Matthew P. Block Enterprises

Yesterday, my wife was searching for information on veterinarians.  She wanted to find a place where the vet really showed that they knew animals and how to care for them rather than a someone who just expects us to trust that they know what they’re doing because they’re a vet.  So she was doing a lot of research online.  This gave me an idea.

I decided to Google-search “springfield mo vet” and see what turned up.  The top two results were Deerfield Veterinary Hospital and Parkcrest Veterinary Hospital.  

Parkcrest’s website had the essential information on the front page: address, phone number, office hours, and a cute picture.  A set of navigation links on the left lead to different features such as “Meet the Team”, “Services”, “Retail”, “Hospital Tour”, and “Pet Links”.  Each of these leads to a page with some text, links, and depending on the page, some pictures.

The front page of Deerfield’s site was a bit different: address and phone number were still present, but the main content on this front page was things like “Browse DVH’s Video Library on-line” where you can “find great articles about pet care in (their) video library” and “Top 10 Gifts for Your Pet!” as well as a link to a $10 coupon.

Which of these two sites do you think does a better job of communicating that these vets care about you and your pets?  While they both have clean well-styled websites which are easy to find through a search engine, one features information about the hospital (after all that’s why you’re on their website, right?) while the other offers resources for you to use and throws their contact info in on the side as well.  I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d give the folks at Deerfield a call before wanting to talk to the people over at Parkcrest.  

This doesn’t mean that the Parkcrest vets care about me and my pets any less.  On the contrary, they may even be more caring, more competent, and more helpful.  The problem is their website doesn’t show it.  The Parkcrest website is full of information about their veterinary hospital.  That’s fine if they expect their website to serve as a nice digital brochure.

 But the folks at Deerfield seem to have discovered that their customers don’t just want to know about the hospital; they don’t really care about the hospital.  They care about their pet!  They want to find the best vet only because they love their animal.  So the vet that gives them less information about their clinic and more about how to care for their pets is the vet that is better connecting with their audience!

Now imagine a site where questions and comments are easily submitted back to the vet hospital via the internet and are actually answered (Deerfield has a contact form available, but it’s sunk into the bottom of their “Contact Us” page).  Now the information is no longer flowing one direction, but two.  Popular questions and answers could be posted for all to see to cut down on the amount of questions fielded by the hospital and get the most relevant info to customers quickly.  Soon this site could be so much more than a digital brochure for a vet hospital and become a central resource for people with pet concerns.  And of course everyone would be made aware that this great resource was brought to them by Deerfield Veterinary Hospital.  Those vets obviously care about you and your animals, otherwise they wouldn’t have provided this great resource for your benefit!

This is an edge that requires a multi-directional flow of information, but the great news is: It’s not limited to veterinary hospitals.  This same principal can give an advantage to almost any small business, organization, or politician.  The key is finding a way to connect and hold a conversation with your customers, clients, or constituents.  

How could you do a better job connecting with your target audience?