Like many companies, the Instinct team has had to make major adjustments to our new client onboarding process as a result of the pandemic. The biggest change during 2020 was that we weren’t routinely traveling to veterinary practices and thus couldn’t be on the floor during the go-live (which is what we call the Instinct onboarding process).

We certainly miss visiting our new hospitals, meeting the staff, and exploring their cities (my last trip was to beautiful Victoria, BC). But we also know hospitals need our veterinary workflow software more than ever so we have worked hard to make our new virtual go-live process successful for them.

We get asked a lot what this process looks like in the middle of a pandemic. So here’s a quick guide, from the moment a veterinary hospital chooses Instinct through all the touchpoints that follow.

🤙 Kick Off-Call

During the initial kick-off call, we find out how the staff and practice are organized. This helps us figure out how best to approach training.

Discussing this early in the process also allows the staff to plan ahead and allot plenty of extra time to spend with us virtually before their first day with Instinct.

🤗 Careville

Our Careville help desk was built as an online Instinct user manual, as well as a tool for existing veterinary hospitals to onboard new staff members and better understand new features.

It’s also a great tool for onboarding the hospital initially. Careville is full of manuals and training videos and is great for getting the team excited about and familiar with using Instinct.

📹 Pre-Trainings via Zoom

Our team offers multiple training sessions that conveniently provide every team member an opportunity to sign on and learn about Instinct with a full demo. We explain the entire process—from checking in a patient to building out a treatment sheet and completing those treatments—live and in complete detail.

These training sessions are a great opportunity to discuss exactly how Instinct will be applied to each veterinary practice’s workflow, and we encourage teams to ask as many questions as they like.

Plus, the Instinct support team is completely made up of former veterinary staff professionals, which means we are well-equipped to brainstorm the most effective plan to help each veterinary hospital use Instinct to its fullest potential.

⚙️ Customize Instinct Before Go-Live Date

If the practice is able to provide the necessary data in advance, it’s extremely helpful to have Instinct up and running before the go-live, specifically for admins and team leaders to give it a test drive in a more familiar setup.

Because much of the application is customizable, hospital administrators are able to guide certain components of Instinct to better fit their unique workflow.

💻 Virtual Presence at Go-Lives

Since we can’t physically be at the practice, we've found the next best thing is to be there virtually.

A few days before the go-live, we send out an easy-to-use laptop for the practice to borrow. It’s already customized and set up for them, and for the next 48 hours the team carries us around on video as if we’re there!

This laptop is a direct connection to the Instinct team. Rather than monopolizing a workstation at the practice, the practice team can place this laptop anywhere in the hospital. That way, anyone can walk up and ask a question if they run into issues or concerns.

The laptop also comes with Instinct installed, so users can screen share with our team and we can walk them through the application as needed.

💬 24/7 Chat

Customer support is extremely important to us, and with Instinct’s built-in support chat, new teams always have access to immediate help (for go-live and beyond).

If one staff member is already talking to our team via Zoom on the Instinct laptop, another staff member can simply send us a message in that chat and the entire Instinct team will be at their disposal.

✔️ Periodic Post-Go-Live Check Ins

We love what we’ve already built with Instinct, and we're just getting started. With new and innovative features planned for years to come, we know the value of consistent follow-up. If new questions or problems arise after a go-live, the Instinct team is always happy to jump on a call and help.

Although we hope to be out on the road again soon, we have learned to embrace technology for our go-lives. Using these simple guidelines, our new veterinary hospitals have been seamlessly transitioned to Instinct, all from a safe distance.