Cell phones a-ringin'

What should I say when clients answer their cell phones during their pets' exams? I think they'd be irritated if I stopped exams to take personal calls.

Dr. W. Bradford Swift

"If this is a common problem, a simple sign on the wall reading, 'Please turn off your cell phone during the exam' would gently address the problem," says Dr. W. Bradford Swift, a business coach with Life On Purpose Institute. "I know when I'm in my physician's exam room, I read whatever's on the wall."

If the client seems engrossed in the call, another solution is to step out of the room, motion that you'll return shortly, and move on to other business. This approach gives the client privacy and keeps you from wasting time, Dr. Swift adds.

"And remember that not all cell phone calls are casual," Dr. Swift says. "The fact that your client answers her phone doesn't necessarily mean that she thinks her pet's exam is unimportant."