In your consulting room there is a customer who pushes your buttons. This person complains, doesn’t agree with anything, wants something you can’t offer, or always knows better. Would this be a challenging clinical encounter?
It would be very easy to label these challenging clinical encounters as “difficult clients” or “difficult people”. However, anybody can become “difficult”, even veterinary professionals, when faced with uncertainty and with tough decisions to make about a beloved pet.
It is also worth noting that even though these challenging conversations may feel like a frequent occurrence, they are not as common as you might think. Based on research done in human medicine[1] and anecdotal evidence from veterinary practice, the actual percentage of challenging encounters is less than 20% of all consultations in a day. In other words, over 80% of your clients are friendly and trusting, accepting your advice without questioning it.
You are likely to have experienced the doubter, the chatterbox (client who just won’t let you get a word in edgeways), the angry customer, Dr. Google, the Do-It-Yourselfer. How do you deal with these clients? We would like to give you some tips on how you can best communicate in each situation.
[1] Hinchey, S.A. and Jackson, J.L., 2011. A cohort study assessing difficult patient encounters in a walk-in primary care clinic, predictors and outcomes. Journal of general internal medicine, 26, pp.588-59
