Running a veterinary practice means making hundreds of decisions every week, each shaping your team, clients, and bottom line. Few decisions have a bigger long-term impact than a veterinary vendor evaluation.
Whether you’re evaluating a veterinary software provider, a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO), an advertising agency, or a compliance partner, the right vendor can simplify your life and support your practice’s growth. The wrong one can quietly create more complexity, cost, and frustration.
Our team at Vetcelerator has seen this challenge from every angle. Veterinary professionals didn’t go to school for procurement, but vendors sell all day. That imbalance often leads to demo fatigue and buyer’s remorse for partnerships that look great on paper but don’t perform in practice.
You can fix this imbalance. Veterinary owners and practice managers can turn choosing veterinary vendors into a strategic advantage with these five steps to find partners that accelerate clinic growth.
Step 1. Start with Your Veterinary Practice’s Workflow
The biggest mistake most veterinary teams make when evaluating vendors is letting the sales team lead the conversation.
Before booking a demo, define your top two workflows or operational priorities. These should be the areas where efficiency matters most.
For Example:
- Schedule wellness exam → consent → invoice → SMS receipt
- Inventory reorder → approve purchase → update COGS
Then, ask the vendor to show exactly how their solution supports those workflows. You’ll quickly see if the tool works for your needs rather than relying on a preconstructed sales pitch.
Pro Tip: Send your workflow examples before the meeting. How a vendor responds (and customizes their presentation) will tell you much about what working with them will be like.
Step 2. Apply the Same Standards to Veterinary Vendor Evaluations
The same principle applies when evaluating software, supplies, or services; the best veterinary partners strengthen and scale your practice. Use the following tips to evaluate different vendor types strategically.
For Veterinary GPOs (Group Purchasing Organizations)
Ask how contracts are negotiated and rebates are managed.
- Are fees transparent and easy to understand?
- Can you access reports showing your annual savings?
A strong GPO, like Vetcelerator, acts as a purchasing and operational partner that will improve efficiency across marketing, website and digital presence, recruiting, and supply management.
Before joining a Group Purchasing Organization, know what you’re signing up for. Our 5 Questions to Ask a Veterinary GPO Before Signing On guide will be useful to uncover how vendor transparency and savings work, so you can choose a partner that supports your goals.
For Marketing & Advertising Partners
Focus on outcomes.
- Do they measure success by new clients and booked appointments?
- Can they connect ad spend directly to client growth?
A trustworthy veterinary marketing agency understands how pet owners search, decide, and book. If your agency doesn’t specialize in veterinary marketing, you may be paying for their learning curve.
For Website Providers
Design matters, but function matters more.
- Is your site fast, secure, mobile-friendly, and easy to update?
- Who owns your domain and hosting?
Your website should be a performance engine that powers the growth of your veterinary practice or pet care brand.
A trustworthy veterinary marketing agency understands how pet owners search, decide, and book. If your agency doesn’t specialize in veterinary marketing, you may be paying for their learning curve.
Step 3. Build a Veterinary Vendor Scorecard
After every vendor conversation, take 2 minutes to score them on these five core dimensions.
Criteria | Ask Yourself | Score (1–10) |
Transparency | Did they provide clear pricing, full details, and documentation? | |
Alignment | Does their solution support your workflows and goals? | |
Support | Is onboarding and training available? What is issue escalation like? | |
Ownership | Who controls your data, domain, and long-term access? | |
Value | Does the total benefit outweigh the cost and risk? |
This simple scoring method clarifies and aligns your team’s decision-making. Compare the scores once you have talked to all of the vendors that you are interested in. No vendor will have a perfect score, but higher scores indicate that that specific vendor will likely be a good fit for your practice.
Step 4. Choose Vendors That Are Actual Partners
Choosing veterinary vendors is about discipline. It’s how you protect your time and grow your business sustainably.
Every partnership should make your clinic simpler, innovative, and profitable.
The right partner will solve real business challenges, reduce front desk workload, improve client communication, and/or scale operations through more innovative marketing and purchasing.
Veterinary medicine is evolving fast. AI, automation, and industry consolidation are reshaping what it means to run an independent veterinary clinic. Your vendors play a huge role in that future, so choose with intention.
Step 5. Simplify Your Next Vendor Decision with Vetcelerator
Vetcelerator works with independent veterinary practices to connect marketing, operations, and purchasing power, all in one place.
To make vendor decisions easier, we created the Veterinary Vendor Evaluation Guide, a practical workbook with:
- Five key questions for different vendor types
- Information on what kinds of answers you should be looking for
- A ready-to-use scoring framework
It’s built by veterinary experts who understand the real daily challenges clinics face.
Download the free Vendor Evaluation Guide and start choosing veterinary vendors who actually help your practice grow.
