What does it cost your practice to miss a call from a client?
Independent phone and call-handling advice for vet practices. I don't sell phone systems.
What's changing for vet practices
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Copper landlines switch off
What it means for your phones: Check alarms, card machines and back-up lines.
Read the article -
Prescription fees capped, and clients told they can buy medicines elsewhere
What it means for your phones: Expect more price and prescription calls.
Read the article -
Practices to be licensed as businesses under proposed law reform
What it means for your phones: Reception will field more questions about ownership, complaints and cover.
Read the article
Three problems I hear from practices
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The Monday morning spike
Everyone rings at once, the lines jam, and some owners simply ring the practice down the road.
Check this part of your practice: The Monday morning spike -
The out-of-hours hand-over
A worried owner at 7pm needs one clear number and one clear message. Too often they get neither.
Check this part of your practice: The out-of-hours hand-over -
Reception torn between desk and phones
One person, a nervous spaniel at the desk and three calls waiting. Something has to give.
Check this part of your practice: Reception torn between desk and phones
What a missed call costs a vet practice
A missed call is only lost money if the caller goes elsewhere. In a busy practice that happens every day. These are the published UK figures I use to value a missed call, and the estimates I use to turn them into a monthly cost.
What one appointment is worth
| Type of visit | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Routine consultationSource: UK Vet Pricing Data Report, Sept 2026 (about 3,000 practices) | £60UK average £59.99; independent median £56, corporate median £61 |
| Annual check-up with vaccinationSource: Same report | £71–£73Dog booster £70.73, cat booster £72.95 |
| Out-of-hours emergency consultation (fee only, before treatment)Source: ManyPets survey of 49 emergency vets, Jan 2026 | £276UK average; £257 in the North |
| Treatment episode (tests, medicines or surgery)Source: Which?, using ABI figures | About £680An upper guide, calculated from insurers paying £1.23bn on 1.8m pet claims in 2024 |
- I use £60 as the default value of a missed booking, because most calls are routine.
- The emergency fee is only lost by practices that run their own out-of-hours cover. If you pass nights to a provider such as Vets Now, you don't lose it directly.
- A lost new client costs far more than one visit: years of vaccinations, treatment and health plan payments. I couldn't find a reliable published annual figure, so I haven't included it.
A worked example
A practice taking 100 calls a day. These steps are my estimates, shown openly. In the check, your own answers replace them.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Calls missed at busy timesEstimate, replaced by your own answer | 15% = 15 calls |
| Of those, booking callsEstimate | 40% = 6 calls |
| Callers who never ring backCautious estimate | Half = 3 lost visits a day |
| Value lost per dayRoutine consultation average | 3 × £60 = £180 |
| Per month (22 working days) | £3,960 |
| Per year | About £47,500 |
Even at half these estimates, a practice loses over £20,000 a year in routine visits alone, before emergencies or lost clients.
How I work it out
Monthly income at risk = calls per day × share missed × share that are bookings × share that don't ring back × average consultation value × 22
My defaults are 15% missed, 40% bookings, 50% who never ring back and £60 a consultation. You can change every one of them in your full result.
This is a guide, not a forecast. Real figures depend on your own call data.
Independent or part of a group?
If you're independent
You choose your own systems, and you can move quickly. Your edge is knowing your clients by name, so make sure your phones help you show it.
Where small practices can still winIf you're part of a group
Head office usually chooses the systems, but the local team feels the pain. I can help you make a clear, costed case for better phones.
How to make the case to head officeYour practice system and your phones
- RoboVet
- RxWorks
- Teleos
- Merlin
- Provet Cloud
- ezyVet
- Animana
- VetIT
Whatever you run, your phones should know who's calling.
Does your phone know who's calling?Names are shown as text. They are trademarks of their owners, and I have no commercial link with any of them.
Latest articles
Plain-English notes for practice owners, managers and reception teams.
- News and rules The prescription changes: what they mean for your phones Capped fees, written prescriptions on request and published price lists are coming. Your phones will feel it first. Read the article
- News and rules What happens to your practice phones, alarm and card machine on 31 January 2027? Copper landlines stop on 31 January 2027. Phones are the easy part; alarms, card machines and back-up lines are where practices get caught out. Read the article
- News and rules Your practice is about to be licensed: what reform means for reception Vet practices are set to be regulated as businesses. Reception and the phones are where much of that will be judged. Read the article
- Independents and groups Independent versus corporate: where small vet practices can still win Independents can't match the groups on scale. They can beat them on knowing their clients, and that starts with the phone. Read the article
- Independents and groups Part of a group? How to make the case to head office for better phones Head office chooses the systems, but the practice feels the pain. A short, evidence-based case is how practice managers get changes made. Read the article
- Systems Does your phone know who's calling? Linking phones to RoboVet, Merlin, Provet and the rest When the phone talks to the practice system, reception sees the pet's record before saying hello, and missed calls become call-back tasks. Read the article
- Phones and calls What does a missed call cost a vet practice? At £60 a consultation, three lost visits a day costs a practice around £47,500 a year, before emergencies or lost clients. Read the article
- Phones and calls The 8:30 Monday problem: how many clients give up before you answer? Weekend worries all arrive at once on Monday morning. Callers who hear an engaged tone often ring the next practice. Read the article
- Phones and calls The out-of-hours hand-over: a rule, not just good service When the practice closes, the phone becomes the only route to help. The Royal College requires clients to be given clear details. Read the article
About Ben, for vets
- I have 25 years' experience across many industries, from police control rooms and a national blueprint for 43 forces to Burberry.
- I now focus specifically on vet practices, because it's important to understand the process: how a call becomes an appointment, a prescription or an emergency.
- I'm based in Sheffield and work with practices across the UK. I'm independent, with no phone systems or products to sell you.
Frequently asked questions
Will this work with my practice system?
Yes. The check works with RoboVet, RxWorks, Teleos, Merlin, Provet Cloud, ezyVet, Animana, VetIT and others. It asks which one you use so I can point out what your phones could do with it.
Do I have to change supplier?
No. Many of the quick wins are settings your current supplier can change. If a change of supplier would help, I'll say so, but I don't sell anything and I earn nothing from your choice.
Will you contact me?
Yes. Once you send me your details I'll get in touch to talk through your result and arrange your call. I don't sell phone systems, so it's advice, not a sales pitch.
What does it cost?
The check and the on-screen result are free. The full report and the 1-hour video call to talk it through are also free.
We're part of a group. Can you still help?
Yes. Head office usually chooses the systems, but the local team knows where the phones hurt. I can help you set that out clearly enough to make the case.
See how your practice compares
Ten minutes of questions. You'll see a first look at your result straight away, and I'll send you the full result.