What does offering world class client service do for your business?
There are countless benefits to your business when you embrace excellence in client service as your highest business value. Here are only a few of these benefits:
- Your clinic will be strongly positioned in the marketplace for all of the right reasons.
- When you listen to your clients, they can lead you into new services you may have ignored or resisted, very lucrative new services.
- Your return and referral business will be exceptionally high.
- Your team of employees will be highly engaged and fulfilled.
- You will have the practice and business you dreamed of, one that offers you fulfillment, freedom, and financial success.
Focusing on customers can boost the profits for your physical therapy clinic. Here are thought provoking ideas I’d like you to consider:
When you retain your clients, you can double, triple, or quadruple your real growth significantly. For example, the typical Fortune 500 Company has a real annual growth of 2.5%. Retaining just 5 % more customers each year can triple real growth to 7.5% (Business in Vancouver April 2006. Article Author: Anne Graham)
How can you retain your clients? Spend some time with your clients talking with them and watching them use your services to look for opportunities to help them do even better.
Five to 10% of your clients can likely do more business with you almost immediately. If you don’t ask, you won’t get. Always ask in a way that creates value for your clients.
Most businesses lose a higher percentage of their clients than they think. When was the last time you examined your client list to find out your retention rate? Research repeatedly says that most clients leave due to poor or indifferent service. Assess your services carefully and regularly to identify your client service issues: reliability; assurance of your staff’s knowledge, confidence and courtesy to really help clients; ensure every client touch creates a great impression; empathy; responsiveness. Research shows that about 10% of your clients are likely accounting for 100% of your profits when all costs are factored in. Have you done this math lately? Consider making some changes by targeting more profitable clients into your practice. Price increases of up to 10% are typically well tolerated by clients. There are many approaches to increasing visible and less visible prices, rather than a 10% increase directly onto your fees. Consider services you offer at no cost today and add a fee. Update costly services that were formerly free and charge for them.
What Clients Really Want
What is it that clients are looking for? Research tells us that most clients would tell a service professional they want the following:
Do what you say you are going to do and be on time about it. Be there when I need you. Help me get the most helpful and highest impact services from you, and help me translate these services into personal success. Be a good fit for the specific needs I have. If you’re not the best fit, help me find a provider that is. Make me feel like we are, as a client, important to you and your team. Deliver great services. Be careful and do your homework before you suggest a course of action for me. Stay on top of the developments and trends in your industry and mine. Understand me so you can come up with ideas relevant to me. Help me understand what you’re doing so I can apply it. Run an efficient operation and constantly improve so I don’t pay for your inefficiency. Be pleasant and fair, and work with me through communication and other breakdowns. In essence, treat me like a person.
What insights have you gained from reading this list of what clients want? Where can you begin to make changes that will result in improved client services at your clinic?
How do you create a world class client journey in your clinic?
Start from scratch; thoughtfully and thoroughly assess your patient’s journey to and through your clinic. Here are some of the most obvious areas to review.
Visibility
- How do your patients find you initially? How easily would they find you if they were new to town?
- When a prospective patient finds you in print or on-line, do they receive an inviting message that tells them you provide the level of customer service they are looking for?
What happens when a prospective patient makes the first contact with your clinic, when he calls? How perfect is your greeting and how consistently is it delivered? The perfect greeting is” Good morning, Smiths Physical Therapy, Mary speaking, how can I help you? Information and answers
Identify the top 20 questions people ask when they first call your clinic. Next sit down with your team and agree on what the answers are going to be. Then ensure that these answers are adopted by everyone who answers the phone. Also be sure that the phone is always answered with a smile and a genuine desire to help. Can you guarantee that this is happening – every time?
Before the first visit
A prospective new patient should receive a professionally created Welcome Pack that includes: a cover letter explaining what happens in a first visit; directions and parking; practice mission statement; meet the team; terms and conditions of business; customer service agreement; price guide.
First visit
What are the impressions given by your reception team?
This is an example of great greeting:
Good morning, can I help you – with eye contact and a smile.
Yes, my name is Erika Trimble and I’m here to see …for a physical therapy session.
Oh yes, Ms. Trimble. welcome to Smiths Physical Therapy. My name is…and I’m a member of the reception team here.
Before you are seated, we would appreciate if you would complete this Medical History Questionnaire and Body Check (something fun and funny).
Meet the therapist.
The Client Journey:
Your Road Map for Creating World Class Client Service
When we talk about your client’s journey we are talking about the complete experience your client has with your clinic from hearing about you to leaving you, that is, temporarily until the next or return experience with you.
I am giving you a comprehensive road map in this feature article, the road map for creating world class client services in your clinic.
A client’s journey with you is determined by 3 key areas of your business:
1. Structure What does your physical and visible environment say about you?
- Company image -Name of your business, the tag line, the logo
- Physical space -your office, relationships, culture
2. Process What is your client experience in dealing with you?
3. Outcome Did the client get what they came for?
It is very important that you assess all of these three areas to determine how well you are doing in your efforts to creating world class client service.
Here is a chronological look at some of the key experiences in a client’s journey:
- The telephone enquiry and/or first visit
- The pre-first appointment paperwork
- The arrival at the Reception
- The Patient Lounge
- The journey to the treatment room
- The initial conversation
- The clinical examination/assessment
- The treatment planning discussion
- The treatment plan
- Delivering the treatment
- Back to the reception
- The post-visit action and paperwork
Tools to Help You Create Client Service Excellence in Your Clinic: Ideas, Examples, Sample Scripts
I am giving you some of the best tools – ideas, examples, sample scripts – I know to help you immediately launch your improvements to client service excellence in your clinic.
I. Promises and Expectations: A Nice Way of Saying It
We promise to:
- Welcome you into a caring and professional environment.
- Listen with respect and respond to your concerns.
- Clearly state the cost of treatment in advance.
- Do our absolute best to keep to time.
- Perform our very best standard of physical therapy for you at all times.
- Make no charges for appointments changed or cancelled where 24 hours notice has been given.
We appreciate your commitment to:
- Arrive in time for your appointments.
- Follow our instructions for follow-up exercises…
- Attend review and maintenance appointments as advised.
- Pay for treatment as requested. We accept cash, personal and business checks and most credit and debit cards.
- Talk to us. Let us know what you think of what we do: right and wrong.
- Help our practice grow by recommending us to your family, friends and colleagues.
II. The Welcome Back Letter to Existing Patients
Dear Patient
Please note that your next physical therapy appointment will be on …
Can we remind you that regular attendance is essential to maintain your physical health, aid your recovery, and minimize the need for treatment over the long-term.
If you have any problems in attending at the time and date shown above then please let us know – can we remind you that there is no charge for changing or canceling appointments, provided we are given at least 24 hour notice.
Enclosed with this letter you will find a copy of our New Patient Welcome Pack. This is now being sent to all new patients who join the practice, before their first visit, and is intended to give them an overview of a our philosophy and standards.
We feel that, as a matter of courtesy, we would like to send the same pack to you. Please take a few moments to read through.
We look forward to seeing you. yours ….
III. The End of Treatment Letter
Dear Patient
Now that we have come to the end of your current course of treatment, we want to express our appreciation that you have placed your confidence and your business with us.
If there are any problems in connection with the treatment you received, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 123456789.
At this time, we like to remind our patients that our business grows primarily through word of mouth recommendation – we want to build our business working with people like you. With this in mind, I enclose 3 copies of a referral business card and would be grateful if you could pass them on to any friends, family or colleagues who you think would benefit from a visit to a practice like ours.
Many thanks for this. We look forward to serving you for many years to come.
yours ….
IV. Ideas
- In the practices where excellence in clients service is high they have a “Client Journey Champion” (CJC) -a member of staff who would take responsibility for making sure that the client service practices that were implemented in the practice are maintained, in the face of day to day “stuff”. The champions are nominated from within the team.
The Client Journey Champion responsibilities may include some of the following: understands the steps and the actions that have been agreed by the team and how they will be implemented; should be able to explain, discuss and agree how the training will be applied to the individual’s circumstances-and be flexible enough to agree common sense changes; be a good listener -listening involves eye contact, body language and genuine appreciation; be an example.
- Client Satisfaction Surveying
Client Satisfaction Surveys offer many significant benefits to your physical therapy business. Here are ten benefits:
1. It enlists your clients as advocates in selling your services.
There is compelling evidence that highly satisfied clients tend to tell their colleagues and friends about superior services. The ideal situation to create, therefore, is to have your clients promoting your services because their credibility and enthusiasm is your most effective marketing tool. An efficient client satisfaction survey process provides you with the insights to develop these highly satisfied clients.
2. It supports retention because it earns you loyal clients.
Client satisfaction surveys enable you to keep your clients informed about the progress you are making in addressing their needs. This ongoing dialogue builds trust and loyalty because clients feel heard and appreciated.
3. It insulates you from the impact of your mistakes.
Mistakes are inevitable. However, if you have maintained a dialogue through regular surveys and, therefore, developed a degree of trust with your clients, there is much more tolerance for mistakes.
4. It keeps you in contact with your clients.
In today’s world it is paramount to keep in regular contact with your clients because their needs and desires change frequently. Client satisfaction surveys keep you current with these shifts in your market so that you can promptly adapt your services accordingly.
5. It allows you to clear up misunderstandings.
In my experience, it is quite common for clients to demonstrate misunderstandings, particularly around expectations about the scope of services offered. Controlling expectations is critically important because clients rate services and therefore businesses according to their expectations. Client satisfaction surveys alert you to these misunderstandings and enable you to correct them in time to avoid adverse consequences.
6. It helps you flag possible problem areas and clients.
7. It keeps you improving your services.
One of the best ways to keep ahead of your competition is to be continually improving your services, and regular client surveys show you how and where to make the improvements that your clients want.
8. It allows you to determine client support.
9. It tells you what your client’s value and what they are willing to buy.
What client’s value often comes as a revelation to us. Client surveys will alert you to what clients value about your services and to what they want to buy from you.
10. It provides you with data to demonstrate how satisfied your clients are.
Imagine how much more credible and compelling an ad to solicit clients for your organization and services would be that read, “91.4 percent of our clients rate our service as ‘excellent’” as compared to “we offer outstanding service”. Better yet, how much more credible is an ad that can state “Our commitment to client service has enabled us over three years to improve our ‘excellent’ rating from 82.3 percent to 92.6 percent. “ Clearly, the information you glean from your client satisfaction surveys empowers you to offer meaningful data that substantiates your claim to be a provider of superior products and services.
- A Sample Survey
Start simply with a survey of 8 questions – something like the questions below.
1. How satisfied were you with each of the following aspects of our service?
(These are questions about their frontline experience)(Add you own here to total 5)
Time required to obtain the service The courtesy of our staff Comfort of the waiting area
Is there anything else we could have provided that you would have liked?
Please specify what this is…
2. How satisfied were you with each of the following aspects of our services?
(These are questions about their service experience) (Create a list of 10)
The actual service you received The information you were given How appropriate the information and advice that you received were How well staff listened to you Getting answers to your questions How respectfully service staff treated you
Is there anything else we could have provided that you would have liked?
Please specify what this is…
3. Of the following list of services we offer which ones have you used?
Physiotherapy
Massage therapy
Acupuncture
.
.
.
4. Which services did you not know we offered?…
5. What other services would you like us to provide? (List some options that you have been considering or would consider.)
6. Please help us by telling us one way we could improve our services?
7. What is the most important thing to you when you need services like ours?
8. Overall how satisfied were you with your experiences at Smith Physiotherapy?
For the relevant questions use a satisfaction scale:
1 very dissatisfied
2 dissatisfied
3 neutral
4 satisfied
5 very satisfied
Start by giving out this survey to all of your existing clients every December. You can do this in person or offer it online from your website. Another good time to ask your clients to fill out this survey is at the point of service completion.
Prosperous Physical Therapy
Copyright @2009 by Erika Trimble All Rights Reserved
Physical therapy practice owners who want a better work–life balance and a smooth running operation with high client numbers learn how to have all of this with Prosperous Physical Therapy. Erika Trimble President of Prosperous Physical Therapy and Business Coach has created the first ever business training programs dedicated exclusively to practice owners.
Visit us at www.prosperousphysicaltherapy.com to discover how to increase referral business, how to recruit and retain physical therapists, and how to obtain significant growth in your repeat business. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive bi-monthly practice tips specifically for physical therapists in private practice.