Tom, 61, was recently diagnosed with kidney disease after weeks of experiencing body weakness and dizziness. One day while admitted in hospital undergoing dialysis, he was going to the washroom when he developed dizziness and fell down. He tried to rise up from the ground but couldn’t. “A healthworker who was nearby just watched me struggle to get to my feet without helping,” he says. Finally he managed to get up albeit with difficulty and go on with his duties. After discharge, he never went to that hospital again. Tom is one of the many people who undergo grueling experiences in hospitals and clinics.

“Customer service is the experience you give a client from the moment they walk in to your premise, during and after they leave. It means that during first point of contact, you make a good first impression on how you are serving and caring for them,” says Stella Munene, a customer service coach based in Nairobi, Kenya. “In healthcare, it involves how the clients are being treated as they come in contact with nurses, doctors, and other persons offering services in the hospitals and clinics and the care you give them after they leave.”

It is important that healthcare organizations practice good customer service since, “a lot of people nowadays are informed on what is happening; they know what they want and what they should expect. If you treat a customer badly you may lose them or they badmouth you which will negatively impact your business.”

“Offering good customer service allows you to build good business relationships and trust with your clients,” says Stella. “In healthcare where many people do not understand what is happening and care is often uncomfortable, it allows the customers to feel comfortable and trust you to be able to serve them.”

“Customer service entails the care one gives to clients especially in healthcare. If one is dealing with children and people with special needs, they should be able to cater them as such and meet their specific customer satisfaction needs,” says Stella.

“Communication is a vital aspect of customer service. Some customers can treat the service provider badly, shout at them or talk to them badly. A service provider should know how to respond to that.”

“The environment where services are offered needs to be conducive. It needs to be clean, organized and adhering to the best standards of hygiene more so in the hospital set up.”

Some of the benefits of good customer service are that it allows organization to have repeat customers hence more business. “When you treat people very well, no matter how much you charge them, they keep coming back and your business grows.”

Good customer service also means that an organization is taking care of its staff well since, “they are happy and satisfied when the customers do not shout at them. This allows the organization to retain its staff and become more profitable.”

Good service allows organizations to create a niche in the market. “Once customers know that a hospital offers good services, customers will queue to get those service even if the products are not that good sometimes. If clients know that a certain doctor offers good services, they can wait for hours to be seen by them,” she says.

To be able to successfully offer good customer services, an organization needs to have a customer service policy. “Many organizations nowadays do not have one, yet it is key since it gives guidelines on how to treat your customers. Lack of customer service policy means that staff do whatever they think is right. In presence of one, people have a place to refer to and incase they encounter challenges at work they know how to behave. It creates consistency and restricts staff from treating customers badly since it makes them understand the consequences of poor customer service.”

Healthcare organizations should also ensure that their staffs are well trained on how to treat the customers. “Staffs need to understand what their service is, and how they are treating clients as they offer that service. If a client asks questions, they need to understand how to respond appropriately. Organizations should consistently train and evaluate their staff on customer service skills,” says Stella.