See the Full Issue
July 2023
Improve Client Service Through Virtual Employees
Nowadays client interaction with your brand can happen before they even step through the door.
Remote Workers for the Win
Outsourced labor can save the industry if we can believe our outsourced team is an extension of us: As compliant, caring, and trained as our own hospital staff.
Here is a scenario you may have encountered: Your receptionist calls out sick. Shrug shoulders, accept it, let the rest of the staff know they’ll have to cover today—handling the stat cases AND answering the phones in three rings or less. Storm clouds brew and stress levels rise.
Then the salty client arrives. It all trickles through the hospital. Forget all the good we do; our day is ruined. Rinse and repeat, resulting in staff turnover and frustrated clients. We’re here because labor is tight and time is finite. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do today that will make tomorrow better.
But what if we could? What if we outsource some of today’s administrative reception tasks and tomorrow’s technical tasks? Outsourced labor can do a lot toward solving this problem when we believe the virtual team is an extension of us—as compliant, caring, and trained as our own hospital staff.
Give Your Team the Gift of Focus
The client’s interaction with your brand happens before they even step through the door. It starts the minute they look you up online: How you show up in search results, what your website looks like, and the options available on your homepage all make an impression. Then there’s what happens when they pick up the phone and call your practice.
Every client interaction has a trickle effect. Take this scenario: An already stressed team member is trying to do several tasks at once, including answering the phone. Because they’re being pulled in several directions, they rush to get a client off the phone, resulting in a mistake, which leads to the client yelling at them.
When clients receive focused, positive attention, they are happier at the door and more likely to comply later on. But where do you find the energy and employee resources to provide this focused attention when team members are responsible for multiple roles within the practice all at once?
Try to think of three tasks that could be outsourced at your hospital to allow more focus. Maybe it’s collecting intake information and gathering medical histories for a new client appointment. Maybe it’s managing routine administrative tasks that are often overlooked by stressed staff. When applied thoughtfully, virtual support can benefit everyone because it allows the team in the hospital to focus on the pets right in front of them.
Sachin Trivedi is the executive chairman of Pet Pit Stop. |
Photo credits: FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images