or
more?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
The business is so busy and there's all these
different aspects.
Right, there's the DVMs, thetechnicians, the front desk.
Sometimes you've got kennel andboarding and grooming and they
all kind of run in their ownecosystem.
But they all have to worktogether.
So if we're not checking in anddisseminating information like
how is the person working in thekennels in the back supposed to
(08:56):
know that we changed our policyon taking leashes from clients?
So there needs to be some sortof form of communication.
My staff like I had a staff of50 and I rarely had all team
meetings because anybody who'sgot I mean it can be a staff of
four and you know that theselarge team meetings are going to
turn into like just a disaster.
So I really focused on I wouldstart with my leads.
(09:21):
I would have a monthly doctor'smeeting and then I would have a
monthly lead meeting and then Iwould have the different
sections and so I woulddisseminate the information down
through all of these differentchannels, and then I would have
a memo, a weekly memo that brokeout, like this is for everyone
to know, and then this is whatthe different sections need to
know, and so that really helpedwith, like you know, upcoming
(09:44):
holiday schedules or changes inprotocol or bringing in a new
product.
Like it was just easier to havethis memo that went out every
week than to try to like wrangleall these cats together and
have them pay attention.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah, in the military and I've talked about some
previous podcasts background inthe military personally and the
scope of control is four to six.
You can't manage more than fourto six people and so if you've
got a staff of 12 and you'retrying to have a 12 person staff
meeting, it's going to be aproblem.
So you've got the DV.
You know a person that is yourDVM liaison or coordinator that
(10:20):
manages the DVM team and thenyour tech team and you know so
you have to break.
You can't, as the practicemanager or the DVM, like you
can't manage a team of 15 andthink that you're going to
disseminate stuff down andindividually manage that.
You've got to have some levelsof management in there, as you.
(10:41):
You know kind of talking abouta further question that I had
for you about scaling a practicebecause you took a single vet
practice to a 12 vet practice.
Well, it's not just 12 vets,it's all the support staff that
go with them to get to that 12,right?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yes, and that's huge right.
And I will say, though, that mydoctors were my difficult, my
most difficult group to manage.
They were the most demandingand the least compliant.
So that's always like, the moredoctors you have more problems,
and, to be fair, I needeveryone to know that, like I
hired them back in the day, whenit was easy to hire a
veterinarian, so I don't wantanyone to think that, like I'm a
miracle worker these days,because times are definitely
(11:17):
changed.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
But to scale.
A further question about scalea little bit later is having
those foundational pieces inplace.
Like you can't scale withoutfoundation, right?
Right, so you know.
You talked about handbook.
How important do you think jobdescriptions are in today's
modern vet practice?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I think if you have more than two people doing the
same job, if you've got morethan two technicians, more than
two CSRs, you got to have a jobdescription right.
We've got to be able to go backand say this is what's expected
of you, and this goes for all ofthe things.
Like you can, you can accountfor this, if, if I've got a
pregnant mommy, I need to beable to send them with a job
(11:56):
description to their doctor andsay what can you do?
And so, like, having that can,can you lift 50 pounds?
Can you be around loud noises?
Like you're going to be exposedto bites, you're going to be
exposed to blood?
Like there's just some thingsthat we need to put in to these
job descriptions so that there'sno surprises.
I expect you to work 40 hoursof your full time.
I expect you to do eight hoursof CE a year.
(12:19):
Like all of these things thatwe expect of our employees
should be in here so that we canrefer back to them.
Either you're doing well andyou're getting a raise, or
you're not doing so well andwe're going to do a performance
improvement plan.
Like it all starts with the jobdescription.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You know these are your expectations from an
insurance standpoint.
You know you mentioned about,you know you're a pregnant mom.
Here's what.
What can you do from a jobdescription perspective as you
progress in the pregnancy, theother components of that from an
insurance side, because youknow, claim, workers'
compensation claims do happen inthe vet world Big surprise
(12:56):
shock.
You know people are going toget bit or things are going to
happen at the practice and soyou can use that same job
description after the workers'compensation claim has been
filed to say, hey, so-and-so gotbit, they've got stitches in a
bandage.
What can they do in thepractice to have them recover on
the job?
Which is an important componentto insurance is recovery at
(13:18):
work instead of recovery at home, because that drives up the
worker's compensation claim.
So again, having that outlinedetailed job description and
again those don't need to bereviewed as heavily as an
employee handbook potentiallyjust because there isn't as much
change.
But again, that's somethingthat needs to be looked at,
probably more than just onceevery five years.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Oh for sure.
And I think if you get a newtoy, like if you bring in a new
piece of equipment, and that'sincluded in their job
description and I like to leavethose best, like you know.
So I grew up kennel technician,receptionist, I've done the
things, but.
I did the things 20 years ago,so now I would depend on my
leads to really go through andlook at the job functions and
(14:01):
making sure that all of ourbases were covered.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And I also would have different expectations for
different.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
you know, I had a lead technician job description
for different you know, I had alead technician job description
and then like one and two levels, so that it's important.
I think for you know theveterinary industry, it's kind
of like a sink or swim.
We throw somebody in, maybethey know it, maybe they don't,
but the doctor's busy.
They grab them and say, hey, dothis.
Well, if they don't know how todo that, like people pleasers
(14:27):
just say like oh, okay, but like, then that's a liability right.
So if we know that this personis a level one technician, maybe
we're not going to have themintubate the kitten.
Like there's just some rulesand regs of like this is your
lane, let's stay in it for now.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Well, I think also and this came up on some prior
podcasts about careerprogression inside the vet
industry, Like it's not justtechnician or certified
technician, depending on yourstate and the title based on the
state.
But I'm in licensure.
But, you know, if you've gotlevel one technician, level two,
technician, lead technician, itshows that younger person who's
(15:03):
hungry to be in animal healthand the animal health business
world, so to speak, hey, this isa career progression that I
could have.
I can go from technician one totechnician two, to lead
technician.
I want to be the leadtechnician.
Well, here's the job title anddescription.
It gives them something to workfor versus just saying, hey, do
you want to come work at my vetpractice as a veterinary
technician?
Right, sure.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I love that.
Yes, it gives them room to grow, because what do you do?
Like you, always, I want toemploy the people that want to
continue growing and continue tocontribute, and so I would
recommend a having a salaryrange that's posted so that we
kind of know where we are andwhat we want to achieve, and
then I would post those jobdescriptions in your break room
so that the kennel assistant cango and say what do I need to do
(15:47):
?
And then we can have thatconversation.
Like these don't need to belike hidden secret documents
that we bring out on onboardingand never touch again.
Like these should be shared andencouraged for growth and
opportunity.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Oh, and celebrate that within the practice.
When you know, when Meganbecomes technician too, that
gets brought up in the weeklymeeting or the memo that goes
out.
Hey, congratulate Megan whenyou see her.
She just made technician too,or lead technician, whatever
that might be.
Or the kennel attendant gotinto technician one, and so you
know again, it builds thatculture of accountability and,
(16:23):
hey, this is where you can go,especially, as you mentioned,
things have changed a lot in the20 years you've been in the
animal health world, and so youknow, trying to retain those key
team members, anything you cando to get a leg up.
I mean retention is so important, so right.
It's so much easier to keepthem than to rehire them, so
(16:44):
effective.
So, talking about this kind ofprogression and improvement, how
important are professionalperformance improvement plans
for enhancing staff performance?
And just speak a little bitabout that and things that
you've done in your careermanaging, you know, a single
practice all the way up to 25locations in that key component,
(17:05):
making sure you have successwithin the veterinary setting.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
So I love a performance improvement plan for
so many reasons.
I love them for a paper trailright.
That's really important thesedays.
I love it because yes, yeah, Inever want anyone to be fired as
a surprise, right?
If?
You should always know what'sexpected of you.
If you stepped out of bounds,we're going to you.
(17:30):
If you, if you stepped out ofbounds, we're going to have that
conversation, and if you stepout of bounds again, that's on
you.
So I really love a performanceimprovement plan because it's
it's subjective objective.
It's not I'm not picking on you.
We have a specific thing thatwe're working on.
This is what you did, this iswhat we need to do, and this is
we're going to give you twoweeks to not screw up filling
(17:51):
prescriptions and if, in thosetwo weeks, it happens and we're
either going to send you to someCE or we're going to take away
the ability to do it, or we'regoing to let you go.
I mean so you set it up andthen, and then you put it back
on the employee.
I'll help you as much as I can.
(18:14):
I'll provide you with theresources If you need additional
training or some sort of skillset that we need to work on.
I'm happy to do it, but I havelaid the foundation between the
job descriptions, what we expectof you, so there's really no
surprises, and I love that,because everyone fears this
being mean.
I don't want to fire people.
I would much rather have astaff that's productive and
happy and compliant, butsometimes that's not always the
case.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah, a question that gets thrown around and is not a
favorite amongst the team atButler Vet Insurance is well, if
you were sitting in my chair,what would you do?
You know, it's that old parentquestion.
Well, you know, bill.
You know, billy, what do youthink your punishment should be?
I was like I don't think youshould punish me at all, is my
answer when I was a kid, but itdidn't fly really far because,
(18:58):
you know, the response was well,there's going to be a
punishment.
What do you think it should be,and what do you think is fair?
And you know, people generallytry and do a good job.
I mean, there's always theoutliers, both good and bad, but
generally people want to tryand do a good job and they know
when they haven't.
And they're good team members.
If you're hiring the right teammember, they'll own up to that.
(19:19):
And so it's that question ofwell, what would you do if you
were me?
And then kind of the follow-upis, as you said, is laying out
the plan and say, well, this iswhat happened and this is what
we're going to do to remedy thesituation.
And so it isn't surprised,because it's not fair to the
team member to say well, youknow this has been happening for
(19:40):
six months, it's a problem,you're gone.
It's like well, this is thefirst time I'm hearing about it.
That's when the employment lawattorney gets brought into it
and you get that employmentpractice case brought against
you where wrongful terminationis like I wasn't counseled, I
wasn't advised, so-and-so hasbeen doing this for nine months
and I've only been, I've onlyscrewed it up for four and
they've been screwing up fornine months and I got fired
(20:02):
because they don't like me.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah, there's like the you know if, if everyone
else is cranky about it, ifwe're all talking about Bill
being on his cell phone but noone said like hey, get off your
phone, like that's not fair.
So just being like forward anddirect and like open
communication is it just makesit a smoother process for
everybody.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, I'm always on my cell phone.
It's a real problem around thepractice I would probably call
you out on it.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
If you had an animal in front of you and you were on
your cell phone, that would be ano-no.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
How big a problem is that at practices these days?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Well, I mean, I would always feel guilty, right?
Because my cell phones, myemail, my, like the clients are
texting me, the employees aretexting me, so it's really hard.
Plus, it's such a resource,it's a calculator, it's a, you
know, a website that you need, Ithink.
I think some hard and fastrules never under anesthesia
right, never when walking ananimal outside, never when
(20:56):
you've got an animal that's yourresponsibility in front of you
at the table.
But if I need to research whata drug is, I should be able to
just use my phone.
So it's such a slippery slope.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I think it also depends on classification of job
, right, if you're a DVM andyou're looking something up,
that's one thing.
If you're a kennel attendant,you probably don't need to have.
Your cell phone should be inyour locker in the team room
phone should be in your lockerin the team room.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Also, I'd rather, if you're getting a like we had our
x-ray computer, got foreignviruses all the time, right,
because that's a door and Iwould much rather that happen on
someone's personal cell phonethan on a work computer.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
Plug for cyber liabilityinsurance in the podcast to
protect yourself from that stuff.
Reliability insurance in thepodcast to protect yourself from
that stuff.
So you know, talking aboutscaling and operation, you know
you brought a one vet practiceup to a 12 vet practice in your
early career in management andthen you transitioned from that
to managing a 25 practiceemergency and urgent care
(21:58):
network.
What are some of the thingsbesides the foundational
components that you see eitherare one or two things you have
to do to scale.
And then what are a couple ofmistakes that you see veterinary
practices making over and overagain that they don't.
You know I was like if you onlydid this, it'd be a lot easier
to scale.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I think I mean the easy answer for both of those
right is like you have to bewilling to try some new things
and to take some risks.
Like if I'm going to grow this,I can't just feel 12 doctors
can't do vaccines all day long,like I need to have something
else that we're doing I need to.
I brought an acupuncture, wehave a laser, we're doing more
dentistry, like these kinds ofthings.
Maybe you can bring on housecalls, you can do telemed, Like
(22:38):
there's so many growthopportunities now that that you
can't.
Just, I mean, unless you justwant to be a vaccine clinic like
you've, you've got to be opento trying new things.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, one of our practices did a holistic center
off.
They actually rented space nextto their brick and mortar press
, so they have a freestandingbuilding.
They actually rented space in astrip mall next to their
practice and that's where theydo all the holistic chiropractic
acupuncture isn't in the mainpractice, it's in their
ancillary holistic medicine nextdoor and so you know.
(23:14):
And they couldn't expand thatcomponent inside of their
existing footprint.
They said didn't have anyphysical room to expand the
practice so they had to leasespace but it allowed their
practice to expand.
Also, a small benefit for themwas they had a water issue that
needed some address and so theyactually had to run the practice
out of the side practice.
But to expand you also have togive up some control right, as
(23:39):
the main DVM probably have a lotof control stuff.
Like you just can't doeverything anymore.
You have to have your practicemanager doing stuff.
You have to have some of thesedivisions of control right.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Right, and that's when you need strong leads.
Right, because I can no longer.
I can't be in front ofeverybody, the owner can't be in
front of everybody, so I dependon a strong lead technician to
do this and a strong lead CSR todo that.
I'm not going to make aschedule for 50 people.
I'm not going to remembereverybody's birthday and do all
this stuff so to make it stillhave those personal touches.
(24:11):
You have to develop a strongteam, for sure, and give up some
of the control.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
In our world of the insurance world, and a lot of
the agents that I network withyou basically say if somebody
can do it, 80% as good as I cando it, I'll take that as you
know the name on the building orwhatever you know.
If somebody could do and look,I'm not a veterinarian.
I have no certifications in theveterinarian world, so I don't
know if a surgery at 80% of whatI could do is good enough.
But you know just the mindsetof you, don't?
(24:41):
It doesn't have to be metouching everything, it doesn't
have to be as perfect as I woulddo it.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
I always said I wanted to be missed, but I still
wanted to be able to leave.
I want the building not to burndown and I want you to be like
oh, we're so happy you're back,but the world doesn't end
because I go on vacation.
We still need to be, and Ithink that that's a sign.
I think that's a sign of a goodmanager is somebody that, like,
can leave the place runningefficiently and sufficiently and
(25:09):
then come back and then thataffords the leads, the doctors,
the owners, the managers tofocus on, you know, revenue,
growth and new hires and thatkind of thing, so that you're
not always in the nitty gritty.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
What's probably the biggest mistake you see, when,
when you have a practice tryingto expand and it's limiting
their growth?
You know touched on the controlcomponent, but what's another
one that you that you think is abiggie out there?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
It's so hard because it's such a fine line of like
employing people and keepingthem happy and also serving our
clients.
I think that there's been a hugedisconnect since COVID.
It's like an us versus them now, of the practice versus the
clients, and like we are here toserve the clients and serve the
clients pets.
(25:57):
So I'm not saying, but likebeing closed on Saturdays, I
have a nine to five job and youopen at nine and you close at
five and you're not open onSaturdays, like where does my
pet go?
Then my pet no longer comes toyou.
So I and I think it's fine toclose on Saturdays, but maybe
then we need to open up.
You know, some hours later inthe day.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I see a lot of practices.
I've actually got a couple ofpractices that they're not full
urgent care but they're runningexpanded hours and they're
running multiple shifts.
So from an expansion standpointthey're saying, well, we're
going to stay open until nineo'clock and we're going to be
open on Saturday from 11 tillfive or six and run Saturday
hours and run evening hours andmaybe not that you know, full,
(26:41):
true urgent care, where somebodyis bringing in a cat with a
broken leg but saying, hey, youknow, we'll take well, I mean,
if my vet was open and my cat,louie, broke his leg, I'd
probably go to my vet instead ofthe University of Minnesota,
because the rate's going to bedifferent for the client, right,
the urgent care component.
But not potentially not.
But you know, generally overallit's not that urgent care
(27:02):
pricing, and so you know I thinkthat's an area for expansion is
saying, well, if we want toexpand, maybe we just run some
extended hours in differentshifts, right?
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I think we just have to meet our clients and what our
clients need and every you know, every practice is different
and every neighborhooddemographic is different.
So maybe you're in a retirementcommunity and no one has a job
and they can come to you at twoo'clock on a Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
But that's not always the case.
So maybe we take drop offs.
You want to drop off on yourway to work and pick up on your
way from home?
Great, we got you.
We have to be willing to meetour clients where they need us,
or else, because you're notgoing to have any clients right,
somebody is meeting their needsif it's not you.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I have one practice who's explored and is going to
implement pet taxi, where youpick up and delivery of the
animals so they'll come to yourhouse.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
What about the insurance on that?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
It's actually not too bad.
As long as no humans are in thecar.
It's not as the deliverycomponent, which is the
insurance commercial term fordriving somebody.
Or if you're a taxi driver,it's livery, old school animal
terms, right, uh, and so they?
Um, as long as there's nohumans in the vehicle, they're
not doing it.
(28:11):
The human's not riding with theanimal.
To the practice, it's not asmuch of a liability because if
you get into a car accident andthe animals hurt, it's just like
the veterinary professionalliability or animal Bailey
component of your of your vetprofessional.
It's just a property If ahuman's in the car.
Now you have all these extracosts for the urgent care and
the bodily injury and just likeif you're involved in a car
(28:35):
accident.
You know and you're riding inan Uber.
So yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
That's very unique and I would think that your
clients would love it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
It actually came up because I was doing it in.
It was a local practice here inMinnesota.
I was doing an in-person visitand they had on the refrigerator
and their bake room they had,you know, practice taxi and I
was like, tell me about that.
They said yeah, we're thinkingabout doing it.
I said I'm glad I'm here, causeI don't know, let's talk about
that for a second.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I was talking to somebody who wants to put she's
got a great big backyard and shewants to put, like a swing set,
a jungle gym in the backyardfor kids and I was like, hey, I
think that's a very unique idea,but you need to call your
insurance.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
I would call your insurance agent I, I'm the no
fun guy.
My wife's like oh, if I have tohear about trampolines and
German shepherds and a housewith no deck on the back anymore
, or just you know, I wonder iftheir insurance agent knows
they're doing that.
It all boils down tocommunication, and you have a BA
in communication, correct?
So how, how important do youthink communication?
(29:38):
And you talked about this alittle bit and touched on it,
but as we start to wrap up herewhat you know from a
communication perspective, howimportant is communication as it
relates to your practice andyour day-to-day operations, both
with clients and your teammembers?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I mean, I communicate every day.
Right Like this is the base,this is the foundation of
everything.
And I often get accused ofbeing mean because I am
straightforward, but to me, likeit's not kind to be passive,
it's not kind to like not tellsomeone they have spinach in
their teeth which my wifereminds me of when she does.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
She's like, how long have I had that there?
I was like I just saw it.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I just saw it, I just saw that that means right, you
care for her and you care to belike uncomfortable and say like,
oh honey, you've got thisfinish in your teeth.
I think communication can belike people just like fret and
freak out and get all nervousabout it, but like I can walk by
and say, hey, bill, can you getoff your cell phone?
And that's like, that's anon-issue.
Right, I've told you what theissue, what the problem was.
(30:37):
We addressed it.
We're all moving on Like Idon't have to say like, can we
talk in my office?
You know like, and so I thinkthat that being honest and and
communicating with our clientsthe same way, like just being
open and saying like I didforget to trim your dog's nails,
I'm so sorry.
You know, let me get them donenow or I'll comp you later.
(30:58):
Like owning up to our mistakes,we don't need to be defensive.
We don't need to be angry.
As a manager and a leader, I'mnot going to argue with my staff
.
This isn't up for debate.
You can't have your ear pods inwhen you're answering the
phones.
I mean, there's just somethings, that you can just be
(31:18):
straightforward and have thatconversation and move on to the
next thing, and it's soimportant.
I mean, how else are peoplegoing to know anything?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
I'm in a very information heavy industry with
insurance.
We have to explain a lot ofdifferent stuff a lot of
different ways and we say allthe time email and text are for
information, the phone is forcommunication.
For information, the phone isfor communication.
I think we've just we've now asa society fallen back on you
know and you know we're tryingto get information from a
(31:47):
veterinary practice about theirinsurance or whatever, and we're
like, well, I've emailed themand texted them five times Like,
have we picked up the phone andcalled them yet?
Right, and so you know, itstill boils down to having that
conversation versus you know,well, I've sent five emails to
the client, they haven'tresponded yet.
It's like, well, if you calland leave a voicemail and you
email them and you text them,you'll probably get a response,
(32:09):
versus just sending the email.
And also, it's the informationthat you need to impart in that
phone conversation or thatin-person conversation or phone
conversation, versus trying togive the information over an
email.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
It's transactional, it's conversational versus like
informative right.
I want to be able to refer backto an email.
Let's give me some bulletpoints.
You have a question about thenuance of my staff.
That's a phone call.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I really appreciate thetime today, megan, I think if
you could leave one nugget ofinformation for our listeners 20
years of experience, everythingyou've done, or, let me
rephrase this another way whathas come up the most since you
started consulting at GranitePeak Associates?
(32:55):
What's the one thing you'veprobably said more than anything
else to the clients as you'veworked from there, transitioning
to consulting.
What's come up the most?
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Gosh, I like your first question better.
Wait, my first question.
Let me answer both.
Yeah, answer both Because Ithink your first question leads
into.
I think that surroundingyourself with smart people is
the way to go.
Like I know vet med really welland I don't know insurance.
I know vet med really well andI don't know tax laws.
I don't know, you know legalthings.
(33:24):
So I think that having like astrong support team and
outsourcing the things that areimportant enough, I need to be
recognized, like the insuranceand the taxes and the things
like that.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
So I think that that is a big lesson to learn Like
you should not be digging aroundin these things that you don't
have to learn Like you shouldnot be digging around in these
things, that that you don't haveTrying to figure out the new
FTC non-compliant rules for thefull-time wages and or the
non-competes, and whatconstitutes a non-compete versus
piracy.
Non-solicitation.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
I mean honestly, we can't even fill out W-4s anymore
.
Those don't even make sense.
So like what are we?
Why on earth?
And Google?
Speaker 2 (34:13):
only gives you the answer that Google thinks you
need.
So, like those days of tryingto figure out that stuff is over
.
So I think, surround yourselfwith smart people.
The things that are coming upthe most is tax preparation and
a lot of that numerical analysis.
So you're probably digging intothe numbers a lot more across a
huge range of practices, andit's so much can I afford to
hire somebody?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Can I, you know?
And so, like I've been goingthrough and looking at a lot of
pricing.
Are we priced correctly?
Well, why are you charging lessthan your cost?
Or why is your 50 milligramhalf the price of your 25
milligram?
Like?
There's just some things that,like we put, we kind of like set
and forget that.
I think it would be good for usto go back and check on those
kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Well, those are two awesome pieces of advice.
Megan is is reviewing some ofthose number components and
using an outside source to do itwho has a lot more experience
or is just seeing a lot morethan you are potentially.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Or time I've got time to do it, and lots of people
don't you know.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Correct.
Well, where can people find youif they want to connect with
you in a little bit deeperrelationship?
How do they connect with you orengage with you, either online
or in the world of the internet?
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Oh, for sure I'm trying to grow my LinkedIn.
I'm not very savvy on Facebookor Instagram or any of those
things, but I do really enjoyLinkedIn for professional
connections.
So that's.
Megan Bingham.
I'm going to be at Hive.
You're going to be at Hive.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
So what's funny is?
I live in Minnesota and theyhired me to be a Hive speaker
out in Anaheim.
Yeah, I think they were justbooked out when they were doing
their booking.
I think they were just bookedout when they were doing their
booking.
But you're going to be at HiveJune.
I'm not sure if this podcastwill be out by then.
So you're out on the speakingcircuit, you're out and about.
And then also Granite PeakAssociates.
(35:52):
They're based out on the EastCoast but you're virtual, you're
nationwide, so you work withall their clients because
they're a nationwide firm.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
And we'll have some of that information.
But what's the website forGranite Peak Associates?
Yeah, it's granitepeakcpacom.
So the beauty of that is isthat they do your taxes and I'm
included.
So I'm just like an added bonus, so there's no like additional
Megan time, Like I'm justincluded in all the other
wonderful things that we do.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
So let me get this right.
I'm a vet practice, I hatedealing with taxes and numbers
and I want to work with a CPAfirm that specializes in doing
taxes and numbers specificallyfor animal health and vet med.
So I engage Granite PeakAssociates and then you just
come along as free consulting tohelp because I'm a client of
Granite Peak Associates.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Correct.
So I'm on the onboarding call,right.
We're going to talk about yourpain points then, and then we
meet quarterly.
So as we're going through yourP&L, we can also say like hey,
is this number correct or howcan we work on this together?
And so then I'm the additionalresource for that.
It's always like the what youcan tell me, and then it's like
well, great, but how do I dothat?
What next?
I'm the what, then.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Gotcha.
So the CPAs say, hey, you needto improve this number.
And you're the person that says, hey, if you do this and this,
it helps improve that number.
Right, perfect?
Well, I know the team atGranite Peak.
I got to meet them down at WestVet.
Jared and Heather were downthere and they've got a great
team at Granite Peak and Meganis now part of that team
(37:22):
assisting veterinarians withimproving their numbers, as
identified by the CPA team atGranite Peak.
So well, thanks so much for thetime, Megan, and really
appreciate it having you on.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
This was great.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
As always, everyone remember to like, share and
review the podcast.
It helps with all of ouralgorithm and numbers.
Share it with your friends andwe're excited to have you listen
in on our next episode of theVeterinary Blueprints Podcast.
Welcome to the Veterinary Blueprint Podcast
brought to you by Butler VetInsurance.
Hosted by Bill Butler, theVeterinary Blueprint Podcast is
for veterinarians and practicemanagers who are looking to
learn about working on theirpractice instead of in their
practice.
Each episode we will bring yousuccessful, proven blueprints
from others both inside andoutside the veterinary industry.
(00:21):
Welcome to today's episode andoutside the veterinary industry.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to today's episode, welcome to another
episode of the VeterinaryBlueprints podcast, where the
worlds of animal health,entrepreneurship and business
ideas converge.
I am your host, bill Butler,and today we have a truly
inspiring guest joining us MeganBingham from Granite Peak
Associates.
Starting over two decades agowith a summer job at a
neighborhood vet, megan Binghamfrom Granite Peak Associates.
Starting over two decades agowith a summer job at a
neighborhood vet, megan'spassion for veterinary medicine
(00:50):
has seen her journey from kennelassistant to the heights of
veterinary practice management.
She worked her way up frombecoming a practice manager,
transforming a small bustlingpractice into a 12-doctor
entrepreneurship dream.
Her career trajectory didn'tstop there.
Megan later took the role ofSenior Operations Manager,
(01:10):
overseeing operations at 25different urgent, emergency and
general practice facilities,pushing them towards their peak
potential.
Now, at Granite Peak Associates,megan finds herself in what she
calls her dream job, where sheenhances processes for those
dedicating their lives to pets,setting up veterinary practices
for success.
Not only has she earned a BA incommunications, but she also
(01:34):
has recognized a leader in thefield, currently holding a
position of vice president forthe Houston Veterinary Practice
Managers Alliance and recentlyserving on the board of
Directors for the VeterinaryHospital Managers Association.
A voracious reader, she also asif you're watching along on
this she has a Star Wars andLego aficionado.
(01:54):
Thanks to her husband,firefighter and 10-year-old son,
she brings a unique blend ofpersonal and professional
insights to today's discussion.
So stay tuned as we dive intoprocesses and strategies to help
drive successful veterinarypractice with Megan, as we
explore how to adapt any ofthese for your practice
environment.
Welcome, megan.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Thank you, bill, I sound lovely.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We all do.
On introductions, on podcasts,that's kind of the deal.
Well, welcome to today'spodcast.
Podcast, that's kind of thedeal.
Well, welcome to today'spodcast.
And why don't you tell ouraudience today I kind of gave
the LinkedIn bio there but whydon't you tell our listeners
today kind of how we gotconnected at Granite Peak
Associates and how you wound upthere and kind of your
(02:38):
trajectory in the vet world andanimal health?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I mean, you can go anywhere in vet med, right,
there's a job for everyone.
I hooked up with Granite Peak.
Jared the CEO sent me a messageon LinkedIn and said we are
looking for a certifiedveterinary practice manager.
And I thought, for sure it wasa scam, right, like all the
other messages that you get onLinkedIn.
And I was in my yes phase and Iwas like let's just see where
(03:03):
this goes, and so I love.
So Granite Peak is a CPA firmthat's focused on veterinarians
and so I'm there for the non-taxrelated stuff.
So as we're going through P&Lsand looking at budgets and that
kind of thing, then you know saylike, oh, your cogs are a
little bit out of line withindustry standards.
(03:24):
And then the clients would saylike, okay, how do I fix that?
And they'd be like well, youcan adjust your prices.
So now I'm here to like getdown to the nitty gritty.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
We're talking marketing, we're talking
staffing, we're talking all ofthe things operationally that
can help improve your businessand make your P&L a little bit
cleaner and a little bit better,and so you took all of your
experience working in practicesto help advise for a business
(03:55):
that looks at the high levelstuff from a tax and planning
perspective, and now theybrought you on board to assist
internally with their clients,do what you were doing on the
front line, but now in anadvisory role instead of a
frontline role.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Right, and so now I can help 150 people instead of
just my one practice.
It's really like the dream job.
Also, like no one's ever goingto call out to me no one's ever.
I don't ever have to run apayroll, I don't have to fix a
toilet, like all of these thingsthat you have to do as a
practice manager.
So I get to take all the sweatequity that I've put in and now
hopefully share and make it alittle bit easier for someone
(04:31):
else.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So when we were doing some prep for this, you know I
sent you say hey, what?
What should we chat about?
You have a lot of expertise inthe in the vet, vet world,
veterinary, animal health worldfrom a management perspective,
and the number one question thatyou sent back was I love all
things operational.
That was actually the response,and so within that I think
(04:53):
there's so many different things.
So you've got a strong passionfor all things related to
operations and I think there's acouple of elemental components
to that right.
So, like foundational elementsfor handbooks, job descriptions,
raises, that sort of thing.
So why don't you talk aboutwhat you see in your experience
in talking about operationalaspects of a vet practice and
things that veterinariansnecessarily don't love dealing
(05:15):
with?
It falls to the practicemanager hey, we got to get our
employee handbook up to speed,so why don't you talk about some
of those operational components?
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Sure, and that's great, right, if you do have a
manager to pass it off to you,that's fantastic.
But I think there's so manysmall practices out there that
just have the DVM that's tryingto do their best to practice
medicine and run a business, andthen man that gets the waters
get muddy on that.
So I've found talking toclients at Grand Peak.
I'd say, well, what does yourhandbook say?
And they'd say like oh, wedon't have a handbook or a job
description or any of that kindof stuff.
So I just feel like that's thetime right.
(05:49):
Your handbook is your Bible.
You got to list out your do'sand your don'ts and you can make
them.
As long as they're withinfederal and state laws, you can
kind of make it whatever youwant.
If you want to talk aboutappropriate nail length for your
technicians that they can'tcome in with, you know, two and
a half inch long nails or facialpiercings or any of those kinds
of things.
When we talk about vacation,accrual or requesting time off,
(06:12):
like those are the things thatwe can put in our handbook and
have rules, and so we're fair,moving forward right.
We're not picking and choosingwho we're allowing these
benefits for, and the same withjob descriptions.
Like we're setting up our teamfor success and we know what's
expected of them and how we'regoing to judge them and what
we're going to teach them.
Like it's so important to formthat foundation so that we're
(06:34):
all moving forward on the samepage.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, and I think you know, I'm in Minnesota and
practices all over the countryare different.
We have a lot of legislationhappening on a state and
national level.
Ftc just rolled out can't havenon-competes.
There's a lot of conversationhappening right now in the vet
community about that.
Overall, I mean, in my industryinsurance we have the same
thing a lot of non-competes.
But so staying up to speed onthose things and you know,
(07:01):
having a resource, you know ifthey're a client at Granite Peak
, obviously hey, no-transcriptin this year, and so that's
(07:30):
mandatory.
And making sure that youremployee had we just had ours
rewritten this year to make surewe comply with the Minnesota
stuff.
So I was doing the same thingsyou're talking about, but it's
not a put it on the shelf andforget about it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It's a living document that needs to be
updated, right.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Definitely.
It definitely needs to be aliving document that we're.
It's really like I kind of howI work on SOPs, like the thing
that's giving you the mosttrouble, the hiccups that you
run into time and time again.
That's what we need to address.
So if there's, you know, callouts every Monday morning, let's
write it in our handbook.
Let's have a policy on this andthen let's dole out fairly the
(08:08):
repercussions.
I think that's so important.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Now I heard you mention something there every
Monday and I think a lot ofpractices don't meet every
Monday or every Friday or everyWednesday.
They have a monthly meeting orthey have a meeting every six
months.
Why don't you talk about thatfor just a second in your?
You know, as your bio state, 20year plus experience in
practice management, workingyour practice how important do
(08:31):
you think that is, that weeklycheck in versus that monthly or
more?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
The business is so busy and there's all these
different aspects.
Right, there's the DVMs, thetechnicians, the front desk.
Sometimes you've got kennel andboarding and grooming and they
all kind of run in their ownecosystem.
But they all have to worktogether.
So if we're not checking in anddisseminating information like
how is the person working in thekennels in the back supposed to
(08:56):
know that we changed our policyon taking leashes from clients?
So there needs to be some sortof form of communication.
My staff like I had a staff of50 and I rarely had all team
meetings because anybody who'sgot I mean it can be a staff of
four and you know that theselarge team meetings are going to
turn into like just a disaster.
So I really focused on I wouldstart with my leads.
(09:21):
I would have a monthly doctor'smeeting and then I would have a
monthly lead meeting and then Iwould have the different
sections and so I woulddisseminate the information down
through all of these differentchannels, and then I would have
a memo, a weekly memo that brokeout, like this is for everyone
to know, and then this is whatthe different sections need to
know, and so that really helpedwith, like you know, upcoming
(09:44):
holiday schedules or changes inprotocol or bringing in a new
product.
Like it was just easier to havethis memo that went out every
week than to try to like wrangleall these cats together and
have them pay attention.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah, in the military and I've talked about some
previous podcasts background inthe military personally and the
scope of control is four to six.
You can't manage more than fourto six people and so if you've
got a staff of 12 and you'retrying to have a 12 person staff
meeting, it's going to be aproblem.
So you've got the DV.
You know a person that is yourDVM liaison or coordinator that
(10:20):
manages the DVM team and thenyour tech team and you know so
you have to break.
You can't, as the practicemanager or the DVM, like you
can't manage a team of 15 andthink that you're going to
disseminate stuff down andindividually manage that.
You've got to have some levelsof management in there, as you.
(10:41):
You know kind of talking abouta further question that I had
for you about scaling a practicebecause you took a single vet
practice to a 12 vet practice.
Well, it's not just 12 vets,it's all the support staff that
go with them to get to that 12,right?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yes, and that's huge right.
And I will say, though, that mydoctors were my difficult, my
most difficult group to manage.
They were the most demandingand the least compliant.
So that's always like, the moredoctors you have more problems,
and, to be fair, I needeveryone to know that, like I
hired them back in the day, whenit was easy to hire a
veterinarian, so I don't wantanyone to think that, like I'm a
miracle worker these days,because times are definitely
(11:17):
changed.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
But to scale.
A further question about scalea little bit later is having
those foundational pieces inplace.
Like you can't scale withoutfoundation, right?
Right, so you know.
You talked about handbook.
How important do you think jobdescriptions are in today's
modern vet practice?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I think if you have more than two people doing the
same job, if you've got morethan two technicians, more than
two CSRs, you got to have a jobdescription right.
We've got to be able to go backand say this is what's expected
of you, and this goes for all ofthe things.
Like you can, you can accountfor this, if, if I've got a
pregnant mommy, I need to beable to send them with a job
(11:56):
description to their doctor andsay what can you do?
And so, like, having that can,can you lift 50 pounds?
Can you be around loud noises?
Like you're going to be exposedto bites, you're going to be
exposed to blood?
Like there's just some thingsthat we need to put in to these
job descriptions so that there'sno surprises.
I expect you to work 40 hoursof your full time.
I expect you to do eight hoursof CE a year.
(12:19):
Like all of these things thatwe expect of our employees
should be in here so that we canrefer back to them.
Either you're doing well andyou're getting a raise, or
you're not doing so well andwe're going to do a performance
improvement plan.
Like it all starts with the jobdescription.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You know these are your expectations from an
insurance standpoint.
You know you mentioned about,you know you're a pregnant mom.
Here's what.
What can you do from a jobdescription perspective as you
progress in the pregnancy, theother components of that from an
insurance side, because youknow, claim, workers'
compensation claims do happen inthe vet world Big surprise
(12:56):
shock.
You know people are going toget bit or things are going to
happen at the practice and soyou can use that same job
description after the workers'compensation claim has been
filed to say, hey, so-and-so gotbit, they've got stitches in a
bandage.
What can they do in thepractice to have them recover on
the job?
Which is an important componentto insurance is recovery at
(13:18):
work instead of recovery at home, because that drives up the
worker's compensation claim.
So again, having that outlinedetailed job description and
again those don't need to bereviewed as heavily as an
employee handbook potentiallyjust because there isn't as much
change.
But again, that's somethingthat needs to be looked at,
probably more than just onceevery five years.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Oh for sure.
And I think if you get a newtoy, like if you bring in a new
piece of equipment, and that'sincluded in their job
description and I like to leavethose best, like you know.
So I grew up kennel technician,receptionist, I've done the
things, but.
I did the things 20 years ago,so now I would depend on my
leads to really go through andlook at the job functions and
(14:01):
making sure that all of ourbases were covered.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And I also would have different expectations for
different.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
you know, I had a lead technician job description
for different you know, I had alead technician job description
and then like one and two levels, so that it's important.
I think for you know theveterinary industry, it's kind
of like a sink or swim.
We throw somebody in, maybethey know it, maybe they don't,
but the doctor's busy.
They grab them and say, hey, dothis.
Well, if they don't know how todo that, like people pleasers
(14:27):
just say like oh, okay, but like, then that's a liability right.
So if we know that this personis a level one technician, maybe
we're not going to have themintubate the kitten.
Like there's just some rulesand regs of like this is your
lane, let's stay in it for now.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Well, I think also and this came up on some prior
podcasts about careerprogression inside the vet
industry, Like it's not justtechnician or certified
technician, depending on yourstate and the title based on the
state.
But I'm in licensure.
But, you know, if you've gotlevel one technician, level two,
technician, lead technician, itshows that younger person who's
(15:03):
hungry to be in animal healthand the animal health business
world, so to speak, hey, this isa career progression that I
could have.
I can go from technician one totechnician two, to lead
technician.
I want to be the leadtechnician.
Well, here's the job title anddescription.
It gives them something to workfor versus just saying, hey, do
you want to come work at my vetpractice as a veterinary
technician?
Right, sure.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I love that.
Yes, it gives them room to grow, because what do you do?
Like you, always, I want toemploy the people that want to
continue growing and continue tocontribute, and so I would
recommend a having a salaryrange that's posted so that we
kind of know where we are andwhat we want to achieve, and
then I would post those jobdescriptions in your break room
so that the kennel assistant cango and say what do I need to do
(15:47):
?
And then we can have thatconversation.
Like these don't need to belike hidden secret documents
that we bring out on onboardingand never touch again.
Like these should be shared andencouraged for growth and
opportunity.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Oh, and celebrate that within the practice.
When you know, when Meganbecomes technician too, that
gets brought up in the weeklymeeting or the memo that goes
out.
Hey, congratulate Megan whenyou see her.
She just made technician too,or lead technician, whatever
that might be.
Or the kennel attendant gotinto technician one, and so you
know again, it builds thatculture of accountability and,
(16:23):
hey, this is where you can go,especially, as you mentioned,
things have changed a lot in the20 years you've been in the
animal health world, and so youknow, trying to retain those key
team members, anything you cando to get a leg up.
I mean retention is so important, so right.
It's so much easier to keepthem than to rehire them, so
(16:44):
effective.
So, talking about this kind ofprogression and improvement, how
important are professionalperformance improvement plans
for enhancing staff performance?
And just speak a little bitabout that and things that
you've done in your careermanaging, you know, a single
practice all the way up to 25locations in that key component,
(17:05):
making sure you have successwithin the veterinary setting.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
So I love a performance improvement plan for
so many reasons.
I love them for a paper trailright.
That's really important thesedays.
I love it because yes, yeah, Inever want anyone to be fired as
a surprise, right?
If?
You should always know what'sexpected of you.
If you stepped out of bounds,we're going to you.
(17:30):
If you, if you stepped out ofbounds, we're going to have that
conversation, and if you stepout of bounds again, that's on
you.
So I really love a performanceimprovement plan because it's
it's subjective objective.
It's not I'm not picking on you.
We have a specific thing thatwe're working on.
This is what you did, this iswhat we need to do, and this is
we're going to give you twoweeks to not screw up filling
(17:51):
prescriptions and if, in thosetwo weeks, it happens and we're
either going to send you to someCE or we're going to take away
the ability to do it, or we'regoing to let you go.
I mean so you set it up andthen, and then you put it back
on the employee.
I'll help you as much as I can.
(18:14):
I'll provide you with theresources If you need additional
training or some sort of skillset that we need to work on.
I'm happy to do it, but I havelaid the foundation between the
job descriptions, what we expectof you, so there's really no
surprises, and I love that,because everyone fears this
being mean.
I don't want to fire people.
I would much rather have astaff that's productive and
happy and compliant, butsometimes that's not always the
case.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah, a question that gets thrown around and is not a
favorite amongst the team atButler Vet Insurance is well, if
you were sitting in my chair,what would you do?
You know, it's that old parentquestion.
Well, you know, bill.
You know, billy, what do youthink your punishment should be?
I was like I don't think youshould punish me at all, is my
answer when I was a kid, but itdidn't fly really far because,
(18:58):
you know, the response was well,there's going to be a
punishment.
What do you think it should be,and what do you think is fair?
And you know, people generallytry and do a good job.
I mean, there's always theoutliers, both good and bad, but
generally people want to tryand do a good job and they know
when they haven't.
And they're good team members.
If you're hiring the right teammember, they'll own up to that.
(19:19):
And so it's that question ofwell, what would you do if you
were me?
And then kind of the follow-upis, as you said, is laying out
the plan and say, well, this iswhat happened and this is what
we're going to do to remedy thesituation.
And so it isn't surprised,because it's not fair to the
team member to say well, youknow this has been happening for
(19:40):
six months, it's a problem,you're gone.
It's like well, this is thefirst time I'm hearing about it.
That's when the employment lawattorney gets brought into it
and you get that employmentpractice case brought against
you where wrongful terminationis like I wasn't counseled, I
wasn't advised, so-and-so hasbeen doing this for nine months
and I've only been, I've onlyscrewed it up for four and
they've been screwing up fornine months and I got fired
(20:02):
because they don't like me.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah, there's like the you know if, if everyone
else is cranky about it, ifwe're all talking about Bill
being on his cell phone but noone said like hey, get off your
phone, like that's not fair.
So just being like forward anddirect and like open
communication is it just makesit a smoother process for
everybody.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, I'm always on my cell phone.
It's a real problem around thepractice I would probably call
you out on it.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
If you had an animal in front of you and you were on
your cell phone, that would be ano-no.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
How big a problem is that at practices these days?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Well, I mean, I would always feel guilty, right?
Because my cell phones, myemail, my, like the clients are
texting me, the employees aretexting me, so it's really hard.
Plus, it's such a resource,it's a calculator, it's a, you
know, a website that you need, Ithink.
I think some hard and fastrules never under anesthesia
right, never when walking ananimal outside, never when
(20:56):
you've got an animal that's yourresponsibility in front of you
at the table.
But if I need to research whata drug is, I should be able to
just use my phone.
So it's such a slippery slope.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I think it also depends on classification of job
, right, if you're a DVM andyou're looking something up,
that's one thing.
If you're a kennel attendant,you probably don't need to have.
Your cell phone should be inyour locker in the team room
phone should be in your lockerin the team room.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Also, I'd rather, if you're getting a like we had our
x-ray computer, got foreignviruses all the time, right,
because that's a door and Iwould much rather that happen on
someone's personal cell phonethan on a work computer.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
Plug for cyber liabilityinsurance in the podcast to
protect yourself from that stuff.
Reliability insurance in thepodcast to protect yourself from
that stuff.
So you know, talking aboutscaling and operation, you know
you brought a one vet practiceup to a 12 vet practice in your
early career in management andthen you transitioned from that
to managing a 25 practiceemergency and urgent care
(21:58):
network.
What are some of the thingsbesides the foundational
components that you see eitherare one or two things you have
to do to scale.
And then what are a couple ofmistakes that you see veterinary
practices making over and overagain that they don't.
You know I was like if you onlydid this, it'd be a lot easier
to scale.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I think I mean the easy answer for both of those
right is like you have to bewilling to try some new things
and to take some risks.
Like if I'm going to grow this,I can't just feel 12 doctors
can't do vaccines all day long,like I need to have something
else that we're doing I need to.
I brought an acupuncture, wehave a laser, we're doing more
dentistry, like these kinds ofthings.
Maybe you can bring on housecalls, you can do telemed, Like
(22:38):
there's so many growthopportunities now that that you
can't.
Just, I mean, unless you justwant to be a vaccine clinic like
you've, you've got to be opento trying new things.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, one of our practices did a holistic center
off.
They actually rented space nextto their brick and mortar press
, so they have a freestandingbuilding.
They actually rented space in astrip mall next to their
practice and that's where theydo all the holistic chiropractic
acupuncture isn't in the mainpractice, it's in their
ancillary holistic medicine nextdoor and so you know.
(23:14):
And they couldn't expand thatcomponent inside of their
existing footprint.
They said didn't have anyphysical room to expand the
practice so they had to leasespace but it allowed their
practice to expand.
Also, a small benefit for themwas they had a water issue that
needed some address and so theyactually had to run the practice
out of the side practice.
But to expand you also have togive up some control right, as
(23:39):
the main DVM probably have a lotof control stuff.
Like you just can't doeverything anymore.
You have to have your practicemanager doing stuff.
You have to have some of thesedivisions of control right.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Right, and that's when you need strong leads.
Right, because I can no longer.
I can't be in front ofeverybody, the owner can't be in
front of everybody, so I dependon a strong lead technician to
do this and a strong lead CSR todo that.
I'm not going to make aschedule for 50 people.
I'm not going to remembereverybody's birthday and do all
this stuff so to make it stillhave those personal touches.
(24:11):
You have to develop a strongteam, for sure, and give up some
of the control.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
In our world of the insurance world, and a lot of
the agents that I network withyou basically say if somebody
can do it, 80% as good as I cando it, I'll take that as you
know the name on the building orwhatever you know.
If somebody could do and look,I'm not a veterinarian.
I have no certifications in theveterinarian world, so I don't
know if a surgery at 80% of whatI could do is good enough.
But you know just the mindsetof you, don't?
(24:41):
It doesn't have to be metouching everything, it doesn't
have to be as perfect as I woulddo it.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
I always said I wanted to be missed, but I still
wanted to be able to leave.
I want the building not to burndown and I want you to be like
oh, we're so happy you're back,but the world doesn't end
because I go on vacation.
We still need to be, and Ithink that that's a sign.
I think that's a sign of a goodmanager is somebody that, like,
can leave the place runningefficiently and sufficiently and
(25:09):
then come back and then thataffords the leads, the doctors,
the owners, the managers tofocus on, you know, revenue,
growth and new hires and thatkind of thing, so that you're
not always in the nitty gritty.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
What's probably the biggest mistake you see, when,
when you have a practice tryingto expand and it's limiting
their growth?
You know touched on the controlcomponent, but what's another
one that you that you think is abiggie out there?
Speaker 3 (25:37):
It's so hard because it's such a fine line of like
employing people and keepingthem happy and also serving our
clients.
I think that there's been a hugedisconnect since COVID.
It's like an us versus them now, of the practice versus the
clients, and like we are here toserve the clients and serve the
clients pets.
(25:57):
So I'm not saying, but likebeing closed on Saturdays, I
have a nine to five job and youopen at nine and you close at
five and you're not open onSaturdays, like where does my
pet go?
Then my pet no longer comes toyou.
So I and I think it's fine toclose on Saturdays, but maybe
then we need to open up.
You know, some hours later inthe day.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I see a lot of practices.
I've actually got a couple ofpractices that they're not full
urgent care but they're runningexpanded hours and they're
running multiple shifts.
So from an expansion standpointthey're saying, well, we're
going to stay open until nineo'clock and we're going to be
open on Saturday from 11 tillfive or six and run Saturday
hours and run evening hours andmaybe not that you know, full,
(26:41):
true urgent care, where somebodyis bringing in a cat with a
broken leg but saying, hey, youknow, we'll take well, I mean,
if my vet was open and my cat,louie, broke his leg, I'd
probably go to my vet instead ofthe University of Minnesota,
because the rate's going to bedifferent for the client, right,
the urgent care component.
But not potentially not.
But you know, generally overallit's not that urgent care
(27:02):
pricing, and so you know I thinkthat's an area for expansion is
saying, well, if we want toexpand, maybe we just run some
extended hours in differentshifts, right?
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I think we just have to meet our clients and what our
clients need and every you know, every practice is different
and every neighborhooddemographic is different.
So maybe you're in a retirementcommunity and no one has a job
and they can come to you at twoo'clock on a Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
But that's not always the case.
So maybe we take drop offs.
You want to drop off on yourway to work and pick up on your
way from home?
Great, we got you.
We have to be willing to meetour clients where they need us,
or else, because you're notgoing to have any clients right,
somebody is meeting their needsif it's not you.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I have one practice who's explored and is going to
implement pet taxi, where youpick up and delivery of the
animals so they'll come to yourhouse.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
What about the insurance on that?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
It's actually not too bad.
As long as no humans are in thecar.
It's not as the deliverycomponent, which is the
insurance commercial term fordriving somebody.
Or if you're a taxi driver,it's livery, old school animal
terms, right, uh, and so they?
Um, as long as there's nohumans in the vehicle, they're
not doing it.
(28:11):
The human's not riding with theanimal.
To the practice, it's not asmuch of a liability because if
you get into a car accident andthe animals hurt, it's just like
the veterinary professionalliability or animal Bailey
component of your of your vetprofessional.
It's just a property If ahuman's in the car.
Now you have all these extracosts for the urgent care and
the bodily injury and just likeif you're involved in a car
(28:35):
accident.
You know and you're riding inan Uber.
So yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
That's very unique and I would think that your
clients would love it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
It actually came up because I was doing it in.
It was a local practice here inMinnesota.
I was doing an in-person visitand they had on the refrigerator
and their bake room they had,you know, practice taxi and I
was like, tell me about that.
They said yeah, we're thinkingabout doing it.
I said I'm glad I'm here, causeI don't know, let's talk about
that for a second.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I was talking to somebody who wants to put she's
got a great big backyard and shewants to put, like a swing set,
a jungle gym in the backyardfor kids and I was like, hey, I
think that's a very unique idea,but you need to call your
insurance.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
I would call your insurance agent I, I'm the no
fun guy.
My wife's like oh, if I have tohear about trampolines and
German shepherds and a housewith no deck on the back anymore
, or just you know, I wonder iftheir insurance agent knows
they're doing that.
It all boils down tocommunication, and you have a BA
in communication, correct?
So how, how important do youthink communication?
(29:38):
And you talked about this alittle bit and touched on it,
but as we start to wrap up herewhat you know from a
communication perspective, howimportant is communication as it
relates to your practice andyour day-to-day operations, both
with clients and your teammembers?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I mean, I communicate every day.
Right Like this is the base,this is the foundation of
everything.
And I often get accused ofbeing mean because I am
straightforward, but to me, likeit's not kind to be passive,
it's not kind to like not tellsomeone they have spinach in
their teeth which my wifereminds me of when she does.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
She's like, how long have I had that there?
I was like I just saw it.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I just saw it, I just saw that that means right, you
care for her and you care to belike uncomfortable and say like,
oh honey, you've got thisfinish in your teeth.
I think communication can belike people just like fret and
freak out and get all nervousabout it, but like I can walk by
and say, hey, bill, can you getoff your cell phone?
And that's like, that's anon-issue.
Right, I've told you what theissue, what the problem was.
(30:37):
We addressed it.
We're all moving on Like Idon't have to say like, can we
talk in my office?
You know like, and so I thinkthat that being honest and and
communicating with our clientsthe same way, like just being
open and saying like I didforget to trim your dog's nails,
I'm so sorry.
You know, let me get them donenow or I'll comp you later.
(30:58):
Like owning up to our mistakes,we don't need to be defensive.
We don't need to be angry.
As a manager and a leader, I'mnot going to argue with my staff
.
This isn't up for debate.
You can't have your ear pods inwhen you're answering the
phones.
I mean, there's just somethings, that you can just be
(31:18):
straightforward and have thatconversation and move on to the
next thing, and it's soimportant.
I mean, how else are peoplegoing to know anything?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
I'm in a very information heavy industry with
insurance.
We have to explain a lot ofdifferent stuff a lot of
different ways and we say allthe time email and text are for
information, the phone is forcommunication.
For information, the phone isfor communication.
I think we've just we've now asa society fallen back on you
know and you know we're tryingto get information from a
(31:47):
veterinary practice about theirinsurance or whatever, and we're
like, well, I've emailed themand texted them five times Like,
have we picked up the phone andcalled them yet?
Right, and so you know, itstill boils down to having that
conversation versus you know,well, I've sent five emails to
the client, they haven'tresponded yet.
It's like, well, if you calland leave a voicemail and you
email them and you text them,you'll probably get a response,
(32:09):
versus just sending the email.
And also, it's the informationthat you need to impart in that
phone conversation or thatin-person conversation or phone
conversation, versus trying togive the information over an
email.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
It's transactional, it's conversational versus like
informative right.
I want to be able to refer backto an email.
Let's give me some bulletpoints.
You have a question about thenuance of my staff.
That's a phone call.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I really appreciate thetime today, megan, I think if
you could leave one nugget ofinformation for our listeners 20
years of experience, everythingyou've done, or, let me
rephrase this another way whathas come up the most since you
started consulting at GranitePeak Associates?
(32:55):
What's the one thing you'veprobably said more than anything
else to the clients as you'veworked from there, transitioning
to consulting.
What's come up the most?
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Gosh, I like your first question better.
Wait, my first question.
Let me answer both.
Yeah, answer both Because Ithink your first question leads
into.
I think that surroundingyourself with smart people is
the way to go.
Like I know vet med really welland I don't know insurance.
I know vet med really well andI don't know tax laws.
I don't know, you know legalthings.
(33:24):
So I think that having like astrong support team and
outsourcing the things that areimportant enough, I need to be
recognized, like the insuranceand the taxes and the things
like that.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
So I think that that is a big lesson to learn Like
you should not be digging aroundin these things that you don't
have to learn Like you shouldnot be digging around in these
things, that that you don't haveTrying to figure out the new
FTC non-compliant rules for thefull-time wages and or the
non-competes, and whatconstitutes a non-compete versus
piracy.
Non-solicitation.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
I mean honestly, we can't even fill out W-4s anymore
.
Those don't even make sense.
So like what are we?
Why on earth?
And Google?
Speaker 2 (34:13):
only gives you the answer that Google thinks you
need.
So, like those days of tryingto figure out that stuff is over
.
So I think, surround yourselfwith smart people.
The things that are coming upthe most is tax preparation and
a lot of that numerical analysis.
So you're probably digging intothe numbers a lot more across a
huge range of practices, andit's so much can I afford to
hire somebody?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Can I, you know?
And so, like I've been goingthrough and looking at a lot of
pricing.
Are we priced correctly?
Well, why are you charging lessthan your cost?
Or why is your 50 milligramhalf the price of your 25
milligram?
Like?
There's just some things that,like we put, we kind of like set
and forget that.
I think it would be good for usto go back and check on those
kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Well, those are two awesome pieces of advice.
Megan is is reviewing some ofthose number components and
using an outside source to do itwho has a lot more experience
or is just seeing a lot morethan you are potentially.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Or time I've got time to do it, and lots of people
don't you know.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Correct.
Well, where can people find youif they want to connect with
you in a little bit deeperrelationship?
How do they connect with you orengage with you, either online
or in the world of the internet?
Speaker 3 (35:16):
Oh, for sure I'm trying to grow my LinkedIn.
I'm not very savvy on Facebookor Instagram or any of those
things, but I do really enjoyLinkedIn for professional
connections.
So that's.
Megan Bingham.
I'm going to be at Hive.
You're going to be at Hive.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
So what's funny is?
I live in Minnesota and theyhired me to be a Hive speaker
out in Anaheim.
Yeah, I think they were justbooked out when they were doing
their booking.
I think they were just bookedout when they were doing their
booking.
But you're going to be at HiveJune.
I'm not sure if this podcastwill be out by then.
So you're out on the speakingcircuit, you're out and about.
And then also Granite PeakAssociates.
(35:52):
They're based out on the EastCoast but you're virtual, you're
nationwide, so you work withall their clients because
they're a nationwide firm.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
And we'll have some of that information.
But what's the website forGranite Peak Associates?
Yeah, it's granitepeakcpacom.
So the beauty of that is isthat they do your taxes and I'm
included.
So I'm just like an added bonus, so there's no like additional
Megan time, Like I'm justincluded in all the other
wonderful things that we do.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
So let me get this right.
I'm a vet practice, I hatedealing with taxes and numbers
and I want to work with a CPAfirm that specializes in doing
taxes and numbers specificallyfor animal health and vet med.
So I engage Granite PeakAssociates and then you just
come along as free consulting tohelp because I'm a client of
Granite Peak Associates.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Correct.
So I'm on the onboarding call,right.
We're going to talk about yourpain points then, and then we
meet quarterly.
So as we're going through yourP&L, we can also say like hey,
is this number correct or howcan we work on this together?
And so then I'm the additionalresource for that.
It's always like the what youcan tell me, and then it's like
well, great, but how do I dothat?
What next?
I'm the what, then.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Gotcha.
So the CPAs say, hey, you needto improve this number.
And you're the person that says, hey, if you do this and this,
it helps improve that number.
Right, perfect?
Well, I know the team atGranite Peak.
I got to meet them down at WestVet.
Jared and Heather were downthere and they've got a great
team at Granite Peak and Meganis now part of that team
(37:22):
assisting veterinarians withimproving their numbers, as
identified by the CPA team atGranite Peak.
So well, thanks so much for thetime, Megan, and really
appreciate it having you on.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
This was great.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
As always, everyone remember to like, share and
review the podcast.
It helps with all of ouralgorithm and numbers.
Share it with your friends andwe're excited to have you listen
in on our next episode of theVeterinary Blueprints Podcast.
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