How to handle dissatisfied clients
This is the hat on what to tell clients when they have negative feedback regarding any part of our service
In the rare instances when a client is dissatisfied with any part of our service, it is important to relay the information to the person in charge of handling dissatisfaction and Quality Control. However, you, regardless of what your function is within HPESC, have a very important part to play in ensuring that the upset/dissatisfaction does not escalate and in mitigating the situation. Your reaction and how you sound will GREATLY influence the client’s final perception of our service, so it is very important that you fully understand how to react/handle an upset client. And how you, as a first line person, handle this dissatisfied person, might make the difference between calming the situation and reversing the upset v/s the client going on YELP or other social media and writing something nasty about our service.
First, let the client fully express their concerns and acknowledge where appropriate. Don’t interrupt them but don’t let them go on and on and on once they have expressed their concerns. NEVER look/sound rattled, embarrassed or like you don’t know what to say. Keep your cool, keep your loving and caring attitude, don’t look/sound defensive or backed off. Remember that this person has just gone through a major loss and keep demonstrating compassion and caring. However, it is very important to understand that some people (AKA “haters”) thrive on making people feel bad, attacking others and there is NOTHING you can ever do right for them. These people are rare. Keep this in mind and don’t get rattled. They probably treat the Walgreen cashier and their family members in the same manner. However, some complaints are genuine and do need to be addressed. Whatever the case may be, the following is how you handle ANY complaint.
Acknowledge them and make sure that you do it in a manner that communicates that you UNDERSTAND their concern. Be compassionate. BUT DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE IN A WAY THAT IT MAKES IT SOUND LIKE YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE. Simply acknowledge and understand.
Then say: “Our doctors (or staffs if the complaint is about a non-doctor) all truly care about the families we help. I do too. It is devastating to us when a euthanasia appointment did not go as we all hoped for. Over 99% of our euthanasias go peacefully and smoothly, but it is important to understand that we are dealing with End of Life patients. Unwanted drug reactions can occur in any patient, human or pet and in addition, the babies we help are often severely dehydrated and severely compromised, which can make things more challenging from a medical standpoint. That said, Dr. Annie is always willing to hear what you have to say and answer any questions or hear any points that may need to be addressed with our staffs and doctors so that it doesn’t happen to another family if it could have been prevented. We always try to improve no matter what happens. So your feedback actually could help another family. Would you like Dr. Annie to contact you? I will give her your information and she will contact you. She might give you a little bit of time in respect of your loss before she contacts you, but she will get back to you.
Do all you can to see to it that they are at least somewhat comforted.
Then write me an email with all the details of the conversation you had with the client and what they were concerned about. Don’t wait. Write this immediately, at your first opportunity.
If you feel rattled or disturbed in any way and you need to talk about the incident, don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Annie or our ED. It is important that you communicate and that you are able to continue servicing other clients and not have this weighing on your heart. If you need to talk about it, please reach out.
You are important. You are loved. We have successfully helped THOUSANDS of families who have loved us and appreciated us from the bottom of their hearts. The dissatisfied have been few and far between but because of the incredibly personal nature of our service, it can affect us deeply and intimately. Just recognize that 99% of our clients are incredibly grateful and that we make an immensely positive difference in the difficult time they had to deal with.
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