A Customer Service presentation for your office staff

1. FAIRFIELD COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
presents
The Satisfied Patient:
Customer Service Training for Your Staff
Speaker:
Diane Sullivan, Director of Community Relations,
Ludlowe Center for Health & Rehabilitation and
Cambridge Health and Rehabilitation Center
Sponsored by:

2. Mahatma Gandhi…..
“A customer is the most important
visitor on our premises, he is not
dependent on us. We are dependent
on him. He is not an interruption in our
work. He is the purpose of it. He is not
an outsider in our business. He is part
of it. We are not doing him a favor by
serving him. He is doing a favor by
giving us an opportunity to do so”

3. Why is Customer Service more important than ever? Traditonal vs New

4. Sites to review to monitor your reputation:
Ratemd.com
Vitals.com
Healthcarereviews.com
Yelp.com

5. Economy and Healthcare
Due to decreased
reimbursement both
from Medicare and
Managed Care there
is a need more than
ever before to provide
quality care which
starts with excellence
in customer service
Don’t let it slip
through your fingers

6. Did you Know ?
A typical business will only
hear from 4% of dissatisfied
customers-96% will just leave
A typical dissatisfied customer
will tell up to 20 people about
his/her experience
It takes 12 positive customer
service experiences to make
up for 1 negative experience
The average business spends
up to 10 times more to attract
new customers than it does to
keep the old ones

7. It’s a Dog’s Life
How patient
satisfaction
impacts the
practices
bottom line
It's A Dog's World.mp4

8. What is Good Customer Service?
Name a time when you experienced good
customer service…
Name a time when you experienced bad
customer service…

9. How would your patients’
describe your practices’
customer service?
If your patients were to
describe the customer
service at your practice,
what would they say???
What would you Like
them to say about your
customer service?

10. Choose Your Own Attitude
What You Put
Out Comes
Back To
You!

11. What is in it for you?
It makes your job more
satisfying-providing good
customer service makes you
feel that you are making a
difference and gives you a
sense of pride in your work
It reduces stress and hassle-
when you deliver quality
service, you are more likely to
be productive and less likely to
be a target of customer
complaints
Demonstrating good customer
service is rewarding! Doing it
right the first time makes
everyone’s job easier

12. Common Elements
of
Good Customer Service
SMILE
Positive Attitude
Warm Courteous
Respectful
Communication
Personalized Service

13. Positive Attitude
SMILE- make patients feel safe and let
them know they are welcome
Eye Contact
Warm
Courteous
Respectful
Stay Engaged

14. Warm, Courteous, Respectful
Communication
Smile
Eye Contact
Say Hello-Always ask “May I help you?”
Refer to Patient by Name
Active Listening
Focus Attention
Respect for Patient Confidentiality

15. Personalized Service
Flexibility in
accommodating the
patient
Respect for the patients
time
(i.e. Can we offer a cup of
coffee, a magazine?)
Acknowledge the wait and
apologize

16. Elements of Poor Customer
Service
Indifferent
Communication
Incompetence
Delayed Responses
Excuses (i.e.. “We’re
short staffed”)
Unwillingness to take
responsibility (i.e.. “Its
not my job”)

17. L.A.S.T= Listen, Apologize, Solve, Thanks

18. 100% Quality
If 99% was good enough for Customer Service in America
then…
We’d have one hour every month when our
water was unsafe to drink
There would be five airplane crashes every day
Every week, surgeons would do 500 operations
on the wrong patients
The U.S. Post Office would lose over 16,000
pieces of mail every hour
The IRS would lose 2 million documents every
year
Every minute the phone company would send
1,000 telephone calls to the wrong numbers

19. How can we provide 100%
Customer Service?
Know your job
Be polite and helpful
Have a positive attitude
Show an interest in the patients and their
families
Be excited about your work
Work well as a team
Have a sense of responsibility
Be proud of your practice

20. Understanding the
Generation Differences
Silent Generation (1927 -1945) Loyal, Respect
for Authority, Self Sacrifice & Dedication
Boomers (1946 – 1964) Independent, Goal-
oriented, Question Authority, still working
Generation X (1965 – 1981) What’s in it for
me? Personal relationships over career, self-
reliance, innovative
Millennials (Gen Y) (1982- 2000) Most diverse
generation, instant gratification, most
educated, helicopter parents

21. Telephone Etiquette
A phone call can be
someone’s first
impression of you and the
practice
Identify yourself and ask
how you can help the
caller
Always be courteous,
polite, professional
The tone and pitch of
your voice affects how
the caller perceives your
attitude

22. Telephone Etiquette
If you can’t answer a question, ensure you
will find the correct information and
someone will call them back
Make sure the caller has no more
questions
Summarize your understanding of the call
Politely end the call with “Have a nice day”

23. Telephone Etiquette Pointers…
Smile-it comes through in your voice
Listen-don’t interrupt the caller
Gather the facts and make note of them
Ensure you get contact information as
quickly as possible in case the call is lost
Do Not Talk to someone else while on the
phone, give the caller your full attention

24. Did you Know?
87% of people’s
opinions are formed
based on tone of our
voice while only 13%
of people’s opinions
are based on actual
words

25. Summary of our Customers’ Expectations
IF YOU CARE-IT WILL GROW
CARING
Promptness
Responsiveness
Courtesy
Professionalism
Empathy
Personal Attention
Assurance
Reliability

26. Unhappy Customers
When expectations are
not met, customers
become angry
Don’t place blame on the
customer-avoid saying
things like “That patient is
too demanding”
Don’t make excuses or
complain, look for a
solution. Ask “How would
you see this resolved?”

27. Celebrate Complaints !!!
Many complaints are
misunderstandings
Listen to what they are
saying, without defense
Don’t interrupt, stay calm
People who have their
complaints successfully
resolved are often more
loyal customers after

28. How to respond to a complaint or
concern:
Listen and express
empathy
Try to understand the
situation from their side
Apologize
Find out what the patient
and family want

Usually it is something
simple and easy for us to
do!

Each patient should be
approached as a unique
individual

29. How to respond to a complaint or
concern
Involve your supervisor as appropriate
Offer an alternative
Follow-up

Let them know when you intend to follow up
(& you must do so!!!!!)

30. Nurturing
We all need it
“Positive Strokes”
Or Compliments Are A
Form of Nurturing”

31. Responding To Angry Customers
“Nobody Ever Wins An Argument With A
Customer”- L.L. Bean
“Rule #1 the customer is always right
Rule #2 if the customer is wrong, refer
back to rule #1- Stew Leonard's

32. The Do’s and Don’t’s of Handling
Angry or Difficult Customers
Do:
-Stand about 4’ away, at 45 - Respond, don’t react
degree angle - Keep tone of voice low
-Keep hands open and at and neutral
sides - Acknowledge the positive
-Listen Completely - Accept responsibility
- Ignore tone of voice - Apologize
- Pay attention, keep eye - Empathize
contact
- -Be sensitive to location

33. The Do’s and Don’ts of Handling Angry or
Difficult Customers
Don’t:
-Stand in a confrontational manner
-Use parental finger
-Say “stay calm”
- Make excuses
- Be defensive
- Tell them why they shouldn’t be angry
- Be judgmental or accusatory
- Act indifferent
- TAKE IT PERSONALLY !!!

34. Lunch Bunch….They Talk
but they don’t know who’s listening
One day, group of health care
providers went to the local
diner for lunch. They were
discussing how inappropriate a
residents behavior was. They
went on about how “crazy” she
was and how they hated to
care for her.
Unbeknownst to the “lunch
bunch” the patients daughter
tapped them on the shoulder
from behind and said “that’s
my mother you are talking
about”

35. Patient Confidentiality
Keeping it Private
Imagine you were
patient…
Discuss private issues
out of earshot of other
individuals

36. What are the HIPPA Violations???
Don’t discuss patients
outside of the workplace
All documents must be
shredded and destroyed
when no longer in use
Only provide information
on patients status to
those providing care (i.e..
Pharmacist, lab, medical
durable equipment, home
health agency

37. Successful Employee
Recognition Programs
Celebrating going above and beyond and great customer
service. The following is an outline of our customer
service program for “Ludlowe Loot’:
Earn $100 of Ludlowe Loot- Earn your choice of a $10
gift card from your choice of Stop and Shop, gas card,
Dunkin Donuts, or (10) scratch tickets…your prize your
choice.
Earn $500 of Ludlowe Loot- $75 gift card from your
favorite store and lunch from our famous kitchen for one
week.

38. LUDLOWE LOOT
ONE TEAM ONE GOAL
Thanks for going above and
beyond
We appreciate you

39. Any Questions???
Excellence in
Customer Service
is contagious, pass
it on !!!

40. Thank You For Joining Us
“Your position in
life and what you
do doesn’t matter
as much as how
you do what you
do”
-Elisabeth
Kubler-
Ross