What does vaccination mean to your clients?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A J Schuurmans.
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Linked to the theoretical framework of marketing in the veterinary practice, as explained in Schuurmans and Smidts (1) pp. 1-10 and Schuurmans and Smidts (2), an empirical research project has been undertaken. This research gives insight into the extent to which practices base their services on a marketing orientation. By means of telephone inquiries among a sample of 166 veterinarians, this was investigated. The research shows that veterinarians think more in a product-oriented way than in a market-oriented way, and they do not use all the opportunities a marketing orientation could bring to their services. This expresses itself, among others by not using market segmentation, by the inadequate use of the marketing mix elements communication and distribution, and by the fact that the opportunities of the marketing information system are hardly applied. By means of further research in individual practices it might be possible to give concrete advise fit for that practice. Research among the clients of the veterinarians might, beside many other kinds of research, also give valuable insights.
An increase in the number of veterinarians, while at the same time the number of animals has remained constant, has resulted in growing competition. By extending the range of products and by enlarging the veterinarians' scope of activities this competition can be decreased. A marketing-orientation will be helpful in this respect. This article indicates in which way marketing concepts can be used in a veterinary practice. The services of the veterinarian will be looked at by means of the Abell approach. This focuses on the functions performed by the services and examines, per function performed, for whom this might be interesting and which alternatives there might be. Next the concept of market segmentation is filled in for a veterinary practice by means of a hypothetical example. The marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion and personnel) is given considerable attention. The last element of marketing in a veterinary practice that is discussed here is the marketing information system. In a next article the question will be answered how marketing-directed the Dutch veterinarian works nowadays. To find this out research has been done; 166 vets were interviewed by telephone for approximately 40 minutes each.