In the veterinary and pet industry, vet industry partners are working in a fragmented and highly competitive market. Those of us in this market are aware of its resilience and the growth the industry is experiencing. Structural forces, including premiumisation, pet humanisation, and advancing pet health care models, are influencing consumer spending at the B2C level, which flows downstream to veterinary clinics, pet product retailers and hospitals.

This is positive news; however, it also means new players are entering the market, and businesses are aggressively focusing on growing their market share. History tells us that as a market grows, such as the pet industry, innovation and competition increase. It is not a time to get lazy or complacent; it is the opposite.

For many veterinary industry partners, sales have traditionally been built on relationships. Representatives visit clinics, attend conferences, demonstrate products, answer questions and build connections with veterinarians, practice managers and other decision-makers. Those relationships remain inherently valuable. But relying on your sales team as the only source of selling is a slippery slope.

In modern business transactions, much of the buying journey happens when your representative isn’t in the room. The question is: what happens when your salesperson isn’t there to continue the conversation?

A prospective client may hear about your products or services during a rep visit. A practice manager might get a recommendation from a colleague. A clinic owner could see your business at a conference. In any of these scenarios, the lead will turn to your website. This can happen that day, next week or months later.

Your website will influence their decision-making. A mistake we see is veterinary industry partners treating their websites as online brochures instead of an intuitive extension of their sales team.

Here is an example. Your sales representative has just spent 30 minutes explaining a product or service to a veterinarian. Later that evening, the vet visits your website looking for more information. If all they find is a product name, a few specifications and a generic description, the momentum created evaporates. On the other hand, the client finds a quality product page. It is supported by FAQs, technical information, and clear content that explains the benefits for them and their patients. The conversation continues, and the conversion opportunity is much greater.

Thoughtful and strategically positioned digital marketing makes your sales team more effective. Your digital marketing should be informed by the questions your representatives answer every week. How does the product work? How is it different? Who is using it? What are the clinical or commercial benefits? How difficult is implementation? What support is available? These questions are an excellent starting point for digital content.

Instead of answering the same question repeatedly, your salespeople can follow up with useful articles, case studies, FAQ pages or downloadable resources. This doesn’t make the salesperson less important. It helps them build more professional relationships. By sharing a high-quality information resource that supports a high-quality product or service and by building a strong relationship, you are cementing trust and influencing the client through multiple channels.

It will ensure a follow-up feels more valuable. There is a significant difference between an email saying, “Just checking whether you’ve made a decision”, and one saying, “You asked about implementation when we met. Did you find the website helpful and answer any additional questions?”

An unspoken challenge in sales is that often, there is more than one person making purchasing decisions. The sales rep may have won over the veterinarian, for example, but the practice manager adds an additional layer. The vet will be interested in the product and believes it is a good fit, but the practice manager wants to understand the cost, implementation, and workflow. On top of that, the vet nurses want to know how much training is involved.

The website fills these gaps. Digital content allows each of these stakeholders to investigate the questions that matter to them. This is important for higher-value products and services where purchasing decisions can take weeks or months. Your salesperson cannot be present for every internal conversation, but your digital content is.

The strength of the pet industry also means that vet clinics are busy and decision-makers are time-poor. Buyers don’t necessarily contact suppliers at the beginning of their research. They jump online using Google, AI-powered platforms or a combination of both. Often, by the time someone speaks with your sales team, they have already investigated the problem, compared options and formed opinions about several solutions. This makes educational content increasingly important.

Rather than only displaying content about what you sell, you need to answer questions that influence purchasing decisions. Content that examines the problem and offers solutions. Address misconceptions and provide practical advice. Demonstrate the expertise sitting inside your organisation and why your business is a trustworthy and reliable option. When information is genuinely useful and targeted to your ideal client, your website has become another sales-generating asset.

The biggest opportunity to improve your reputation and build trust with your potential clients is alignment. The sales team has enormous insight into what customers are asking, what challenges they have and what influences purchasing decisions. Marketing must capture that knowledge and turn it into digital resources.

At the same time, salespeople should know what marketing content is available and how to use it during prospecting and follow-up. When the two functions operate independently, not only are opportunities lost, but the disconnect can also derail a conversion. When sales says one thing and marketing says another, trust is diluted. When they work together, each makes the other stronger.

Your sales representatives play an important role in relationships within the veterinary industry. Digital marketing isn’t there to replace them. Its job is to ensure sales can continue in their absence and to support their relationships for future development.

SVMG can help you align your sales and marketing and create a digital ecosystem that converts conversations into sales.

Contact us today for a no-obligation discussion on how we can help your business win more market share.