Customer Service Is A Powerful Therapy Growth Strategy
One of the most powerful ways to grow a bustling, successful therapist practice is also the simplest. And in our age of technology and complication, we can forget the most important key to practice growth is within us, the practice we create and the systems we set up. Are you ready for it? This is a game changer that many health professionals miss…
Drum roll, please…
Incredible customer service!
But I already do that I hear you say! And while most therapists are good at customer service, an opportunity usually exists to step up to the level of incredible customer service.
Experts specializing in mental health, like you, often have patients come in scared and vulnerable. As a therapist, it is possible to fall into the trap of going about daily business. After all, mental health is a therapist’s daily bread and butter. However, by standing in a new patient’s shoes we can appreciate what they see, and it can be a revelation.
How is their view different to yours? And how can great, planned and strategic customer service (client, if you’d prefer) smooth their path, quell any fears, ensure they attend appointments, that they are honest in their care and, essentially, bring better results for your patients and turn them into raving fans that tell their friends and family?
Look, Act, Speak The Part
Ok, so this might sound judgmental and in essence, it is because, especially in the beginning, your patient is judging you. They need to know they can trust you with their intimate thoughts and feelings. How you personally appear (dress, smell, hairstyle), how your practice presents (professional website, comfortable rooms, up-to-date magazines), and how you treat people (timeliness, use of respectful tones and language and with authenticity) all matter. And I would suggest these are an important part of customer service because they help address a customer’s need for trust.
As Study.com states, “Customer service is the act of taking care of the customer’s needs by providing and delivering professional, helpful, high-quality service and assistance before, during, and after the customer’s requirements are met.”
That said, let’s look at 5 ways you can maximize your customer service in ways that extend beyond the norm, easily, strategically and even automatically.
1) Prepare And Share
When a patient has a health challenge, their need for certainty is enhanced. How can you offer this through great customer service?
Begin online…
Forms:
Include your initial intake form, a map to your premise, a what to expect page, frequently asked questions, payment options and your missed appointment policy online, available for download on your website. Direct patients to these when they book.
Videos:
Having videos on your website offers important benefits as familiarity eases concern. When a new or potential patient can view and hear you, your relationship has already begun. Include:
* A guided tour of your practice
* An authentic welcome from the office manager
* A brief video of each therapist talking about him or herself, why they love what they do and how they look forward to helping.
Note: If you are a sole therapist practice, great! You are the star!
Intra-website links:
Direct a new or potential patient to appropriate links (blog posts, pages) with information about the mental health challenges you specialize in.
This saves both the client and you time and streamlines the in-house process. Efficiency just met improved customer service.
2) Set Up Automated Email Systems
Imagine, a new patient just called your practice to book an appointment. Within the hour they receive an email, directing them to the above information, welcoming them to your community and saying how much you look forward to working with them. All done automatically, per the addition of one email address and name to a pre-set database.
Then, following that first appointment, another email follows. Even better, let’s make it a sequence of automated emails. Just wanted to see how you’re doing… Often after a first appointment, patients have these top (X) questions. We want to ensure you have everything you need for the very best care, (and answer these here)… Any questions, please call us on (your phone number).
Wow! Mind blown. This is caring, incredibly simple to do and makes the patient feel special and valued.
3) I-Care-Calls
The heading probably gives away this simple, powerful approach. As the therapist, you call the patient to check in. There are two types of I-care-calls and I recommend you implement both.
First:
A patient has just attended their first appointment. You call them by phone that night, or if they were an evening appointment, the next day. Listen. Everything going great? Perfect, reaffirm their decision to start treatment and say you look forward to your next consultation. Not great? This is even more critical. You can nip any concerns in the bud, offer caring, helpful advice and ensure the patient knows you are interested in their wellbeing.
Second:
A current patient has shown some concerns, whether voiced or other. This may or may not be directly regarding their treatment. Touch base by phone to see if you can ease any worries and address any issues. Again, listen.
Some health professionals dismiss this approach; ‘It’d take up too much time’. ‘That’s what the consultation is for’. I’d ask you to consider a time when you’ve been to a health professional and due to stress or misplacing your thoughts, even tiredness, you forgot to ask a question that mattered to you. How would it feel to have the opportunity to ask rather than ruminate? Wonderful! And as your competitors rarely place I-care-calls, this distinguishes your practice in terms of the exceptional customer service it offers. More practice growth power to you!
Note: I often talk about batching for energy matching, as Dr. Joanna Martin puts it. This means doing the same thing repetitively and with focus. It is faster to call five people in a row than to call one, grab a cup of tea, write an article, call another client and so on. Make it routine that you call any patients you are concerned about at a certain time each day.
4) Memory Jogging, Non-Clinical Notes
This strategy I love for its simplicity and connection. It takes up so little time you won’t notice it, yet your patients will love you for it.
Whether you have a paper or digital practice, maintain a memory-jogging section in each patient’s set of notes. And I don’t for mean clinical information; after all, this will be in the main section.
Why then?
Do they have an important job interview before you see them next? A sister’s wedding on February 4th? A trip to Denmark for a family reunion? While these may form part of your clinical concerns, it’s also important for people to see that you are interested in them. One lady I know saw a doctor for the second time. The doctor asked her about a personal event which occurred in the time between each consult. This lady said, ‘I don’t know how she would have remembered, but even if she wrote it down, the care she showed to do that is impressive.’
Note: Look at your notes before you see the patient. No need to make memory jogging obvious.
5) Regularly Stay In Touch
Providing value, and often, is a great way to harness practice growth, increase your profits and build a loyal, enjoyable community to work with. Customer service is key.
How?
Remain front of mind.
I remember reading a study some years ago about supermarkets. Most non-returning customers didn’t change establishments because they disliked their experience. They swapped because they forgot/another shop had a sale/they weren’t front of mind.
Brainstorm: What can you regularly offer to ensure you don’t fade into patient’s memories?
* Regular newsletters: By email is good; by mail really packs a practice growth punch! (Ready to start a practice newsletter? Our 8 Simple Steps To Starting Your Private Practice Newsletter Today article will have you up and running in no time)
* Share helpful articles on social media
* Weekly blogs
These also boost your credibility and sticking power, so patients think of you first and as the go-to expert for their health challenges.
Share the love.
Physical birthday cards may sound corny to some, but patient love them! See we barely receive anything in our old-fashioned mailbox these days that isn’t a bill or junk. Birthday cards are fun, engaging, thoughtful, filled with great customer service… and the process can be automated through a company like Send-Out-Cards, handwriting font included.
As I mentioned at the start of this article, customer service is good; automated, authentic, outstanding customer service is better. And with so much technology standard in our modern age, combining recent advances with old-school approaches powerfully enhances therapy fulfillment, patient results, and your practice profits.
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