ATT and many other companies are constantly selling their reliability. In the world of phone service, few things are more frustrating to customers than for them to purchase cell service only to have repeated phone outages or areas where they have no service. That’s a bit like paying for dessert with dinner and not ever getting to enjoy it.
With veterinary services, reliability is very important as well, but it may be defined slightly differently. If you want to establish loyalty with your clients, establishing trust with them that you will be there in their time of need is of utmost importance. If they try to contact you, and you are not available, or if you do not get back to them in a timely manner, they will have little regard for the reliability that you provided, because they expected more from your service.
Being reliable does not mean that you have to personally be available for every client 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Reliability simply means that you care enough to provide reliable care options that can be relied upon when they need help. If you recommend an alternative care option, make sure that it is 100% reliable in the manner you would care for that client. Make certain that communications procedures are in place that allow you to connect with that client as soon as possible or as necessary to let them know that you care, that you are aware that they reached out to you, and that you care enough to follow up to make certain that they were cared for appropriately. Clients simply want to know that you care. Following up to ensure that everything is okay is an example of your level of care.
You might not realize that being reliable is a great way to differentiate your service from many others. It’s unfortunate, but most services are not reliable, and they don’t care enough to ensure that the care or service that is provided is reliable, consistent, and ever-present when the client needs it most.
Being reliable is great marketing!
