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What Customers Expect in the Healthcare Industry

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What do consumers think about the healthcare customer experience? Top-level healthcare executives are focusing on the customer experience to compete for patient loyalty and referrals in today’s unstable healthcare market. But, before they begin, they need to understand how customers perceive healthcare companies and how the customer experience impacts their decision making. TTEC performed an in-depth study of healthcare customers and examined their sentiments about the healthcare experience. This infographic tells it all.
 What Customers Expect in the Healthcare Industry    

Social Media Expectations

What do customers expect after expressing feedback to healthcare providers via social media channels? Most (69 percent) expect nothing at all, but 19 percent of healthcare customers expect an immediate response from the company.

What Affects Buying Behavior?

Most people would agree that the customer experience is critical, but just how important is it for the healthcare industry?
 
  • 62 percent of customers said good customer experiences play an important role in their decision making

More than half of customers say quality customer experiences are important influencers of their healthcare decisions, but in today’s digitally and socially connected world, it’s not the only powerful influencer. Word-of-mouth also has an equally persuasive power that healthcare providers shouldn’t ignore.
 
  • 63 percent of healthcare customers will consider a company based on a positive referral

Customer Experience Excellence is More about Emotions

When it comes down to actually serving customers over the phone, healthcare providers have work to do, and the areas of improvement have more to do with emotion than one might expect. Customers overwhelmingly (75 percent) still prefer to speak with a live person for help, but those experiences often cause negative feelings and reactions.
 
  • 57 percent of healthcare customers feel lost in a corn maze when they encounter automated service systems
  • 42 percent of customers in the healthcare industry want to speak to a friendly, empathetic associate, yet don’t mind if they’re inept
  • Customers experience feelings of hate when they hear phrases like “your call is important to us” and “that’s our policy”

So knowing all of this, what should healthcare executives remember as they journey down the path to customer centricity?
 
  • Most customers (69 percent) expect nothing from healthcare companies after expressing social media feedback. While this means business leaders may have some time before they are under pressure to implement social customer care, this area is ripe for exceeding expectations and wowing customers
  • 62 percent of customers let the customer experience play an important role in decision making, so make healthcare service experience improvements a high priority—after all it could greatly increase sales
  • A nearly equal amount of customers (63 percent) are influenced by their social networks, so make it easy for customers to share their excitement and positive healthcare service experiences with their friends and family
  • As many as 42 percent of customers want to speak with a friendly, empathic service associate, so the emotional experience is also a valuable part of the service healthcare companies provide. Remember to evaluate your customer experience with your emotional diary close at hand.