Five ways to use technology to boost customer satisfaction

By Marketing

5 March 2018 5 min read

 

Advances in technology mean you can run a more efficient veterinary practice than ever before.

Harnessing the power of the latest software will improve not just productivity, but also how your customers see your practice. Keeping your customers satisfied is essential for ensuring return business and making a great name for yourself.

Here are four ways you can use technology to keep your customers happy…

Keep in touch

One of the most simple ways to stay in your clients’ good books, is to offer an electronic reminder service for when they need to book an appointment with you. We all lead busy lives and it’s all too easy to forget about booking a pet’s annual booster or other regular treatment. A reminder in the form of an email or text message can reassure your clients you have their best interests at heart and significantly improve appointment attendance.

Even better, you could send out a little message on your client’s pet’s birthday, or welcome new customers with a friendly note. Consistent, reliable communication is one of the key building blocks to establishing long, lasting relationships with your customers.

Make booking easy

How many times have you called up to make an appointment somewhere, only to find the phone just rings out? If clients find booking an appointment with your practice to be a hassle they can do without, chances are they’ll go elsewhere. The easier you make your booking process, the more likely they are to keep coming back to you.

Look into creating an online booking system. It’s a fast, simple way for your clients to see which appointments are available, whenever it suits them. An online booking system takes the hard work out of scheduling appointments for both your customers and staff.

Run an efficient practice

A satisfied customer is a customer that’s seen on time – every time. Use technology to support the day to day running of your veterinary practice and demonstrate your professionalism.

Choose a reliable Practice Management System, to deliver the highest possible level of care to your customers, while also ensuring your veterinary practice is profitable. Offer your clients a smooth customer journey – from booking, to the appointment itself, followed by payment and aftercare.

Reduce the wait

Waiting for lab results to come back or insurance payments to process can be hugely time consuming for both the practice and the customer. Don’t make them wait a moment longer than they have to by utilising integrations like insurance, eftpos and lab. These can help to improve customer service as well as accuracy and staff efficiency.

Take advantage of your new approach

According to  BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 7 out of 10 consumers will leave a review if asked. With this in mind it is essential your practice are following up your great service with requests for online reviews. This process can be automated using certain reputation management tools including Rapport.

If your wondering if you also need to respond, consider this, 68% of consumers say that a business’s response to reviews helps them to decide if they are going use that business (Trip Advisor).