Ask ten veterinary professionals what it means to communicate value and you may get ten different answers. Some will talk about justifying fees. Others will mention explaining the clinical rationale. A few will say it means helping clients understand what they’re paying for.
Those things do matter, but they don’t quite capture what communicating value is to us.
Communicating value isn’t really about the fee at all. It’s about helping a client understand why something is worth doing and what it will change - for their animal, and for them. That’s a subtly (but importantly) different thing.
A quick note: With the CMA's final report now confirming that price transparency will be a legal requirement for practices., the temptation is to focus only on making fees clearer. That’s necessary, but it isn’t sufficient. Transparency about price, without clarity about value, leaves clients with a number they can’t interpret.
Value isn’t a fact. It’s a feeling.
This is the first and most important thing to understand. You cannot tell a client that your service offers good value. You can only give them the context they need to feel whether it’s of value to them.
Think about it from a client’s perspective. They arrive at the practice already holding a set of expectations, worries and assumptions. When a recommendation is made, their brain isn’t running a logical cost-benefit calculation - it’s making a rapid, largely instinctive judgement based on what they’ve been told, how it’s been said, and how it makes them feel.
This is why two people can recommend exactly the same procedure at exactly the same price and produce completely different reactions. One client walks away feeling the investment is obvious; the other walks away uncertain and a little resentful. The clinical recommendation was identical, but the communication of value was not.
So what does communicating value actually involve?
When we work with veterinary teams on this, a few consistent patterns emerge - things that distinguish conversations where value lands clearly from those where it doesn’t.
The problem is framed before the solution is offered
Clients don’t care about procedures or line items on an estimate. They care about their animals (and in the case of commercial animal owners, their business too). This sounds obvious, but it shapes everything about how value should be communicated.
A canine dental is not only valuable because it removes pain sources and improves long-term systemic health. To the client it may be valuable simply because it removes the smelly breath that gets in the way of cuddles on the sofa.
In equine practice, a worm count isn’t only valuable because it helps manage parasiticide resistance. The client may find more value in not having to give their beloved horse unnecessary medications and preventing spend on medications they don’t need.
In a farm context, a herd health visit isn’t valuable because it’s included in the plan. It’s valuable because the farmer gets ahead of problems before they become expensive ones, having an opportunity to ask questions and creating a business built on good welfare with fewer unexpected (expensive) hiccups.
The clinical rationale and the client’s reason for caring are not always the same thing. Value communication means bridging that gap, and it starts with making sure the client understands the problem before they hear the solution.
Outcomes matter more than features
There’s a tendency in veterinary communication to describe what a service involves rather than what it achieves. This distinction is so key.
Clients aren’t buying a procedure. They’re buying a result - comfort, reassurance, a better quality of life for their animal, the confidence that they’re doing the right thing. When a recommendation is framed around outcomes, it becomes much easier for a client to connect with the value.
It’s also worth being honest about what’s at stake if the recommendation isn’t followed. Not in a way that feels pressurising - but loss is a real part of value. A client who understands what they might be protecting against is better placed to make a genuine decision than one who only hears the upside.
The price lands after the value, not before it
Behavioural science is clear on this: when price is communicated before value, the client’s brain gets stuck on the number. They’re stuck processing “do I want to spend that money?” rather than “is this the right thing for my animal?”
Flip the order and the dynamic changes completely. Compare these two approaches:
“We’re looking at up to £1200 for the dental. His teeth are causing him real discomfort - can you see that the build-up is starting to affect the gum line? Getting it sorted now will protect the teeth that are still in good shape."
Versus:
"His teeth are causing him real discomfort - can you see that the build-up is starting to affect the gum line? Getting it sorted now will protect the teeth that are still in good shape. We're looking at up to £1,200 for that.”
In the first version, the client is unlikely to really hear much that comes after “£1,200”. The second version costs the same. But the client is much more likely to have heard why it’s important, and so their decision is more likely to be based on a weigh up of value versus cost.
Delivery matters here too. Phrases like “I know it’s expensive, but…” or “Are you ready for the painful bit…” are well intentioned but they prime the client to feel that the cost is uncomfortable. The clinician has effectively pre-objected on the client’s behalf. Confident, calm delivery of fees at the right time, and without apology will help avoid the fee getting in the way of value landing well.
What gets in the way?
Most of the barriers to good value communication are about habits and confidence rather than knowledge:
- Teams rushing the value conversation because they’re under time pressure
- Teams who have had a difficult reaction to a fee in the past and unconsciously brace for another one
- Teams who assume the client can’t or won’t afford it, so they subconsciously soften the recommendation
None of these habits are intentional. But they’re worth examining, because they consistently get in the way of clients making the decisions that are right for their animals.
The bottom line
Communicating value isn’t a soft skill – it’s an essential communication skill, without which no clinical expertise will land. Like all communication skills, it can be practised, refined and made consistent across a whole team.
When it’s done well, clients feel informed, confident, and they feel that the team genuinely has their animal’s interests at heart - because the way the recommendation was explained made that clear.
That’s what value communication actually means.
At InsideMinds, we take veterinary teams through a structured, step-by-step approach to value-led conversations - covering everything from how to frame a problem clearly, through to presenting options and handling price with confidence. If you’d like to explore how our workshops and training could help your team, get in touch.
