To market to veterinarians, don't start with the veterinarian. Start with the practice manager, who handles vendors at most clinics, and call outside the hours when the doctors are in surgery. If the clinic is owned by a corporate group, the local manager may not be allowed to buy at all, so your first question is who owns the clinic. This page has the scripts for the manager, the front desk and the owner, the best call windows, and how to build a 30-day trial that shows a number.

Rocketship finds business buyers, so this page is for companies that sell to clinics: laundry, supplies, billing, software, equipment service, uniforms, marketing. It is not for pet owners. If you're on the other side, running a practice, see getting clients for a veterinary practice.

Find out who owns the clinic before you pitch

Veterinary clinics are either independent, owned by one doctor or a small partnership, or part of a corporate group that bought them. It changes who can say yes. At an independent clinic, the owner veterinarian decides and the practice manager recommends. At a corporate clinic, purchasing is often handled by a regional manager or a central team, and the local manager can only try your product if it's allowed.

Ask on the first call: "Is this clinic independent, or part of a group?" Front desks answer that without hesitation. Then adjust. Independent: aim at the manager and the owner. Corporate: ask for the regional or operations lead and say you'd like to run a trial at one location.

When to call so you don't land in a surgery block

Doctors are scrubbed in, in exam rooms, or charting. Managers are easier to reach, but the front desk is busiest right after opening and during lunch. Ask the receptionist one question on your first call: "When is it quietest there?" Many clinics tell you directly. As a starting point, try Tuesday to Thursday between 10 a.m. and noon, or 2 and 3:30 p.m., and avoid Mondays, the lunch hour and the end of the day, when appointments back up and pet owners are waiting. If the clinic books surgery in the morning, aim for the early afternoon. Record what each clinic says, since it will serve you for every call after.

Triggers matter too: a clinic adding a doctor, opening a second location, or renewing an equipment lease is changing how it spends. Job postings for "veterinary technician" or "second doctor" are public and easy to spot.

The call script for a practice manager

"Hi, this is Jorge Mendes at Paw Print Laundry in Raleigh. Is this Alicia, the practice manager? I know you're busy, so one question. Who washes your surgery towels and drapes right now: your own staff, or a service?"

If staff: "How many hours a week does that take your team? I ask because we pick up, wash and deliver for clinics your size, and I'd like to run it for 30 days at one clinic, at no charge, so you can compare the hours." If a service: "When does that contract come up? I'd like to quote it a month before."

The 30-day trial needs a measurable result, or it turns into "yes, nice." Agree on one number before it starts: staff hours on laundry, cost per week, or towels lost. Example: the staff spend 6 hours a week on laundry at $18 an hour, which is $108 a week, or about $432 over four weeks. Your service runs $85 a week. If the trial confirms 6 hours saved, the clinic pays $85 to avoid $108, and you write that on a one-page sheet before day 1. Adjust the numbers to your own price list.

The script for the front desk

The receptionist screens, and has no reason to help you unless you make it easy. Ask for help, not for the manager's time.

"Hi, Jorge at Paw Print Laundry. I'm not a client. I'd like to leave a note for your practice manager about laundry. What's her name, and is email or a quick call better for her? And when is a good time to call so I'm not in the way?"

Take the first name, the best time, and whether she prefers email. Then thank them by name. If they say "just send an email to the general inbox," do so, but include the receptionist's name in the first line: "Sam at the front desk suggested I write." That gets the email past the first glance.

The email for an owner

Owners read email in the evening or on a slow morning. Make it short and put the number in the subject.

Subject: Cutting laundry hours at Lakeshore Animal Hospital

Dr. Patel, I run Paw Print Laundry in Raleigh. We pick up and wash surgery towels, drapes and scrubs for vet clinics. I'd like to run a 30-day trial at your clinic at no charge, with one measure: how many hours your team spends on laundry now versus then. If it doesn't save time, you owe nothing and I take the bins away. May I call Alicia to set the pickup day?

Jorge Mendes, Paw Print Laundry, jorge@pawprintlaundry.example, 410 Wake Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC 27604. Reply "stop" to end these emails.

Naming a measure is what separates a trial from a free sample. Cold email is allowed in the US if the From line and subject are honest and the message has your physical address and an opt-out (CAN-SPAM). For wording that works for owners, see how to cold email a local business owner.

Voicemail for a busy clinic

"Hi Alicia, Jorge Mendes at Paw Print Laundry, 919-555-0133. I'd like to run a free 30-day laundry trial at your clinic and track hours saved. I'll try you Wednesday around 10:30, and I'm sending a short email now."

Vets get calls at odd hours too, and some clinics handle the after-hours calls through a service. If you want to see that side, read the vet clinic voicemail at 9 p.m..

Follow-up that works around the clinic's schedule

Follow up in the quiet window, not when the clinic is full. Day 3: a second call at the time the front desk gave you. Day 7: an email with the one-page trial sheet attached. Day 14: call again, since clinics get through busy weeks and reset. Day 30: if no yes, ask "Would it help to try this in the slower month?" Seasonal patterns exist (summer boarding, vaccinations in spring), so ask about slow weeks directly. Our post on getting past the gatekeeper adds wording for the front desk. During the trial, send the numbers weekly: "Week two, 5.5 hours saved by your team. Want me to keep the Thursday pickup going?"

What to log for each clinic

Per clinic, record: owner type (independent or group), manager name, quiet hours, trigger, trial date, measure, result, contract end date. A clinic that said "we have a service until March" is a lead in February. If you also sell to human medical offices, the model is similar but the language is different, see how to market to doctors, and for records-heavy clinics, document shredding follows the same pattern.

Finding every independent clinic in your area by name, with the manager's contact, is where this stalls. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required. Answering your existing number works on Launch, with call minutes bought as you go ($15 for 50), and a dedicated line is $5 a month. See the AI workers.