7 Myths About Online Booking and Vetstoria

Does the concept of online booking make you think, “Nope, that’s asking for trouble”?

When we speak to practice teams and show what Vetstoria can do, they’re often impressed by its time-saving, client experience-boosting benefits and can’t wait to get started. However, we do sometimes run into objections.

Here are seven common misconceptions and myths surrounding online booking and Vetstoria — and the truth.

1. “Implementing Vetstoria will take time; which we don’t have.”

Vetstoria takes just about three to four hours of your (or someone from your team’s) time to set up. That’s time that you will get back within a day of going live with Vetstoria. To make things easier, we have a dedicated team that helps you set up Vetstoria to meet your practice needs. Vetstoria customer St. Francis Veterinary Hospital was live with Vetstoria within 72 hours of signing up — proof of how quick it is to get started with Vetstoria. 

2. “We’ll lose complete control of our schedule.”

Vetstoria was built by two veterinarians who understand how a practice works and that each one is different; therefore, they designed Vetstoria to be the most customizable veterinary platform on earth. Everything, from the appointment types offered and how many slots are available for specific procedures to which clinicians are booked to treat which species, can be defined by you. It’s totally in your control. Furthermore, we have powerful features, such as smart automated triaging, to ensure the right appointments are booked at the right time with the right clinician.

Don’t believe us? Here’s a quote from one of our customers:

“We only add bookable times before lunch — two hours per vet. Then you have the opportunity to keep the animal if it’s complicated. The smart triage system works well to filter out emergencies. However, we read the descriptions’ ‘reason for the visit,’ and if we feel it could be more complicated than it sounds, we give them a call.”

Sofia Berg, Receptionist

AniCura Djurdoktorn i Linköping, Sweden

3. “It’s not compatible with my practice management software.”

Vetstoria integrates with more practice management systems than any other veterinary software on the market, so the chances are that it is compatible with the software you currently use. Our integration with your practice management software is what makes Vetstoria so powerful, as it ensures appointments are synced in real-time with your existing calendar. This eliminates double-booking and enables pet owners to see live availability based on your calendar and book appointments on your website without manual intervention from your team.

We currently integrate with 28 practice management software.

Find yours here

4. “Online booking is included in the software we already have.”

There is a lot of confusion between booking an appointment online and requesting an appointment online. Online booking involves the client seeing real-time availability of your practice calendar, choosing and booking a slot, and receiving an instant confirmation at the time of booking. Requesting an appointment typically involves a client requesting a specific time slot for an appointment, which your team responds to when they can.

True appointment booking is only possible if the “booking tool” integrates with your practice calendar. This is something most solutions on the market — including web forms, communications tools, and veterinary apps — don’t offer.

Why does this matter?

Offering appointment requests catalyzes a lot of back and forth, which creates a less-than-ideal customer experience and additional work for your team. Real-time booking solutions like Vetstoria are designed to automate, save time, and delight.

5. “We will lose human touch with our clients.”

We recently surveyed 104 veterinary practices to discover whether this was the case. Does online appointment booking result in a loss of personal touch? And how does it impact the pet owners’ experience?

The results speak for themselves. Pet owners prefer booking online, with 86% of surveyed practices reporting positive feedback from their clients. Additionally, over 85% of practices stated that online booking goes beyond saving time and positively impacts the level of service they offer pet owners. Here’s a quote from a veterinary practice using online booking:

“Without the phone ringing off the hook, we can take our time with each phone call rather than feeling like it’s a conveyor belt.”

Zephanie, Vet and Director

Shepherds the Vets, Wales 

Practices that offer online booking see satisfaction rates of over 96%. This is why airlines, restaurants, hairdressers, and cinemas adopted this a long time ago: It saves time for their teams, and clients find it convenient. So why not?

6. “A new software will be difficult to use.”

The best thing about Vetstoria is that it works in the background. Once it’s connected with your practice management system and configured to meet the needs of your practice, you don’t have to log into Vetstoria again unless you want to make changes.

We have a friendly team of ex-veterinary professionals who will guide you through the setup process and a support team to help you make any adjustments you need whenever you want to, so you’re in safe hands and have nothing to fear. We also offer learning material via our knowledge base, a community of Facebook users, and regular webinars on product updates and features so that you can stay updated.

7. “It’s too expensive for us or not worth the money.”

If reducing calls and saving at least 40 hours of admin time each month, providing your customers with the convenience of self-scheduling their own appointments when it suits them, and boosting revenue aren’t worth it, sure. However, we’re so confident you’ll see the value that we offer you a 30-day money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work for you.

Use our ROI calculator to see how many hours you can save and how much additional revenue you can expect to receive after integrating online booking.

Want to have a chat with one of our practice management consultants and see if Vetstoria is right for you?

Book a demo now