How Do Your Clients Perceive You? Listen

You’ve heard the phrase, “Perception is reality.” In other words, how people perceive something is what is real to them. Facts and information to the contrary, what your client believes to be true is your client’s perception of the truth. It is what is real to the client.

The challenge for every business, including the veterinary practice, is to provide a client experience that each individual client perceives to be a positive one. While you may have a vision statement that directs your practice to provide “excellent customer service,” the challenge is to know how that can be implemented in each individual encounter.

In the December, 2016 issue of TRENDS magazine you will find our article, “Individualize Customer Service.” In it we summarize tips for your consideration. We’ll provide a peak in this post – and those that follow.

First, Listen To The Clients

The only way to know what excellent customer services means to a given client is to listen. Sheldon Bowles, writing in Raving Fans (by Sheldon Bowles and Ken Blanchard), advises us to “listen to the music as well as the lyrics.” By that he means that what people really want doesn’t always show up directly in what they say.

How many times have you had a restaurant manager come to your table and say, “How was your meal?” You probably said, “Fine,” even though you might be able to suggest improvements. What did you NOT say in your silence?  Bowles means that we should be sensitive to such a comment, or even more, to silences.   They are messages, which need to be understood.

We’ll leave you with that thought.  If you can’t wait for our subsequent posts with more tips, you can read the entire article now at www.veterinariancommunication.com (Articles and Cases).