4 Mar 2026
Vet Gemma Barmby urged delegates to “get rid of sorry” when discussing pricing with clients.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Clinicians have been urged not to apologise to clients regarding pricing.
Speaking in the panel “Rethinking vet pricing in a post-CMA world: how to provide transparency and profitability” at SPVS Congress, VMG director and Vet Dynamics business development coach Gemma Barmby called on delegates to be more confident when discussing pricing.
She said: “Get rid of ‘sorry’… We are literally preparing [clients] to be shocked. We’re setting ourselves up for failure.
“‘For the consult, meds, treatment etc, the total comes to [X amount]’. No ‘I’m sorry’, just ‘it costs what it costs’.”
Dr Barmby continued: “Many of us are not confident talking about money. It’s not the norm. It’s very British to not talk about money, to keep it quiet, don’t talk about it.
“We have to normalise it. It’s part of the consult, and that’s why [it’s] the whole practice’s responsibility.”
But she added: “The client should not be hearing that bill total for the first time when they hit the front desk. That is a bomb waiting to go off, potentially. If the bill comes to three, four hundred quid, letting the front of house handle that, that’s not fair.”
To help clients react more positively, she noted the perception of value was “really key” and suggested vets should “start with the benefits. What do I get? What does my pet get? How does this help me? Why would I want to do this? And then the price”.
Dr Barmby urged practice leaders to break down costs for team members to help them build confidence.
She said: “Give them that insight, give them that transparency. Once they have that understanding, it’s easier to believe it and actually stand behind the prices. You’ll find this yourselves as well, and then we’re able to communicate better.”
Speaking in the same panel, vet James Bigglestone argued that working out costs correctly “gives you confidence in the numbers [so] you can defend your story to your clients”.
He added: “It isn’t price-setting, it’s about cost recovery, what it costs us to do this. It’s about sustainability, making sure that our practice carries on the way it is and [is] compliant, without profit maximisation and without benchmark chasing.”
Dr Bigglestone concluded: “The whole race to the bottom [on price], we need to move away from that. We need to be quite proud of our services and what we do and then coming away with numbers and actually deciding this is what it’s worth, this is what it costs, so let’s just charge it.”
Digital Practice chairman Huw Aveston offered a marketing perspective, noting that “price is just one component of what you do” and calling on clinicians to “focus on your overall value proposition”.
He added: “There is an overstatement that the consumer is going to be really price-driven and [if] someone shaves a pound off a consult fee they’ll just go to that one, [but] it’s just not the case and consumers are more clued up about that.”
