July 09, 2025

Why Clients Leave Your Vet Clinic and How to Stop It with Dr. Dave Nicol (Ep 118)

17 minutes

In this solo episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m diving into a topic that’s been bothering me for a while: trust.

Now, on paper, the public still ranks vets among the most trusted professionals out there – second only to nurses in most surveys. But out in the real world, I keep seeing behaviours that chip away at that trust. Slowly. Quietly. Consistently. And if we’re not careful, the credibility we’ve spent decades building as a profession is going to unravel.

From sloppy admin at the front desk to thoughtless social media posts that poke fun at clients, we’re creating cracks in the very foundation of our relationships. I’ll share a personal experience that brought this home to me in a big way, and we’ll look at why training, communication and emotional intelligence aren’t soft skills – they’re survival skills.

If you’re a veterinary leader who wants to build a practice your clients trust and your team is proud to stand behind, this episode is for you. Because trust isn’t built by accident, it’s built on purpose, or not at all.

Episode Outline:

00:00 – The client-bashing problem

01:25 – Why trust matters

03:00 – How relationships break

05:00 – The skill behind good interactions

07:15 – Are we really empathetic?

09:00 – When trust breaks: my story

12:00 – Systems vs people

13:45 – What leaders must fix

15:30 – Take action

Want more leadership tools in your corner?

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Check out: Veterinary Leadership Academy

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