[M321]Math Facts Practice Worksheets

Customer service is what you should focus on if you want your practice to be "user friendly." Although this is a practice and they are patients, the business is customer service oriented. When you are dealing with the general public your number one priority is customer service regardless of what your business is. May it be dry cleaners, bank or medical practice. What people think of your business is based almost totally on how responsive you are to your customers whether it is answering the phone or in person in the office or meeting on the street. They care about how they are treated and they will tell others whether or not you've been helpful, courteous and attentive. They will spread word either way and people often only remember the bad things that are said rather than the good.

Phone Responses

Answering the phone can be the single most important point of contact and can be what makes them decide to use your practice. Are you user friendly? What are we trying to point out? Here's a good example. Yesterday, I was reminded about the importance of our office being easy to contact, having live, literate humans answering calls, and not having a me-me-me attitude. I spent over 30 minutes, trying to get an understanding of a phone bill, from one of the largest companies. I was answered by a recorded voice and then shift around on hold. It took three redial before I got hold of a human voice who actually spoke to me. They couldn't answer my question and their responses concerning the policy were different than mine. At the end of this process, I decided I will NEVER use one of their ad products again. The "small print" gives them the freedom to make changes in the agreements without notice. I was peeved, and the staff could care less, once I spoke to a human after 3 redials. Is this a good description of your practice procedures on the phone? Is this how your patients feel? Are your staff able to respond well to calls? Can they answer questions and concerns? How many times do they have to call back to get a response from you? Do they have questions about your policies? Does your staff understand the policies and explain them to your patients?

Customer Service

Don't ever let this happen in your office. You and the staff must be quick, courteous, and clear in all communications. All incoming calls that ring several times or are on hold for several minutes are the most difficult part to overcome regardless how good your practice is and how well the patients think of you AFTER they have been tended. Remember in almost every case the patient is either upset or concerned; therefore you need to quickly answer their calls. The best way to get patients to be responsive and to feel better about you is to answer the call quickly with a live human voice. And, make sure everyone knows you never win by making a patient wrong. When they call, patients are looking for someone that would listen to them and assist them. Answering a call quickly, listening to what they have to say and then calling them by name and helping them, the patients will understand that you care and are trying to help them. One last point; do not leave them on hold for a recorded message saying their call is important. I can't remember the last time that someone actually picked up the phone while I was on hold to ask me if I've been helped or just to check if I'm still waiting. A person picking up the call on hold and being courteous will show the patient how much you care.

Clear concise policies

Review all of your policies and have an independent third party read the policy and explain to you what it says. Is this what you wanted it to say? If yes, then your policy is clear and concise. If not, then rewrite it until the person reading and explaining the policy is stating it as you meant it. To help avoid misunderstandings, make sure the policies you have or write are simple, concise, and clearly understood, whether for staff or patients. Train your staff on the policies for patients. Have your staff explain the patient policies to you. Is what they said the same thing as what you intended it to say? Make sure they understand everything and can explain it to the patients. You also should survey your patients once a year and ask them to critique you in all these areas. Then share the results with your team. Have the staff review all of your policies. Again have them critique all areas of the practice. Are there areas they do not understand? When you discover a problem, fix it quickly. If you find you need to make a change in policy, go over it with a neutral third party and ask them to explain to you. Discuss the changes with your staff to make sure that they understood and get the word out quickly to all your patients. You may have patients who see the change and call to ask questions on how the change affects them. Be ready and prepared with the answers. Nothing aggravates a caller more when they call and no one can answer their questions.

The three most important things

What are the three most important things: Customer Service, Customer Service and Customer Service. Keep one thing in mind at all times: Is this the way you want to be treated when you are calling in for help? Does your practice also practice these same techniques with patients in the office? Are they checked on to let them know what is happening? Are you aware of how long they have been waiting? What are your standards? Do you work to keep them? Do you train all of your staff how to handle the patients? It is important that your staff exemplifies the same courteous, attentive and knowledge in person as they do on the phone and vice versa. When your patients think of your practice do they think of attentiveness, responsiveness, quality care and clear, concise policies? This should be your goal. Your patients want to know that you care and the best way to show it is in the way you care for them.

Excellent service with human touch is becoming rare, just as John Naisbitt warned us 25 years ago with the arrival of high tech. If you don't know John, I suggest you check him out.