By Diane Palombi, OD
April 27, 2016
Even the most successful practice will have the occasional dissatisfied patient. Do you know how to effectively manage–and turn around–patient complaints?
My years in practice taught me the value of training staff to find a resolution that allows patients to leave the office with a feeling of goodwill toward the practice.
We’ve all experienced bad service–and sometimes we’ve probably spokenup about it. How our complaints are handled often determines whether we patronize an establishment in the future or emphatically wipe it off the list, never to return.
Recently, I was dining out with friends at our favorite chicken wings restaurant. This place never had the speediest service, but we tolerated it because the food was delicious. However, this evening was not going well. Our waitress apologized from the initial encounter, as they were short staffed because the manager allowed staff to leave early even though it was St Patrick’s Day. It was just her and the manager, who was also running the bar, waiting the tables.
In addition, a large party, which ended up being three times larger than anticipated by the manager, was there before us. The longer-than-normal wait might have been tolerated better except some preteens were constantly playing contemporary music on the juke box and the speaker was by our table. The music was so loud that it was difficult to have a conversation. Our friends had also had a bad experience the last time they were there. Their order was taken down incorrectly, and the floor was being washed in one area with a solution that smelled strongly of bleach.
One of our friends mentioned to the waitress that this probably would be his last trip to this establishment. The waitress later mentioned that the manager wished to talk to us. After a considerable wait the manager came to our table in a defensive posture. She immediately started talking about the restaurant being short staffed and pointing out that an unexpected large party was there prior to us. My friend started to mention other issues, but she cut him off. She had no interest in hearing his complaints. She basically said that if we do not like how things are at their establishment, then perhaps we should patron the restaurant across the street. When we left she sarcastically yelled at us to “have a good evening.”
Complaints are a normal part of doing business
Although we would like to be perfect, we are not. Our staff is not either. Effectively listening and dealing with complaints is essential to having a successful practice. I always like the saying that you are given two ears and only one mouth for a good reason. You need to listen to your patient first. It is tempting to defend yourself, but let the patient fully express his concerns before chiming in. It’s a good idea to repeat back to the patient his complaints so that you fully understand what is being said.
People tend not to like to confront others. If someone is complaining, the situation is probably bad and needs to be fixed for the others who probably feel the same way, but say nothing. If this manager had listened to my friend she would have learned that perhaps the speaker needs to be relocated, or the volume adjusted down. She would also have discovered that the smell of bleach is unpleasant when a person is eating. Perhaps floor cleaning should be done after hours. You gain valuable information from complaints.
Validate your patient’s opinion
Brushing off the situation is not going help the matter. It does not hurt to apologize. “I’m sorry this has happen, or you feel this way” goes a long way to rectify a bad experience. Following this with “What can I do to make this better for you?” is even better. Never go the “If you don’t like how I do things, you are free to go elsewhere” route.
Do not lose your temper or become sarcastic. It is a quick way to lose patients.
I had the additional issue of having a family member on staff. When patients complained about my daughter it was hard not to go into “Mama Bear” mode to defend her. You must remain calm and try to be objective. Again, acknowledge the complaint and then talk to the staff member about it. It often is just a simple misunderstanding that can be easily rectified.
Consumers who have an unpleasant experience with a business are more likely to talk to their friends and co-workers about the situation than those who have a good one. Our experience was brought up at a girl’s breakfast a few days later. Then the wives tell their husbands who tell other friends, and so on. You can see how a bad experience can feed on itself.
We all like dealing with happy patients, but the unhappy patients are the ones we really need to pay attention to, and satisfy to ensure they leave our office with a sense that they were treated fairly, and had a good experience. Doing so will increase the number of patients returning to your practice, providing you with a continuous source of practice growth.
Have you developed a system for managing dissatisfied patients, and have you trained your staff on this system? What have you learned over the years about handling challenging patients? What do you wish someone had told you before you went into practice?
Diane Palombi, OD, now retired,owned Palombi Vision Center in Wentzville, Mo. To contact her: dlpod1@hotmail.com
