Medical Equipment Services And Repairs
Settle a dispute, please!?
I work in the medical equipment repair industry. When clients call, they quite often need service as quickly as possible, as broken equipment means they cannot see patients. My feeling is to schedule them as soon as I can, but if it is not going to be same day, I tell them so, with apologies, and do my best to get them on the book for the next day. My boss thinks that it is best to tell them we will be there that day, even if I know it is not possible. His thinking is, if we can get them on the book, we have the upper hand on doing the work, even if I have to call and reschedule. My feeling is it is better not to lie, but to let them know exactly when we can get there, but he says if I do that, they might call someone else. What do you think – better to not lie, and run a slight risk of losing the business, or lie, and piss them off when we don’t show up as promised, therefore losing future business?
This is a touchy one.
There are studies to support that clients having 1 negative experience that is properly resolved tend to have much better feedback than a client with no negative experience.
What that means.. is that people remember good customer service when they have a complaint – and the complaint is resolved in a satisfactory manner.
So.. not being able to make the service call same day and lying about it could be fruitful.. so long as you call BEFORE the scheduled appointment (the fake one) and reschedule.. while giving a concession of some sort.
Like “We really apologize for the inconvenience. While we strive to meet all of our appointments – sometimes circumstances beyond our control prevent us from doing as promised. We understand that there are many options when a repair is needed and as an act of good will – we’d like to extend a 10% discount on your service call.”
Most likely.. they’ll balk at the 10%. It’s expected.. don’t worry about it. What you do then is create a special situation for them and give them a 20% discount.
This kind of appeasement works and has been proven to work. Your boss may be operating in that way but there is definitely a risk.. as sometimes the failure will be seen as a failure regardless and once they use your service.. they wont anymore… another tactic is when you get a passive client.. and teh client doesn’t complain and just asks to reschedule.. to just drop the discount on anyway.. as an act of good will.. that really works and fosters loyalty..
The real thing is that teh client must be satisfied with the resolution.
Now for my opinion.
I think you should set honest expectations. This means that if the only open slot is tomorrow.. then you say it is tomorrow.. If it is possible that a slot may open. then you say.. it’s possible that a slot may open.. clearly setting expectations is the best form of client service. Don’t worry about the psychology mind games or even the competition. Focus on your business and fulfill the needs of your clients as best you can.
You could even when scheduling let prospects know that if you schedule a time.. then it’s their time.. and that you don’t “tentatively schedule”
If they decide to hang up – just let him/her know that if they call someone else and they don’t show up.. to keep you in mind because you don’t practice those nefarious tactics.. This kind of psychology works quite well when a client has a negative experience. They often will return to a vendor that seems to have integrity and an honest way of doing business.
Anyway. good luck..
Associated X-Ray Imaging Corp. New England Medical Equipment
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