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Client Recommendation Strategies -
Speaking the Language That Brings You Closer
by Sheila Grosdidier, BS, RVT
VMC, Inc. Evergreen, CO 80439
It’s a constant dilemma, trying to understand what your patients need, the service your clients demand
and meeting the commitments of running a practice. There are those magic moments when everything flows
and it is an effortless current of understanding between you and your client. Unfortunately, these moments
can be too few and not too often. How do you build skills the build relationships with clients and become
partners in the providing of quality care to the pet? Developing communication patterns that mesh with
our clients is like any other skill, it takes preparation, planning and practice. For the few lucky people
in the world who can instantaneously create a connection with clients, we give our admiration. For the
rest of us, this is a learned process.
The first step is to assess your current communication patterns. Have someone observe your client
interactions in the exam room and provide you with feedback. Was your recommendation clear? Did you
actively listen? Was your body language about getting on to the next appointment? Did you take the steps
to enhance your communication with the client or just jump in and follow prior patterns? Were you able to
answer the client’s questions and assist in them seeing the value in your services? Did you know what
your goals are in communicating with the client? Was the observer able to determine your goal? From this
feedback and your own review of your current skills and review the list of skills that follow for ways to
enhance client recommendation strategies.
Start with Silence
The ultimate success in creating client partnerships lies in listening, really listening. Clients come to
you to fulfill a need, do you know what need? Clients vary according to needs and the only way to identify
those needs starts with actively listening to what they share with you. Physically let clients know you
are listening by making good eye contact, physically face them and acknowledge that you are listening and
understand. This can be a challenge when it’s busy and a hundred other things are bombarding you. Your
choice is to let these other points be portrayed to the client that you are a busy person and to hurry
up or to let them know they are valued and you are interested in how to provide the best care to their
pet. This forms partnerships and understanding. Formulate your answers to reveal what you have heard
them and have considered their points in making the recommendation.
What Do They Need?
All too often veterinary health care team members concentrate on a service they feel they have to “sell.”
Our goal at the veterinary clinic is to provide the highest quality of service to our clients and the best
medicine to our patients. In emphasizing a service we want to sell can lead to talking more and listening
less. Discussions with a client under these circumstances do not respond to their true needs. If you do
not understand your client’s needs, you will not make your recommendations effectively and the perception
will be that something is being sold. To truly understand your clients needs probe for more information
as most clients don’t often express their needs up front. Ask open ended questions that encourage clients
to share more information such as, that’s interesting, what else have you noticed about Bingo’s behavior
in the last 6 months? Or, what types of toys does Bingo enjoy? If you ask questions that encourage the
client to provide further information, your role is as a knowledgeable and informed resource. You must
create that mutual understanding that you have their interests at heart, not just your own. Probing
questions helps identify your client’s needs.
Confirmation
You have been actively listening and asking good probing questions, now it is essential to demonstrate
to your client that you absorbed the information. Use paraphrasing, “so you have been watching Bingo
closely because it seems he doesn’t hear you well anymore and his vision is not what it used to be.”
This helps check your understanding and invites the client to clarify if you have not fully captured
their meaning. Before making recommendations it is crucial to fully understand the client’s needs.
When a client agrees that you have heard them correctly, you have the information necessary to making
a meaningful recommendation.
Tell It Like It Is
You have an understanding of the clients needs and you have fully examined the patient and know that
a geriatric profile is needed to further assess the changes in this aging pet. Focus upon what the
veterinary health care team can do to meet this need. Be clear and concise, “Mrs. Jones Bingo is
entering into his golden years and the changes like his eye sight and decreased hearing are all
parts of this change. I recommend that a geriatric profile be done to further assess these changes
and identify what we can do keep him healthy and comfortable. Translate terms into what the client
is familiar with; avoid jargon and too much detail that can be confusing. Make sure your message is
sincere and confident, speak with assurance and match your gestures with your messages. This sounds
very easy but studies have shown that clients state that they are unclear what was recommended and
that the veterinarian was distracted or seemed uninterested. Make sure your observer focuses on
reviewing if your body language matches your message.
End Positive
Ask your client for feedback, such as “what do you think?” or “what information can I provide to help
make a decision?” This allows you to determine understanding and agreement. Be sure to provide closure
and confirm the information. Reinforce the decision that the client has made, make it a positive
experience.
Summary
At the end of the day, our success in being the pet’s advocate and providing consistent quality service
to clients is dependent on our ability to make strong recommendations and to grow effective communication
patterns. By actively listening, asking probing questions and taking the time to understand what your
client wants and needs; the practice becomes a partner in the care of their pet, a trusted advisor.
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