Patient care
issue well, you can become a hero and the customer respects and values you. When you deal with it badly,
then you can lose a patient and they can and will tell hundreds. It is so important to your practice that you deal with complaints immediately and also that you go the extra mile. With social media and the role of the internet, if you have a bad experience, you can inform the whole world within seconds. I honestly believe that, however
good you may be at the patient journey and communicating, you are going to get the odd mistake in your practice. Here are a few steps you can take to address the issue and ensure that you recruit raving fans for your practice: 1. Put yourself in your patient’s shoes. You have to see things from their point of view. If you have made a mistake, let’s see what impact the mistake has had on them. You cannot do anything unless you walk in your patient’s shoes. 2. Say you are sorry, and say it
“ I like complaints... it gives you the opportunity to become a hero”
Ashley Latter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Latter is one of the
leading business coaches in the UK. Over the last 12 years, he has delivered his Two-Day Ethical Sales & Communication Programme to more than
4,500 delegates, helping them improve their communication skills and uptake of treatment plans. He is also the author of a book called
Helping Patients to say YES and Don’t wait for the Tooth Fairy. Visit www.
quickly. Don’t forget, your patient is upset and not happy and a sincere apology will go a long way to reducing their anger and frustration. 3. Tell the patient that if you were them, you would feel the same way. Show real empathy here, under- standing what impact your mistake would have on you personally. 4. Address the issue and put your wrong right, but go above the call of duty. I often call this as ABCD. In other words, do more than the patient expects. If you do this then you can become a hero and your patients will love it. 5. Ensure that you follow up with your patient to ensure that every- thing is okay and that they are happy now. Once you have done all the above
ashleylatter.com for more
information and to sign up for his newsletter.
steps, make sure that you learn from the mistakes and change the protocol in your practice. The last thing you want to do is
to make the same mistakes again and again. Learn from them and put right the wrong you have done – then you will recruit ravings.
Scottish Dental magazine 31
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