When Your Team Becomes Your Best Marketers - ep.249

Julie South [00:00:03]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices: Culture storytelling conversations that help veterinary clinics hire great people. I'm Julie South and this is Episode 249.

Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs, the culture storytelling platform for forward-thinking vet clinics.

Julie South [00:00:30]: Last week we talked about bringing your team into Culture Storytelling - what it looks like and how to get started without making it weird.

This week: what happens when your team starts sharing your Culture Stories themselves and why that's more powerful than anything you could ever post from your clinic account.

Stay to the end for your action plan this week - what you can do this week to make this happen in your clinic.

Julie South [00:01:00]: Right now, somewhere in Perth or Palmerston North or Portland, a vet you've never met is scrolling LinkedIn.

They see a post from Sarah, someone they went to vet school with. Sarah is sharing a moment from her clinic: "Stayed late for an emergency tonight. Team didn't even blink. Everyone just moved. No questions. This is why I love where I work."

And that other vet thinks, "I wonder what Sarah's clinic is like?"

Julie South [00:01:43]: Three months later, when they're ready to move, they remember Sarah's clinic. Not because they saw a job ad, but because Sarah was proud enough to share.

If you want to reach vets and nurses who aren't looking yet, then your team needs to share Culture Stories because their networks trust them in ways your clinic account never will.

Julie South [00:02:10]: Your clinic account has maybe 1,000 followers on Facebook, mostly clients. Most clinics I know sadly don't even have a LinkedIn Company Page, which is an entire network of professionals that they're missing out on.

But Sarah has 338 Facebook friends. She's got around 500 LinkedIn connections and 264 Instagram followers. Jake has similar and Emma has similar. That's over 3,000 network reach right there.

Julie South [00:02:31]: But let's be ultra conservative. Let's dial it back to just a few thousand. A few thousand people who know people who know people who are somehow connected back to the people you know - that you'll never reach from your clinic account alone.

Because you haven't asked.

Julie South [00:03:00]: Most clinics haven't even thought about asking their team to share on their socials.

Because maybe you're worried about what they'll say. What if they get it wrong? What if they make you look bad? Loss of control feels very risky.

Or maybe you don't know how to ask. Do you approach everyone? Just a few people? What if they say no?

Or maybe you don't know what to give them to share. Your team just can't make this up. They need something, but what?

So you do nothing. You maintain the status quo.

Julie South [00:03:28]: And while you're doing nothing, Sarah's 500 LinkedIn connections scroll past. Jake's vet school friends accept jobs elsewhere. And Emma's network never knows you even exist.

Six months becomes 180 days of reach you will never get back.

And you're worried about losing control? What if they say the wrong thing?

They won't. Not if you're telling real Culture Stories.

Julie South [00:04:10]: If Sarah shares "Tough day today, but the team had my back" - that's honest. That's what makes people trust her.

And if you're worried your team will make you look bad by sharing honestly, then really you have a culture problem, not a storytelling problem.

Julie South [00:04:30]: When Sarah shares a Culture Story from her personal profile, her voice has something your clinic account never will: credibility.

Her vet school friends trust her. When she says "This is why I love working here," they believe her because she's not posting it as marketing. She's posting it because she's proud.

You can't buy that. You can only create moments worth sharing and make it easy for proud people to share them.

Julie South [00:05:04]: Start with your three most engaged people - the ones who already talk positively about work.

Don't make it formal. Just say, "Hey, we're going to start sharing more about what it's actually like to work here. If you ever feel like sharing something on your own profile, go for it. No pressure."

Some will, some won't.

The quiet ones who are proud but would never volunteer? They'll watch. When they see Jake share something, they'll think "I could do that too." Those posts are gold because they are clearly authentic and genuine.

Julie South [00:05:39]: Maybe you've tried this before. You posted something and said "Hey team, feel free to share." And nothing happened.

That's because copy-pasting a finished post feels more like being a billboard. They need the raw moment, the photo, and the permission to add their own voice.

That's one part of the system - shareable Culture Stories that don't sound corporate or contrived.

Julie South [00:06:00]: The next part is publishing them in a way that stops them getting buried in social feeds. Have you ever tried to find a post you know you've written somewhere online and you can't? That's the problem.

The system needs a Culture Centre - a permanent place where vets and nurses can find your stories when they're ready to look, and then identify your clinic as Their Kind of Clinic.

Julie South [00:06:21]: The conversation with your team? That's straightforward.

Building the Culture Stories and the Culture Centre that makes them discoverable? That's where our expertise kicks in.

Julie South [00:06:40]: Right now, as I'm recording this, and as you are listening to this, one of your team's vet or nursing school connections has just accepted a job at another clinic. Not because that clinic is better than yours, but because they were visible and you weren't.

Sarah could have shared your Culture Stories months ago, but you never asked.

Julie South [00:07:05]: Also right now, someone in Jake's extended network has just had another bad day at their clinic. They're keeping an eye out to see what's out there. Not actively looking yet. But one more bad day and they will be.

And one more thing: a clinic 20 minutes from yours just had a team member share a Culture Story. It's got five comments. Two were from vets who work near you. Vets who've heard rumours about your clinic but have no idea what it's actually like to work there.

Julie South [00:07:42]: They now know what the other clinic is like, but not yours.

Are you ready to show up for Jake's friend? Or are you going to stay dark and worry about whether Jake might use the wrong voice?

Julie South [00:08:00]: Episodes 247 and 248 showed you what Culture Stories look like and how to write them. You know how to have the conversation with your team.

If you're listening to this and thinking "I hadn't thought about the extended reach through my team's networks" but you don't know where to start, then get in touch, please. I'll put contact details in the show notes because I'd love to help you build a Culture Centre for your team.

Julie South [00:08:30]: Because right now thousands of vets and nurses are scrolling through their feeds. The clinics showing up in those feeds are the ones that they'll remember.

Julie South [00:08:44]: I promised you an action plan. This is it for this week.

This week, I'd like you to identify your three most engaged team members.

Have a casual conversation: "Hey, we're going to start sharing more about what it's actually like to work here. If you ever feel like sharing something on your own profile, go for it. No pressure."

Then share one Culture Story from your clinic account this week. Give them the heads up, give them the photo, give them the moment, let them add their voice.

Julie South [00:09:13]: Make it easy. That's how it becomes normal.

Julie South [00:09:20]: Quick recap:

If you want to reach vets and nurses before they're looking, then your team needs to share because their networks trust them.

Six months of hesitation cost you 180 days of reach.

Most clinics haven't even thought about asking their team to share because they're worried about control or they don't know what to give them.

The system needs shareable Culture Stories and a Culture Centre where these stories live permanently.

The conversation with your team is straightforward. Building the system is where our expertise kicks in.

Julie South [00:09:56]: Next week, in Episode 250, we'll talk about creating Culture Stories that travel - what makes something worth sharing across networks.

This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self. Because your team is already proud of where they work. They now know they can share that pride. And their networks are about to discover whether you're Their Kind of Clinic.