• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

3 unpolishable client service mistakes

August 8, 2016
Bash Halow, LVT, CVPM

It's time for your veterinary team to dump these really bad service gems.

Oh, poo. Clients can smell these service mistakes a mile away. These aren't diamonds in the rough. They're just stinky old customer service shenanigans. So scoop this poop right out of your practice to make room for real service gems.

Turd No. 1: Hollow promises of service.

One thing that really yanks my chain are practices with on-hold messages and mission statements loaded with gratuitous promises of service written in superlatives, but with no leadership or training components in place to offer this service. Everyone knows we have problems with collecting email addresses consistently, yet in the on-hold message we're audacious enough to promise the "very best" in veterinary care.

Aim for the stars, but load your practice with enough leadership power to make sure we hit the mark. I don't want to read another mission statement as long as I live. From now on, I want to see them acted out in real time every day at your business.

Turd No. 2: Robot education in lieu of recommendations.

People aren't coming to your practice for education, and certainly not for any that's delivered by rote. Clients are coming to you for trusted, experienced and effective solutions for their pet's veterinary needs. Don't load 'em in a room, then load 'em up with a bunch of noise. It's impersonal and too often delivered disingenuously.

Advertisement

Instead, load 'em in the room and load 'em up with your attention, with your listening skills, with your eyes and body language saying, "I'm here for you, I'm paying attention, and I'm ready to help." Then, based on what you learn from your time with the client, make a straightforward recommendation followed by any additional information (read: education) they may need to understand the value of your services.

Turd No. 3: Rotten-egg team members stinking up your service.

The website says service, the signs in the lobby say service. You even mention service on the bottom of the invoice. Yet your team's performance is in the toilet. Why? Because you've allowed one or two rotten-egg team members to stink up the joint for everyone. Stop trying to fool yourself and your team members that the status quo is acceptable or even workable. Can the crankpot. Fire the freeloader. Boot, bump and banish that member of your team who regularly drags down an otherwise happy core of people.

And while I'm on the topic, may I remind you to keep your service excuses to yourself? I couldn't care less if your server is down, your system is slow, your "computer won't let you..." , that your email isn't working, that the chart won't load ...

How can you, in all good conscience, pound the value of service up everyone's ... err, into everyone's ear, then not invest any money, time or effort to make sure you have systems to deliver the service? Fix the computer. Buy a new printer. Client service representatives should be service providers, not apology machines.

 Bash Halow, BA, CVPM, LVT, is a partner at Halow Tassava Consulting. Want to see Bash in person? Check out what he'll be talking about next at CVC here.

Related Content:

BusinessPractice Operations
Hiring employees in line with your brand
Hiring employees in line with your brand
Thriving when life is hard
Thriving when life is hard
Hospital design expert shares his favorite design element
Hospital design expert shares his favorite design element

Advertisement

Latest News

To refer or to not refer

Advice panel for women interested in the veterinary field

AVMA president set to testify before Congress

New Hawaii-based pet CBD brand launches

View More Latest News
Advertisement