Okay, okay. The “bees” part is just to complete a rhyme. Though, bees can also present a nasty problem for dogs and cats…but I will approach that later.
First of all, you must know how irritating it is for me to hear the words “My pet doesn’t have fleas, I live [insert any town in rural East San Diego]”. I just about DIE every single time I hear anyone say these words to me. Why? Oh honey, I live there. I too have been a victim of the disgusting flea undertaking that has occurred in the great state of California this year. Mix a little hot with a little humid and BAM! You’ve got yourself a really nice flea problem, which is why I am such a huge advocate for ANY flea control.
Picture this: I’m in an exam room, talking with a client, going over a plan to remove a foxtail from this poor flea ridden dog’s nose, and explaining the release form to said client. One addendum on the form is that if fleas are found on your pet, a treatment will be administered to the pet to prevent the spread of fleas to any other patients in the clinic. (And I love this, because everyone that has ever had fleas found on their pet says that it HAD to have come from the vet!). I’m not kidding you, I got reamed by this eighty something year old woman for suggesting that a CHEMICAL would be administered on her pet to kill the fleas on her dog when she lives in Small Mountain Town where fleas just don’t live! She actually told me that the fleas will die in the winter in the town that I LIVE IN! The client walked out with her dog over flea prevention.
What is the point of this story you may ask? If I were to take a poll in my town alone (population 1,510), I would wager that a mere 7 of us use any kind of flea prevention for our cats and dogs. Why? Because fleas don’t live up here. Never mind that these pets live in our homes, on our couches and beds in a temperature controlled environment. They catch those darn parasites at the vet – where many of us only go when our dogs are itching incessantly and they need their “itchy shot”.
I’m a huge proponent of client education. I truthfully believe that if you can teach one client something they didn’t know every single day, they will tell their pet owning friends the cool thing that they learned, and so on and so forth. Choose something to be passionate about. I’m passionate about preventative care. Save your clients money. They appreciate that more than you could ever imagine! Flea control is one hundred percent effective in preventing itching associated with flea allergy dermatitis, therefore preventing the pet owner from the need to pay for a steroid injection that is terribly heavy on their fur child’s liver therefore prolonging the pet’s life.
I know form experience that some times of year are more difficult than others, but that is why we need to be so encouraging to our clients when we sell them the products on our shelves! Many flea preventatives come with some real fancy stickers in the box to put on the calendar to remind the client to administer the next dose. Telling a client that from the get go is so much more effective than expecting them to go home and open that box in the first place.
Grow a passion! You will be rewarded when your passion translates to client trust.
~K
Teaching to Tech 