First impressionsPart 4 Client interaction

By Alicia McClenaghan DVN

Silent Message…… shhhh

First impressions

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

It takes 7 seconds to make an impression and 2 hours to change it.

S E E B A L

SEE

S: smile

E: eye contact

E: enthusiasm

BAL

B: Body language

A: Acknowledge

L: listen

Non-verbal communication

93% of the meaning is transmitted non-verbally

7% in words

“You”

Why are these aspects of your demeanour important?

Emotion…………….

Spiritual…………….

Mental……………

Physical………………

Non-verbal communication

55% facial expression

38% vocal tone

Opening the conversation

Start with general conversation

E.g. weather, parking, animal

Why: puts the client at ease

Stressful taking pet to vets

NOT if obvious emergency!

Gathering information Use open questions at

first

E.g What has been happening with Scamp since we last saw him?

Allow the client to reply without interruption

Move to closed questions for specifics

Summarise

Pick up cues from client

Start with non-verbal cues

Listen carefully to what the client says

Owner says of diabetic dog:

“I worry that I hurt him when I give him the injections but I suppose he’s used to it by now”

First Impressions“Quick to be made hard to change”

Summary