Be honest – how many of you take heed of advice or the law when it comes to handling complaints? Do you try to avoid responsibility, or shift the blame elsewhere?
In the past, you may not have fallen foul with this approach as UK consumers haven’t always been known for voicing their complaints or being savvy about consumer protection laws. Complaining can be embarrassing and confrontational, and many people just think it isn’t worth the bother. But times have changed. Now people have wised up to their rights.
Is this bad news for your veterinary practice? No – on the contrary, complaints can provide the backbone to future lasting client satisfaction and repeat business. Here’s why.
Which scenario is better: the unhappy client who vents their spleen against your practice or the unhappy client who says nothing, does nothing and promptly takes their business to a competitor? The former, for several reasons. Firstly, it gives you the opportunity to not lose that client and any others who they may go on to talk to about their problem. Secondly, it can help you identify potential weaknesses within your practice.
Complaints – or perhaps more accurately, feedback – should be actively encouraged […] Handle complaints well and you can use them to your advantage
How much worse would it be if you are giving an unsatisfactory service and you don’t even know it? Complaints – or perhaps more accurately, feedback – should be actively encouraged. It is valuable to your business. Handle complaints well and you can use them to your advantage.
It’s never easy dealing with someone who is angry or unhappy – especially if your practice is the root cause of their problem. The first thing to do is to defuse the situation and let them get whatever they want to say off their chest, irrespective of whether they are right or wrong. It may be satisfying to win an argument with a client who is clearly in the wrong, but at the end of the day, you’ll lose anyway as they’ll take their custom elsewhere.
Listen to what they have to say and acknowledge their feelings. Apologise for the situation without accepting specific blame. Empathise with what they are thinking and try to put yourself in their position. This will give you a better understanding not only of how you will resolve the complaint but also of how you can use it to your advantage by building better business practices and showing the client how important they are to you.
Be prompt, concise and specific in response to the complaint in question, rather than generalising or shifting blame in the direction of others. And of course, explain how you are going to rectify the matter – this is the most important part. Having defused the client’s anger, you now need to show you are true to your word by meeting their expectations.
But you shouldn’t just meet their expectations – you should exceed them. If you can resolve their complaint and then go beyond the call of duty, you will be well on the way to creating brand loyalty for your business. Even if it is just a goodwill gesture like a bouquet of flowers or a credit voucher for a future date, or perhaps something simple like a handwritten message after the complaint has been resolved, these little things can make a difference and stress that the client is important to you.
Make sure you get back to the client quickly. There is nothing worse than having to wait for a response, especially if you don’t even know if there will be one. While the client is waiting, the chances are they will be talking to others about their negative experience, seriously damaging your reputation and costing you potential custom. You’ve heard the saying “news travels but bad news travels quickly”; in our context, a happy client may perhaps only tell a couple of people, but an unhappy client will tell 10 others – and quickly too.
Think of the times when you’ve been the customer. Are you always happy with the product or service you receive? Didn’t think so – but do you always complain? Many people don’t – they just take their business elsewhere the next time. But you, the business owner, need to know what your client is thinking.
Even though it might seem like inviting trouble, you should make it easy for clients to complain
Make it easy for them by explaining, either at the point of payment or in practice literature and online, that you welcome their feedback. And what’s more, let them know that you will act on it. Your public is far more likely to fill in satisfaction surveys if they know the practice will personally acknowledge their opinions and resolve a dispute quickly and without fuss. Even though it might seem like inviting trouble, you should make it easy for clients to complain.