Customer-Centered Care Experience: Channeling Empathy
The last thing a patient needs when contacting your healthcare call center is to be met by an unempathetic ear. When you consider that your customers are often exhausted and under stress when they call your contact center, the need for highly empathetic customer support is clear. Channeling empathy with each healthcare call center interaction is essential to delivering the customer-centered care experience your patients expect.
The Importance of Empathy in Healthcare Customer Engagement
An empathetic approach is paramount in the healthcare industry, where customers are patients or their families. Understanding how to provide compassionate customer support requires significant training and experience. With these skills, your contact center team can provide customer-centered support that promotes brand loyalty and encourages a positive association with your brand.
Nurturing a Customer-Centered Approach in Healthcare Call Centers
Empathy is not about feeling sorry for the customer. It has more to do with your customer support team putting themselves in your customers’ shoes and demonstrating understanding. Call center agents can convey empathy through what they say and how they say it. Agents should follow a few primary rules when interacting with customers.
1. Listen to the Customer
Listening requires practice. When done correctly, it often makes customers feel heard and reassured. Your customer service agents should avoid interrupting the customer or preempting what they want to say. They should listen attentively and respond once the customer has finished talking, using similar language and reiterating key points to let the customer know they have heard and understood.
2. Offer Solutions, Not Sympathy
Your customers seek understanding and a solution rather than pity. Here are some examples of helpful empathetic phrases your agents can use:
- I understand how you must feel.
- I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
- I am sorry about the issues you are facing.
- I can understand why you are angry.
- I am going to do everything I can to help you.
3. Show the Customer Respect
Customer service representatives must always remain level-headed and respectful, even if the caller is rude. Maintaining a calm and friendly demeanor will likely garner a positive customer experience. At the start of a call, your team should address the customer by name in a friendly manner, greeting them appropriately with courteous language. Setting a respectful tone early in the interaction is key.
4. Tell the Customer How You Intend to Help
After listening and empathizing with the customer, your healthcare call center agent should let the customer know their next steps to resolve the issue. Your customer is more inclined to be satisfied with the call if they feel heard and have a clear path toward a solution.
How Customer Support Outsourcing Can Help
Outsourcing your customer support to a reputable healthcare BPO service provider gives you access to a highly trained, specialized, customer-centered team primed to deliver the utmost customer service experience. Employing a professional support team can boost customer satisfaction, engagement and retention.
As the leading healthcare BPO in the United States, DME Service Solutions ensures its experienced call center operators follow a human-centric approach, nurturing deeper customer relationships through empathetic, attentive care. Our team focuses on providing tailored customer journeys that align with individual needs. We also maintain absolute privacy and confidentiality for every customer served. Schedule an appointment with one of our experts to discuss your call center needs.
