Enlightenment patter for Client Care Specialists
The following patter is a guideline to use to tell prospects about our service. It should never be used in a parrot-like manner, from beginning to end without engaging the prospect in conversation. The wording is carefully chosen, so you should try to stick more or less to the wording without sounding robotic. At appropriate places, ask the prospect questions that relate to what you have just said and listen to what they say and use what they say to flow back into the important points to tell the prospect about our service. The bold words in the patter are important concepts to relay to the prospect. They were included in the script because they are surveyed points. Surveys are used to find out what people respond to and what is important to them. So using those words in your conversation with the prospect will help you to gain agreement and will make it easier for you to get the person to make an appointment. The text in red are notes for you to remember. They are not part of the script.
“Our service is very unique because we have a whole team to care for you. Our doctors have been chosen because of their compassion and caring and I personally care very much about you and your pet and my job is to do everything I can to make things easier for you at such a difficult time. So after our call is over, if you think of any other questions or if anyone else in your family would like to speak to me or has questions, you are welcome to call me back.”
“The purpose of our service is to make it very peaceful for __________ and to make it as easy as possible for you and your family. Everything is done at home, where __________ is comfortable and he can be surrounded by the people he (she) loves in his (her) last moments.
The doctor will come to your home and meet you and your baby. We’ll handle any paperwork and payment first to make sure that after that, you can have 100% of your attention on __________ and on taking care of yourself and your family.”
“Then the doctor will explain everything that she will do step by step so that you are not left in the dark and you can ask the doctor any other questions you may have about the procedure or anything.”
“We don’t rush things and we won’t drag anything that you don’t want to take a long time either. We go at your pace. Once your questions are all answered, and the doctor has become acquainted with __________ she will start getting things ready. She’ll sedate __________ at this point, if she feels like _____________ would be more comfortable being sedated prior to the placement of the IV catheter. Then she’ll place the IV catheter. You are welcome to be there for the entire process if you want to or if you prefer to step out for any or all of the procedure, it is whatever you and each family member feels more comfortable. The doctor is very discrete about what she does and she does not flaunt her equipment and needles. We use a little blanket to hide everything so that if needles make you queasy, you don’t have to have those in plain view.”
“Once the IV catheter is in place, the doctor will let you know that everything is in place and that we are ready. She will offer you to have private time with ___________ and your family and she will step out. When you are ready for the doctor to give ____________ the final part, you just let her know that you are ready and she will come back in and will give _________ what he needs to pass away peacefully.”
“After ___________ has passed away, she will offer you to have more private time to say your last goodbyes and when you are ready, she will take ____________ to her vehicle.” (don’t forget that if the pet is over 30lbs, the doctor will need the family’s help to carry the pet. See guidelines on number of people required to lift depending on pet’s weight. If the pet is over 30 lbs, you continue with the following)
“____________ is a little too big for the doctor to be able to carry by herself, so she will need help to take him/her to her vehicle (or if it’s a really big pet, you can say: “Since ___________ is a big boy/girl, the doctor will need help lifting him/her to her vehicle”. (then, go over how many people are needed depending on the pet’s weight). The doctor has a nice light stretcher that will make it possible to take __________ to her vehicle in a dignified manner with the appropriate number of people to help.”
“Then ___________ will be taken to our office and from there, he will go to the cremation facility where he will be cremated. Everything is done very respectfully whether or not you want to have the ashes back. If you want to have __________’s ashes back, we have 3 options to bring ________’s ashes back to you.”
Make sure that you work all the above script within an actual conversation. Let them ask questions, hear their comments, etc… and acknowledge them and continue with your script at the appropriate point.
“We have an amazing website that Dr. Annie has created over the last 10 years to make sure that the families she helps have all the help they need and to assist you in preparing fully for what is ahead. You are welcome to read as much or as little as you wish. It covers every possible aspect of End of Life care.”
Send them to the website. Then tell them that you would like to follow up with them to see if they have any questions about what they read. That is your entry point for being able to follow up with them later if you don’t close the call right away. If at all possible, send them to a specific section of the website according to the conversation you had. For example, if they are preparing for the future, send them to the Quality of Life section (http://www.homepeteuthanasia.com/is-it-time); if they asked if they should have their kids there, send them to the “should children be present” section. If they had concerns about how to prepare, send them to the “Preparing section”, etc, etc, etc… Then, when following up with them, you can ask them if they read the section of the website and if they have any questions about it.