This document contains a script that our Agria veterinarians should use during their call with pet owners.

The script mostly gives guidelines to a start and finish to the call. It also gives some tips and tricks on how to optimize the time.

The call should be no longer than 10 minutes. A call usually takes about 5-7 minutes. After that you have at least five minutes to finish and send the journal and possibly send a referral.

Therefore it’s really important to finish the call in time, so that you’re done with the call in 15 minutes.

The script:

1. Welcome the pet owner to Agria
   If the pet owner asks questions about the service, refer them to the Agria website “Hi and welcome to Agria!”

2. Introduce yourself
   Your first name is enough. Ex: “My name is 'Lisa' a and I’m a veterinarian here at Agria Vet Guide. I’m going to answer your questions about your dog Kerstin today.” Always mention the animal's name. It becomes more personal for the animal owner.

3. The medical notes
   During the call you can take notes in the medical notes. Feel free to take notes in the boxes and then send the notes to the pet owner after the call has ended.

4. Control the conversation
   To be efficient with the time it’s important to control the call in the right direction. Instead of asking “How’s your dog doing?” You should always ask something about the issue that the pet owner has written in the issue description. For example: “I can see here that Kerstin has an issue with her paw. Can you tell me what happened and for how long she’s had the issue?”

5. Always ask the pet owner to show their animal
   During the video calls it’s easy to forget that we actually have video calls to see the pet and not the pet owner. Always ask the pet owner to show their animals on camera! You can also ask the pet owner to show certain things/body parts of the animal on video. Ask the owners show the animal moving in front of the camera.

6. The advice
   In this phase, you will provide the advice that you judge is correct. Ask about the general condition and previous illness of the animal.

7. End the call correctly
   It’s important that the pet owner understands that the call is about to end and most important, what happens after the call:

   1. You will finish the medical notes where you summarize what you talked about, the advice you gave during the conversation and send it to the pet owner by email. The pet owner can also read the medical notes in the app.

   2. Referral. When you send a referral it’s important that the pet owners understand that they have to call and book an appointment at the clinic. You will send a referral to the clinic with the journal and all the information, but the pet owner always has to call to book an appointment.

8. Follow up.  
   In cases where you think it is appropriate, you can recommend the pet owner to book a follow-up appointment with you. In the app, the pet owner can choose which veterinarian they want to book with. Then say something along the lines of "Feel free to book a follow-up call with me in 4-5 days so we can evaluate the treatment".