hear the complaint in order to understand precisely what is going on. In some cases, the patient may just want to vent. The conversation could take an hour, but I have close friends today who were complaining customers yesterday. The very first step toward repairing strained relationships is to genuinely listen to your complainers. Empathize Look at the situation from their point of view. If you own your mistakes and truly empathize with their situation, you’ll find the opportunity to create a mutual bonding point. From there, do everything you can for the patient. You’re not on opposite sides; you’re on the same team. The worst outcome for a practice is when a patient becomes angry and leaves. You’ll never have a chance to gather valuable data, find a solution, or know how to prevent others from leaving your practice in the future. The best way you can prevent a patient from taking their business elsewhere is to join forces with them and work together to identify the problem and fix it. Breathe There are moments when you’ll be pushed to the brink. During these times, take a deep breath and think to yourself, “What can I do to calm this person?” You can’t find a mutual resolution while either one of you is heated. If you’re able to roll with the punches and go with the flow, you can save your practice endless amount of revenue.
Reward a Complainer, and You’ll Have a Customer for Life Complaints: The Best Market Research Money Can ’ t Buy
By Ira Hirsch, Certified GG12 Coach
The mindset about complainers is all wrong. Sure, a complaint can be challenging to overcome, but it is actually a highly valuable practice asset. When we look at patient complaints as inconveniences, we miss the irreplaceable market research they provide. Think about it in terms of finances. In 2015, there was an estimated $68 billion spent on market research, but what if practices could’ve had that information for free? While working for a medical technology company, I noticed every time we released a new product, some people would complain. The issues usually centered on either functionality or developing the business around the product. The more I listened to them talk about just where the breakdowns were occurring, the more I learned how we could improve our products and services. Most dental practices don’t view complaints this way. You would think businesses would be more customer-service driven in this day and age, but that isn’t the case. I’m sure you can name a company or practice that’s given you the runaround when you’ve called with an issue. I’m a big believer in never-ending improvement. If your patients complain about your practice, it’s because a system failed them. Maybe one of your services was poorly executed or a treatment didn’t meet their expectations. Solving that problem is about pinpointing the break in the chain and figuring out how to bond it back together so it’s even stronger than before. Here are a few “Gems” on how to do that. Listen Flipping a complaining patient could turn them into raving fans, but to do that, first you must listen. It’s important to
Reward If you reward a complainer, you’ll have a patient for life. The key with this is to get ahead of the
complaint. If you have a patient
who’s been waiting over 15 minutes to see the doctor, give
them a $15 gift card to the local cinema and apologize for taking their time. If you can’t get ahead of the complaint, then find a way to deliver service that is above and beyond. Complaints make the best market research, and it’s completely free. Develop a tracking system to pinpoint the source of the complaints. Measure efficiencies and, most importantly, inefficiencies. Invaluable market data is right under all of our noses; we just have to see it that way.
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