In an industry where trust is essential in building client relationships, communication is key. Although communication between client and caregiver is important, it’s even more important between client and provider. The goal in improving communication is to create a strong bond between your office staff and your client. With the high levels of caregiver turnover in the home care industry, you want to make sure you have a strong relationship with the client, so if a caregiver leaves, the client is loyal to you and your business. If you want to increase client loyalty and reduce turnover, consistent and positive communication should be at the top of your priority list.
How Does Communication Impact Client Satisfaction?
According to the Annual Home Care Benchmarking Study, the lowest scores in client satisfaction, historically, have to do with communication between the office staff and the client, while the highest scores always revolve around caregiver compassion and professionalism. While a strong caregiver-client relationship is wonderful, it can also be risky for your business. It’s wonderful that your clients love their caregivers. It means you’ve placed the right caregivers with the right clients, and you’ve hired quality caregivers. However, this can also be risky because it means that your home care business has very little to do with the satisfaction of your clients. If your clients have more of a relationship with your caregivers than they do with you or your office staff, they are more likely to be dissatisfied with your services and vulnerable to other offers of care.
How to Improve Communication with Home Care Clients
So, how can you improve office communication, thereby increasing client retention? Oftentimes, the effects of aging can impair communication between you and your clients. One of the keys to strong communication is to learn how each of your clients like to give and receive communication. Whether it’s through email, text, or in person, it will go a long way with your clients if they know you are catering your communication to their needs. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Clients want to know you care, and this means proactively communicating with your clients to inform them of changes and to confirm appointments. Clients will be dissatisfied with your level of communication if the only time you reach out to them or their family is to inform them of a problem. Keep your communication consistent, and inform your clients of both the positive and the negative.
A great tool to help you improve communication is our Friday Client Check-up Call Guide and Checklist. Performing Friday client check-up calls is one of the best ways you can improve the customer experience and close the gap between clients and office staff. This guide explains the purposes of performing Friday check-up calls and includes a few guidelines as well as a checklist for performing the calls. If you take the time to communicate with your clients and incorporate this guide into your business, you will see your business begin to flourish and client satisfaction increase.
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