Financial Care Conversations For Vets: Talking About Pet Care Costs and Payment

Clear, confident conversations about the cost of veterinary care are essential to delivering quality treatment plans and building trust with clients. Recognizing this, CareCredit collaborated with veterinary experts to create a Financial Care Conversation Guide, designed to help veterinary teams comfortably discuss financial options alongside medical care.

When practices take an open and honest approach to financial discussions, it can help foster trust and support timely decisions by reassuring pet owners that their concerns are heard and addressed. In addition, veterinary practices that accept the CareCredit credit card often find it easier to navigate these payment talks, as they have access to tools designed to simplify and streamline the conversation, making talking about the financial side of care less intimidating for everyone involved.

Communicating Cost Through Every Client Touchpoint

Effective financial communication in veterinary care goes beyond just in-person conversations — it can happen at every client touchpoint. Whether it’s during curbside check-ins, virtual visits, telehealth calls or through phone and email, every interaction is an opportunity to build trust and clarity around costs.

Revealed in the guide are easy-to-apply strategies to help turn every connection into a great client experience:

• Personalize conversations by using a pet’s name.
• Reassure clients with clear details about what to expect at their appointment.
• Ask for appointments confidently and specify the date and time to reduce uncertainty.
• Use video when possible to create a personal connection.
• Proactively offer payment options to alleviate cost concerns.
• Take time to listen and respond thoughtfully despite busy workflows.
• Offer multiple channels for client communication (phone, text, email, social media).

Financial Care Communication

Delivering a great client experience means making the financing process seamless. You can support your clients’ financial readiness by integrating payment option information across:

• Your practice’s website. Financial care pages with payment info and CareCredit links
• Social media. Posts and videos about cost management and payment solutions
• E-communications. Emails and newsletters featuring financing options
• Curbside and virtual care. Share custom QR codes and payment links for contactless transactions
• Telehealth/telemedicine. Make sure clients know how to pay when services are remote

As a CareCredit provider, you’ll have access to resources designed to help you make such financial communications easy and more effective at all these connection points, including:

• Visual aids. Payment charts that clarify client financial responsibilities and choices
• Payment calculator. Helps clients explore financing options and estimate monthly payments
• Contactless financing. Custom links for clients to learn about and apply for financing via mobile or at home

Sample Conversations: Practical Scenarios

This guide includes some examples of how you can approach common client payment discussions using proven strategies, including:

• A payment solution for surgery. Introduce treatment details, address client concerns and offer CareCredit financing before clients ask.
• Emergency care step-by-step. Provide reassurance, explain diagnostics and costs and discuss flexible financing options as the case evolves.
• Preparing for price shopper calls. Emphasize the value of your services and team, introduce financing options and follow up to build relationships.
• New client connections. Show empathy for urgent concerns, promptly schedule appointments and share financial support options clearly.

How to Use This Guide

Staff meetings are a great time to train your team on effective, trust-building financial conversations with patients. This guide from CareCredit will help you lead positive discussions and build a confident financial care team.

• Choose from helpful role-play scenarios and tips to guide payment discussions.
• Assign team members different roles for practice.
• Discuss each scenario to ensure your team feels prepared for real-life situations.
• Use conversation starters to inspire and support your team’s approach.