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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve written before about how getting positive\u00a0online reviews can enhance web presence and is\u00a0a strong \u201cconversion factor\u201d that turns website\u00a0visitors into patients. With patients being able to\u00a0complain online as well, we have a double-edged\u00a0sword. A negative complaint can be seen by who\u00a0knows how many people! Dealing with negative\u00a0online reviews is a whole discussion in itself.<\/p>\n
This article focuses on dealing with face-to-face patient complaints. However, if you get a negative online review, you can sometimes call that patient and use this same process. We\u2019ve seen situations where the patient has taken the negative review down once their complaint was satisfied.<\/p>\n
Naturally, if complaints are handled wrong, you can lose patients. More importantly, patients that complain are also more likely to be loyal patients and refer others if the complaint is handled well. If someone is dissatisfied they will probably tell others. I have heard over the years many different statistics on this, but you can assume for every complaint you hear there are other people who hear or voice the same complaint. Complaints are sort of your \u201ccanary in a coal mine\u201d for patient relations.<\/p>\n
Our statistics show that the typical dental practice loses about 12% of its patients per year. Probably about half of those lost are due to something the Doctor or staff did. The other half are due to factors beyond the practice\u2019s control, like the patient moving or insurance changes.<\/p>\n
Remember this six step process:
\n1) Prepare
\n2) Listen
\n3) Build Rapport
\n4) Develop A Solution
\n5) Confirm & Close
\n6) Follow Through<\/p>\n
1) Prepare<\/strong><\/p>\n Maintain an alert and upright posture. Pen in hand. Be ready to listen with an Adult state of mind.<\/p>\n When a complainer calls, they are in an emotional (child) state. They may have rehearsed a speech in their mind. They feel abused, cheated, or uncared for. Therefore, the person hearing the \u201cchild\u201d may unconsciously start adopting a parent state. That\u2019s when you\u2019ll hear things like \u201cOur policy is\u2026\u201d; \u201cYou should have\u2026\u201d; \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about…\u201d; \u201cIt\u2019s your responsibility to know your insurance, etc.\u201d By keeping an adult state of mind, you let the child vent then, eventually, through your own behavior, they will start to come to the adult state.<\/p>\n 2) Listen<\/strong><\/p>\n Take notes. Acknowledge that you are hearing; \u201cTell me more.\u201d; \u201cThen what happened?\u201d; \u201cI see.\u201d; \u201cI understand that could be very distressing.\u201d<\/p>\n 3) Rapport<\/strong><\/p>\n Use the patient\u2019s name. State\u00a0your purpose, \u201cI want to find a solution you\u00a0are happy with.\u201d; or \u201cI\u2019ll help you get to the\u00a0bottom of this.\u201d; or \u201cWe certainly want to do\u00a0everything we can to make this right for\u00a0you.\u201d Restate the person\u2019s complaint. \u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0taken notes and what I heard you tell me\u00a0was\u2026 Do I have that right?\u201d<\/p>\n 4) Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHere are a couple of things we\u00a0may want to consider.\u201d; \u201cWould it help if I\u00a0found out about _____ for you?\u201d\u00a0And, of course, \u201cWhat would you like to have\u00a0done so we can resolve this?\u201d<\/p>\n 5) Confirm &\u00a0Close<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo here\u2019s what I am\u00a0going to do.\u201d (find out, fix, or make sure \u201cit\u00a0doesn\u2019t happen again\u201d). \u201cHow does that\u00a0sound to you?\u201d Make sure that you note\u00a0any specific actions and timeline and who\u2019s\u00a0going to do what by when.<\/p>\n 6) Follow Through!<\/strong><\/p>\n Make very sure you follow\u00a0up on your promises.\u00a0Example: \u201cYour fees are too high!\u201d\u00a0A typical response (usually proposed by\u00a0consultants and dental journal writers) is,\u00a0\u201cMrs. Jones, we only use the finest materials\u00a0and for the quality of care we deliver, blah\u00a0blah blah.\u201d Or, \u201cDentistry is inexpensive\u00a0when you compare it to medical or buying\u00a0suits or some other things (that are implied to\u00a0be less important, thus indirectly putting the Instead: \u201cGosh, I can tell you are unhappy\u00a0with this. Can you tell me more?\u201d The patient might feel the fees are high\u00a0because they can\u2019t afford things in which case,\u00a0of course, you work with financial\u00a0arrangements. They might feel they are higher\u00a0compared to other offices in which case you\u00a0might say, \u201cWould you like us to check our In Conclusion<\/strong>:<\/p>\n No one likes to hear complaints, but\u00a0dealing with them tactfully is a critical \u201ccustomer\u00a0service\u201d skill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Dentists, Please Share This With Your Teams) We\u2019ve written before about how getting positive\u00a0online reviews can enhance web presence and is\u00a0a strong \u201cconversion factor\u201d that turns website\u00a0visitors into patients. With patients being able to\u00a0complain online as well, we have a double-edged\u00a0sword. A negative complaint can be seen by who\u00a0knows how many people! Dealing with negative\u00a0online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,8],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dental-practice-management","category-new-patient-readiness","category-dental-team-training","tag-handling-patient-complaints"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.advancedpracticemanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\npatient down.)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWell, Bill, it\u2019s my job to help ensure that you\u00a0are happy with our services. You obviously
\nfeel our fees are high and I\u2019d like your\u00a0suggestions on how we can go about looking\u00a0at this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nfees against other offices or show you what\u00a0information we have about that?\u201d Or, in\u00a0many cases, the patient just may want to be\u00a0acknowledged and they don\u2019t really want you\u00a0to do anything except understand them. If the\u00a0fees are indeed high even compared to other\u00a0offices, then you can explain why. \u201cOur fees\u00a0are a little higher than average and I wanted\u00a0to explain to you why they are if that\u2019s what\u00a0you\u2019d like me to do.\u201d Then (and only then)\u00a0you could go into things about the quality of\u00a0the lab, the time the Doctor spends, the\u00a0Continuing Ed or technology, and so on.<\/p>\n