You must have heard that ‘a happy customer is the best business strategy of all’, and yet most Doctors don’t put any effort to make their patients happy. Don’t forget there are hundreds of doctors with the same specialisation as you, in the metropolitan cities at least. Now-a-days patients don’t even have to go very far to visit another clinic.

If you don’t make your patients feel valued, they are not going to come back. They will go to your competitors the moment they have a bad experience with you. 61% customers don’t give another chance to a business after their first bad experience and the number increases to 80% with another bad experience.

A great customer experience not only makes the patients happy, but also results in significant benefits for the doctors. Here are a few of those benefits:

1. Increased Profit

67% customers are willing to pay more for a better experience and if you are known for it, new customers won’t mind paying you more than your competition. It is proven by the fact that about 89% companies which offer better-than-average customer experiences perform much better financially than their competitors. Wouldn’t you like to be one of those?

If you provide ancillary services as well, there are higher chances that the customer will avail those too, resulting in more profits.

2. Customer Loyalty

72% of the customers share a good experience with six or more people. If you visit a place and have a great experience there, wouldn’t you tell your friends about it? Your satisfied patients will be your most vocal supporters and refer you to their friends and relatives.

But for you to have loyal customers you need to have great customer service. 96% of customers consider it to be important for their loyalty to a brand. The better you develop your relationships with your patients, the more they will be reluctant to go elsewhere.

3. Better Image

One big advantage of providing good customer experience is that it boosts your reputation. James Cash Penney, the founder of J.C. Penney Stores rightly said, “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement”. Your happy patients will rave about you to their friends about you or right reviews about you, this is an additional advertising at zero cost.

And since the information is coming from a reliable source, other people will trust you even without having a single interaction with you. There are higher chances that when they feel the need, they will come to you.

4. Higher Customer Lifetime Value

Acquiring new patients is a key to business growth for all doctors, but if you can keep some of these patients for a long time, your growth will be exponential. Happy customers tend to be repeat users of the same services. The longer a customer uses your services, the more revenue you generate from a single customer.

And since you know the customer well, you can treat the patient quickly, utilising that time for other patients. But don’t forget to provide them value and a good experience each time they visit your clinic. The happier they are each time, the longer they are going to stay.

Conclusion

For providing a great customer experience, you need to take a patient-centric approach. Use every means at your disposal to make the patient happy and don’t forget to take keep feedback from patients. This feedback will help you further improve patients’ customer experience. And if you keep delivering a great customer experience, nothing can stop you from going to the next level.

How do you make sure that your patients have a good experience? Do you have any anecdotes about customer experience? Do share them here. And if you want to know more about creating a great customer experience, you can get in touch with me here. Wishing you lots of success.