Recently we’ve been revamping our PMP website. In doing so, we realised that our “about” section was the same four paragraphs of copy we’ve been using since we launched back in 2020.
We’ve grown and changed a lot since then, but our website didn’t reflect this.
So we decided to set this right. And as part of this we decided to try and write our mission statement.
And honestly, we found it really tough.
Just like so many of the veterinary practices we work with, we’ve grown organically with only a loose plan for our destination. We’re very much influenced by our founder, Justin, but we’ve added new voices as we’ve grown. We’ve worked with dozens of different clients, all of whom have needed slightly different things from our partnership.
How do you summarise that into one vision that defines what we stand for?
Here’s what we came up with.
We have a clear Practice Made Purrfect ethos and way of working which we can summarise here:
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When we work with a practice, we become your outsourced marketing department – and by becoming an extension of your team, we take the same level of pride and care in the work we do as you’d expect from an in-house team member.
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We love what we do and we spend a lot of time researching the answers to problems such as the CMA investigation and the rise of AI, so that practice leads and their clinical teams can access the right answers quickly.
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We believe that every practice is unique and that it’s our duty to help you communicate this to your clients and potential clients in a way that will resonate with them.
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We’re evangelical about practice health plans and believe unlimited consult plans are central to the success of a modern practice.
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We prioritise securing as many five star Google reviews for your practice as possible, as the digital currency of word of mouth.
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We’re passionate about digital tools and believe optimising your tech stack – and getting every last drop of benefit from the platforms you’re paying for – is an important route to efficiency.
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We track KPIs monthly – new and active clients, turnover, health plan metrics – to inform us on where marketing resources are needed and to monitor the effectiveness of our work.
Reading it back afterwards, we realised something important.
We didn’t talk about emotions or intangibles. Everything we listed was concrete. It’s not about what we think – it’s about what we do.
It wasn’t the goal. But we think we’ve stumbled on an important lesson.
Focus on what you do, not what you think
If you take stock of veterinary practice marketing, you’ll see that we often get sucked into talking about intangibles: airy emotional promises that don’t have any depth – and don’t truly differentiate one practice from the next.
We treat your pet like one of our own. We treat your pet like family. We’re reimagining veterinary care. Happy visits start here. We’re always by your side.
On the face of it, these are warm, positive messages. Maybe for some clients they produce a glow, a fuzzy feeling that makes them want to trust us.
Or maybe they miss the point entirely.
The reason we put so much thought and effort into marketing is to explain to clients why we’re different, and to encourage them to use our team rather than the competitor down the road.
But 99.9% of veterinary professionals care about animals, want the best for their clients and aim to provide the best service possible. These aren’t differentiators – they’re non-negotiables.
So rather than trying to persuade pet owners that we’re nice people, let’s explain what truly makes us stand out.
What does this look like in practice
First, a quick note on what this doesn’t look like. We’ve talked before about how telling clients that we’re independent doesn’t on its own make us better than our competitors – it has to be as part of an explanation of what our independence allows us to offer.
What we’re currently seeing is how a message can be co-opted – and in the process lose all meaning.
The term independent is losing all meaning in our industry. It has been weaponised in the fallout of the CMA investigation, and now non-independents are moving to shore up their position.
Just look at how Medivet has rebranded recently. The corporates are moving to position themselves as having the same benefits as small, traditional independent practices.
This means we need to try harder.
So how do we do this?
Let’s use some examples from practices we work with.
This is from the Stellar Vets website:
"We will strive to keep overheads low, use technology to leverage all our team’s skills and partner with others who can provide some services more efficiently and cheaper than ourselves. The aim is always to provide great vet care at great value prices."
This is a clear, transparent expression of founder David Hodges’ ethos and values – with a tangible benefit from clients. If you become a Stellar Vets client you can expect a tech-first approach to the admin side of practice, and in turn prices will be fair and the experience you receive in practice will be, well, Stellar.
How about this from Bishopton Vets:
"[Our independence] means we can act on the increasing evidence emerging about the development of drug resistance and the harmful effects of some parasite treatments on our ecosystem by offering bespoke, risk-based parasite plans for Lifetime Care Club members, protecting your pet and your family whilst also caring for our environment."
The Bishopton team are doing something that’s incredibly rare with their health plan and approach to parasiticides that sums up their forward-thinking vision – they want to combine great care with their passion for environmental concerns. It’s a real stance and clients can decide if it’s something they want to support.
One from our friends at The Vet Station:
"I want to create a practice where my nana would feel comfortable, somewhere that would offer her a cuppa and a kind ear. I want to build relationships with our clients where they know me and the team as friends. I’m not strict on consult times, I message my clients directly to let them know how their pets are getting on and if they want to see behind the scenes they just need to ask."
So many practices claim to be doing vet care differently and to prioritise transparent communication with clients. But saying that alone doesn’t prove that it’s true. Here, founder Vanessa Waite is talking directly to clients, giving them tangible examples of this approach in action. It feels real – because it is. The mention of Vanessa’s nana is the icing on the cake!
What's next:
How to use this approach in your practice
When setting up your practice you made thousands of small decisions. And you’re still making them every day.
From who you bring into your team to the length of your consults, from how you handle out of hours to what goes into your health plan – there's a reason behind everything.
All we’re aiming to do here is to explain in concrete terms what we believe makes your practice great.
It might feel unnatural at first, but once you tap into it, you should have plenty of inspiration.
And if you need a little prompting, we’re here to help! Book a chat with us below.
Vet practice marketing
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If you’re eager to improve your practice’s marketing but you’re unsure where to start, I’m taking on new clients for the next quarter! Book an initial discovery below!
