Is Rude a 4-Letter Word?

Retaining customers is key to any business. According to Bain & Company, raising retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by anywhere from 25% to 95%.

That’s great on paper, but handling difficult patients in person can be downright difficult. You’ve likely seen every kind of challenging customer in your chair or in the optical. As categorized by Aventis Learning Group, they usually fit into one of five behavioral buckets: know-it-all, impatient, complaining, demanding, or indecisive.

How do you handle these unpleasant people in your practice? Here, we unveil some tips.

DRESS REHEARSALS

Lisa Frye, optician and optical director for Invision Ophthalmology in Birmingham, AL, says it’s important to “review ‘example’ interactions and develop protocol for responding to difficult patients. Create appropriate responses, coach and train your team, and inspect what is expected.”

The point?

“Always strive to improve patient and team relations.”

It’s critical to start off on the right foot, she adds. “The first step is to remain professional and patient centric. The ability to listen to what the patient has to say before responding is most important. Positive body language, a smile, and starting off with an introduction and acknowledgment that we are here to help can defuse emotional response and be a calming influence.

“A patient may seem difficult,” she adds, “but our role is to try to offer empathy and understanding to achieve a satisfactory resolution. We shouldn’t take it personally or be defensive.”

BACK TO BASICS

Tom Bowen, founder of Thrive Practice and Life Development in Lincoln, NE, concurs. “Realize this is all about marketing. I think of marketing as anything you do to cause and sustain value, and value is the extent to which customers perceive what you do as good. So, preventing difficulty is not about your patient care, but how patients—your customers—perceive it.

“The more we proactively teach them what we’re providing and why, the more they value us…and the less likely they are to be difficult about something.”

SAY SAYONARA?

What if you’ve tried everything and nothing works?

“Realize not all business is good business,” stresses Bowen. “When we’ve run an offense ensuring a patient knows what we want them to know, and they don’t see enough value to not be difficult, find a professional way to indicate there is simply not a fit and suggest they seek a provider more in line with what they’re seeking.”

Saying “Bye, Felicia” is tough. Allowing a downright difficult patient to poison your practice is worse.