Personalizing client meetings builds trust and confidence in your service providers. This can be a powerful tool in ensuring positive word-of-mouth recommendations. To personalize client visits:

• Develop and introduce procedures to staff for personalizing client meetings.
  
• On small cue cards, print procedures that remind staff to:
  

   
  

  
  
  • wear a name tag and introduce themselves to each client;
    
  • ask for and use the client's name;
    
  • orient the client to his or her visit;
    
  • get to know the client, and his or her individual needs, concerns, and ears;
    
  • accommodate these concerns with personalized services.
  
  

   

  
  
• If possible, arrange for clients to see the same provider each time they return, if they would like to.
   
  
• Have staff practice telling clients whom they will see, about how long it will take, what results they can expect, and how much it will cost. Such an orientation reduces client surprises and disappointment with services.
   
  
• Suggest language the staff can use in conveying messages to clients about the ongoing effort to provide high-quality care and to respect clients' rights. Such messages let clients know that staff care about clients and help to create a positive image of services.
   
  
• Establish and enforce clear procedures for taking vital signs and conducting counseling sessions.
   
  
• Schedule enough time for customers to ask questions or concerns about the visit, product or service
   
  
• Encourage staff to respond to the expressed concerns of each client by making a concerted effort to accommodate services to individual needs.