Building Client Trust Through Consistent Communication
One moment of reliable communication does not establish a client’s trust. It’s many little moments over time. A means of consistency occurs when this practice does great work and communicates everything else in between. If the extent of communication that this practice provides is great and all else in-between isn’t communicated—or missed messages, unanswered phone calls, availability goes here and there—then this practice is not trusted for the long haul.
But consistency is tricky. There will be highs and lows. Employees get sick, go on vacation, leave for better work. What works today does not necessarily work next week. But what a client knows is that if someone can effectively communicate and confirm answers consistently, with reasonable expectations set in place, then trust can be established that things will be done as they’re supposed to.
What does consistency even mean?
Consistency means reliability—not perfection. If a client requests a callback by two hours from leaving a message and receives one, reliability occurs and subsequent times will also be expected. If a client asks for confirmation by the end of the day and gets it within an hour then all’s well; if it comes by 6 PM when they asked for 3 PM then there’s a problem. Even worse is if that this practice sometimes just plain doesn’t respond for three days. At least if this practice is consistently slow then a client can temper expectations; consistency means clients wonder if anything they asked ever got received.
This includes every part of communication from how phones are answered to someone on the line who is supposed to be, to whether they get confirmation when they ask. Each may seem like a small part of the grand picture—but it’s the pattern that emerges which creates reliability—or not.
The Problem With First Impressions
Most practices understand that first impressions matter—but fail to comprehend how fast it happens. A prospective client calls, they get voicemail, they call back, speak with someone who sounds vague, and they get transferred twice just to find someone who knows the answer.
None of this is life or death but it’s not organized. The more professional a business is, the more it utilizes all resources available to make sure first contact always happens with reliability. For example, My Mountain Mover dental receptionist service and other comparable professional services help maintain those aspects through transitional moments, busy times and growth when availability bandwidth is compromised.
Before getting an actual service the client wonders what kind of chaos can go wrong should this practice fail to keep something as simple as a phone call together? But it doesn’t have to be—therefore, volume of lost communication occurs before anything accomplished to help anyone along the way.
Response Time Signals Reliability
How frequently and speedily businesses respond signals to clients what’s important (and what’s not) and how much clients can trust their reliability will work for them. If it takes three hours to respond to a simple query then the message received. So too does it not respond at all.
It’s less about the promised timeline and more about reliable consistency amid reliability. Some businesses can promise same day responses while others should ease clients in with the expectation of an end-of-the-day emailed response by the next day. But it’s when businesses create high expectations with reliably consistent responsiveness only to drop the ball without explanation that red flags arise.
It’s important, too, for time-sensitive matters—scheduled something or other or something that needs clarification or something that’s been brewing that needs resolution. Businesses will fail them if they can’t consistently respond in time-sensitive scenarios.
Transition
Trust has its most vulnerable state amid transitions—when people change up—leave—a new product becomes available—the business second-guesses itself—new software comes into play—a different system is implemented, etc. Gaps emerge where communication falls by the wayside; appointments are misplaced; information gets lost along the way.
But if clients stay in consistent communicative contact during transitional moments—or at least are assured that any internal chaos will not be their problem—then this showcases organizational prowess. Clients see when transitions occur but consistency reigns; they see when transitions occur and the communicative channels fall apart.
Systems need to be established that attain conclusion—no matter who communicates with a client. If it only depends upon selected individuals who can reliably consistent communicate systems, then there’s a threat with every change from now until into the future. Clients should never know there was turnover unless it shows through communication without any reception whatsoever.
Compounding Over Time
Compounding trust occurs from positive developments of consistent communicative channels whereby each moment builds favorably upon itself. Clients stop wondering if their message even got through because over time confidence compiles in which promises made—like an appointment scheduled—were made.
The same goes for negative developments—compounding negatives occur from inconsistent communicative channels whereby missed return phone calls leave clients wondering if their next message will even be received or if miscalendared meetings will have clients doublechecking appointment time frames.
Retention and referrals mean everything for businesses—for these highly communicative channels will keep their clients longer and have more referrals than those with inconsistent patterns.
The Systems Established
Systems—not effort—are required for reliable communication. It’s not enough to train people because people get busy, distracted, quit for other jobs. Businesses need standards in place which set an organized flow from entry in communication to completion.
For example—who answers phones when they’re busy? What standards are going to be communicated across channels for reliable answers? Is there someone else there when they’re not? Are automated systems like auto-confirmation available—and do people utilize them?
Technology can assist—shared systems, self-confirming appointment requests from inquiries—but ultimately someone needs to ascertain what consistency looks like for this practice so there are inherently built-in systems regardless of time or situation.
Measuring What Matters
Very few businesses appropriately measure consistent communicative efforts through metrics—they might catch major blow ups here or there but not consistencies (or inconsistencies) over time. Ringing phones that go unanswered; delayed responses that take longer than expected.
What matters are metrics including response times; responding while already on a call; completing calls back; changing appointments accurately over time. Any percentage at least below optimal performance thresholds show what has been appreciated (or tolerated) as acceptable instead of what has been denied through business standards for efficiency percentages.
They also catch inconsistencies before they happen—clients don’t want to complain—and clients want to see that there’s been oversight when it happened—and not with extensive changes over time regardless. A staffing shortage might be revealed before a client complains about response time; small changes might confuse others before they figure out what happened.
What Consistent Communication Creates
When businesses enjoy consistently communicative patterns it’s more than satisfied clients—they spend less time retroactively finding out failed miscommunication ventures and less stressed employees exist because things worked as they were supposed to.
Business growth becomes more seamless because communications channels aren’t bandwidth hindrances—they become reputable communicative companies with such consistent patterns it’s a bonus for competitive advantage; clients needn’t feel married to anything until real service creates confidence—accountability rooted in reliable accountability bolsters walk-in appeal where continued communicative patterns serve as presumed proxy signal for organizational savvy without service-rendering moments themselves.
