Communication is the key to any successful business. Effective communication is especially important for businesses that deal with emotional clients, such as veterinary clinics and medical offices. It’s understandable that people are passionate about issues involving their pets. After all, most people think of their pets as part of the family. Therefore, veterinary clinic employees must understand how to communicate effectively with clients—even under stressful circumstances. In this article, we provide four tips for communicating with veterinary clients.
#1: Control Your Responses
Always be sure to control your responses when communicating with your clients. One way to control your responses when communicating with veterinary clients is to remember that their actions often come from a place of concern for their pets. Therefore, whether a client is sad, angry, or otherwise, try to remain calm and measured in your responses.
#2: Pay Attention to Your Body Language
Experts claim that approximately 90% of communication is non-verbal. In other words, when communicating with veterinary clients, it’s not always what you say, but how you behave. So, when addressing your clients, you should use body language that communicates a message of openness and trust. Ways to do so include:
- Maintaining eye contact
- Smiling in a genuine manner when appropriate
- Mirroring the body language of the client (unless the client is angry or aggressive)
- Leaving your arms uncrossed
#3: Be Empathetic
A key aspect of effective communication is empathy, which is the act of taking the perspective of another person. In a veterinary practice, empathy helps you avoid judgment and recognize the client’s feelings. Empathy is particularly useful during challenging interactions. By behaving empathetically, you help the client feel heard, and this can defuse reactivity.
#4: Use Clear Language and Offer Options
Finally, you should provide clients with as much clarity as possible about their situation. Generally, the better your clients understand what’s going on, the less likely they are to become upset. In addition, when attempting to resolve a client’s issue, you should offer them different options whenever possible.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re having a routine interaction with a client or addressing a major issue, clear communication is imperative. Therefore, when addressing clients, you should always make clear and effective communication your top priority. In addition, to impart the importance of clear communication to your staff, you should consider providing all employees training in this critical area.
Contact an Experienced Veterinary Lawyer
At Mahan Law, we are here to help make your veterinary practice a success. With years of veterinary experience, we know what it takes to address the challenges of the modern veterinary industry. Therefore, regardless of your needs, our veterinary professionals will utilize their experience and knowledge to formulate effective solutions to your issues. Please contact us to schedule an initial consultation with one of our talented veterinary practice attorneys.