The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted veterinary client satisfaction and loyalty.

Abstract

To evaluate the temporal association of the COVID-19 pandemic with veterinary client loyalty and satisfaction. 318,693 client satisfaction surveys, available from CalPro Research, between March 5, 2018, and May 30, 2022, from 4 veterinary practice types: colleges of veterinary medicine, emergency/critical care clinics, general practices, and specialty private practices. Survey data on client loyalty score (CLS), which is the likelihood of a client to recommend a practice, and 5 clinic performance domains (professionalism, communication, convenience, perceived overall value, and personalized interaction) were compared between the pre-COVID-19 (2018 to 2020) and COVID-19 eras (2020 to 2022) and by practice type. Correlations among CLS performance domains were evaluated. CLS and all clinic performance domains decreased significantly during the COVID-19 era (P < .001), except professionalism. There was a significant correlation between each performance domain and overall CLS (P < .001). The most pronounced association with CLS during the COVID-19 era was for personalized interaction. Among clients who did not report a personalized interaction (ie, their dog or themselves being addressed by name), the CLS decreased from 9.47 to 4.88 (P < .001). Our study found that client loyalty scores for veterinary clinics dropped during the COVID-19 era, although veterinary professionalism was still considered high. These data suggest that improving communication, convenience, perceived overall value, and especially personalized interactions with clients could improve client loyalty. In particular, consistently addressing clients and pets by name provides a specific, measurable, and achievable intervention for clinics to potentially sustain client satisfaction and loyalty.