Marketing Matters
What's a Service Recovery Plan?
It's a way to turn a dissatisfied patient into a practice asset.

BY BRAD RUDEN, M.B.A.

Over the past year, I have written a series of articles dealing with the seven principles of service marketing -- product, price, promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence -- and how they relate to a medical practice.

This month, I'll address one of the most important, but often overlooked, aspects of marketing: service recovery.

In medicine, as in any service industry, there are times when the service, for whatever reason, will fall short of patient expectations. When this happens, it is imperative that the practice address the deficiency, whether it's real or perceived, as quickly as possible, or risk losing a patient and suffering the effects of a negative referral.

TURNING A SITUATION AROUND

The eight basic steps to service recovery are:

Make it easy for the patient to complain. It is an axiom of business that you'd rather have a customer who complains about a problem than one who silently lets it slide by but never uses your services again. Make sure your patients know you care about them and want them to let you know if you are not meeting their expectations.

Recover quickly, at the first point of contact. Everyone on your staff should be open to hearing a complaint and be able to quickly identify the person most capable of addressing the problem.

If possible, the employee should walk the patient to the appropriate staff member, introduce the patient, and explain the situation rather than just pointing the patient to a person and saying, "talk to him."

Acknowledge problems, explain causes and apologize. When a problem is brought to light, no matter how trivial the problem may be or if the patient is even partly at fault, acknowledge the complaint, explain how or why this may have occurred, and apologize.

Personalize the recovery experience. Make sure the patient knows you value his patronage and the fact that he cared enough to inform you that his expectations were not being met. Make it clear that you appreciate the chance to correct the situation in order to keep him at your practice.

Give the patient options. Very few problems have only one solution. Whenever possible, offer multiple solutions for the patient.

Involve the patient in arriving at a fair solution. Once you have laid out the possible solutions for the patient, ask him which would be most favorable to him. If, for whatever reason, none of the solutions is acceptable, ask the patient what is acceptable. If it is reasonable for the practice, provide the solution requested by the patient.

Do it right the second time. Now that you have the opportunity to rectify the situation, take great care to ensure the corrected service is provided to the highest level. Nothing spells disaster like disappointing a patient a second time.

Ask the patient: Did we do it right the second time? Once the corrected service has been provided, ask the patient if everything is OK. This is the summary reinforcement that the patient will walk away satisfied and, more likely than not, sing your praises to his friends and family.

PLAN YOUR RESPONSE PROCESS

Service recovery is something you must plan for and actively carry out. Just as a positive referral could result in growth, a negative comment can damage you without you ever knowing it.

No practice can satisfy 100% of its patients 100% of the time, but progressive practices know this and are prepared to address and correct any deficiencies as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Brad Ruden, M.B.A., owns MedPro Consulting & Marketing Services in Phoenix, Ariz. You can reach him at (602) 274-1668, medpro@uswest.net, or via his Web site at www.medprocms.com.