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I’m a relatively intelligent person. I can understand most issues that relate to my two dogs. And when you’re explaining my dog’s condition and then outlining your recommendations, I’ll nod my head, look intelligent and probably agree with you.
“Do you have any questions?” you may ask. “No, I think I’ve got it all” I might say.
And then by the time I’ve arrived home (a massive 5-minute drive away), it’s quite likely I will have forgotten at least 60% of what you’ve told me. Don’t take it personally; I do the same thing with information from the physio, plumber, dentist ..anyone really who verbally gives me information or instructions.
As I’ve already mentioned – I’m a relatively intelligent person AND I’m also a mum with 2 very busy kids and a husband. I manage our household and my own business – I have so many balls in the air that I should be the star of the next Cirque du Soleil show. So while you were talking to me I may or may not have also been thinking about whether my kids have a fork in their lunchbox to eat their pasta salad with, reminding myself to stop in at the butcher’s to get something for dinner and remembering that I haven’t paid my Telstra bill. Or I may have been listening to you with 100% of my attention. The problem is that you won’t know either way. After being involved in literally hundreds of hours of interviews in my previous life as an HR Manager I’ve perfected the art of appearing to give you 100% of my attention when I’m not – tricky hey! (Don’t get me started on the implications of not listening with 100% attention during an interview)
I should mention that I’m also a highly visual & kinaesthetic learner. This means I learn by reading and doing. My auditory learning skills? Not so good. However, I’m not alone, as a large percentage of the population are also visual learners (at least 65%, probably more).
So if you really want to help me provide the best care for my two dogs it’s pretty simple. Don’t just ‘tell’ me, you need to also ‘show’ me:
So now you’ve worked out you need to SHOW me what you’re talking about AND follow it up with a handout and preferably an eBook, you also need to consider those clients that are not only visual learners but who also may have little experience in the veterinary world. These are the clients who may not understand your explanations. I know it can be tricky – if you explain something too simplistically the more knowledgeable client may feel you’re being condescending. Explain something using too much technical jargon and your client may feel you’re talking over their head.
Again, you can explain something to me and I’ll appear to be understanding every single word (I may even be giving you 100% of my attention!) but I also don’t want to feel like an idiot by admitting I don’t understand a word you’ve just said.
This is a learning technique that involves asking your client to repeat back to you in their own words what you have just explained. Ah hah! There’s no hiding behind me wisely nodding my head as you talk now!
I can see this technique will require a little bit of practice so that you don’t come across as condescending and you’ll need to find the right language so you’re comfortable but I think it could be a great help.
So in summary, if you want to be sure that your clients have understood what you’ve explained AND also understand exactly what they have to do when they get home, you need to do a few things:
So from your understanding, what’s the most important thing you need to do when communicating with clients? 😉 You can tell me in the comments section below.
After a career in HR working in a range of service industries and teaching at TAFE for several years, I then (somewhat accidentally) found myself in the veterinary industry and here I’ve stayed because I love the people and what they do. I created the Vetanswers Community to provide the support, resources and solutions to help our members build happy, successful, profitable businesses and careers.
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