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Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

When They Might Walk Out the Door…Permanently- 7/21/26


Have you ever had one of those conversations with the customer where they literally tell you they’re about to stop doing business with your company?  This is it.  They may bring up a competitor or found another way to get their need met, or they are just leaving. When we Read more

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Hospitals Must Care About More Than Clinical Outcomes

Posted on October 7, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

You go to a hospital with a broken bone, and you expect them to heal it. You go to the E.R. with pain, and you expect the pain to be relieved. You get admitted with an infection, and you expect them to provide a cure.

These are all clinical outcomes. They are all the reasons why patients go to hospitals. They are the ultimate product of the hospital.

But they are not all that matter to the customer. In a way, they are the most basic expectation of the patient. Why would a patient go to a hospital with a broken bone, pain, or an infection if they DIDN’T expect to get this issue remedied?

In the article “Quality hospital care doesn’t ensure patient satisfaction” (on www.fierehealthcare.com), the point it made that what drives patient satisfaction often has little to do with the quality of the care itself. Florida ranks 8th nationally in quality of care, but it ranks 49th in patient satisfaction according to the study quoted in the article. "This conclusion underscores the need for hospitals to engage in regular patient satisfaction surveys rather than assume patients are satisfied with their medical care simply because the hospital meets a particular standard of clinical quality," the study’s authors wrote.

Think about your hospital, your organization, your business – even if you don’t work in healthcare. Just because the patient got the medication at your clinic doesn’t mean they’d like to return to your location. Just because the fan liked the team’s performance on the basketball court doesn’t mean they’re a raving fan of your organization. Just because the student liked the course he took doesn’t mean he loves your community college.

Think beyond the product when you’re thinking about how to drive higher levels of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat business. Survey and engage in improvement efforts which address service processes and staff as well.

Go beyond the product.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


Customer Waits Without the Hate

Posted on July 27, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

We’ve been saying it for years, and now more studies are beginning to confirm it. While customer wait times can be a cause for frustration and anger, organizations can positively impact the customer’s emotions, even if they don’t shorten the wait.

Take a hospital Emergency Room, for instance – one of the most vivid examples of the aggravation that is long waits. You fell off a ladder or were shot with a BB gun; you have a 103 degree temperature or a pain in your side. There are MANY reasons why you could be in an E.R. without a life threatening condition. Be prepared to wait…and wait…and wait.

In an article titled “ER wait times rise; proper communication soothes dissatisfaction” (http://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23342&division=cvb&division=cvb), a 2009 study noted that E.R. wait times nationally continue to increase, now standing at 4 hours 7 minutes. That makes that 20 minutes of telephone hold time for your cable company not seem so bad now, doesn’t it? Well maybe it still does.

One interesting fact about the study was that patients who waited 3-4 hours had similar patient satisfaction levels as those waiting less than one hour. How could this be? Well according to the study authors, “frequent, proactive communication improves both the quality of patient care and the manner in which patients perceive their care." The communication helps the patient “understand the processes within the emergency department environment and shows them that staff has not forgotten them.”

Remember, satisfaction in any business is a measure of perception (as much or more than a measure of reality). How can you positively impact your customer’s perception of you and your business? When it comes to wait times, we have a key answer – it’s frequent and proactive communication.

Convey you care by keeping in touch with your customer.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


Decrease Paperwork. Increase Patient Satisfaction.

Posted on June 22, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Paperwork – it’s one of the biggest roadblocks to patient satisfaction. You’re having pre-admission testing at the hospital. You’re getting registered for outpatient surgery. You’re there for treatment or a diagnostic procedure. And all the while – in this age of technology – you’re filling out the same information on paperwork over and over and over again.

Processes and the paperwork involved are huge drivers of dissatisfaction in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Valley Health System in Nevada is attempting to shorten the timeframe and paperwork involved in checking in for appointments. They’re adopting self-service entry as an option at its five hospitals.

Patients can enter information into a kiosk, sign consent forms, make payments, confirm insurance information, etc. Keep in mind that this essentially automates a manual process, but it does so in such a way as to eliminate some employee instructional involvement with the customers, engage the customer during waits, automatically update information in the hospital’s computer system without the employee having to key the data, and increase quality of data input.

You can draw several conclusions from the www.marketwatch.com article (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-valley-health-system-improves-the-patient-experience-with-self-service-check-in-from-ncr-2010-06-22?reflink=MW_news_stmp).

But the main conclusion I want to highlight is this – paperwork is a dissatisfier. Question EVERY piece of paper you create, every manual form you use, every data entry procedure that starts with someone writing information on a piece of paper.

Question EVERY piece of paper. It’s about more than “going green.” It’s about productivity, patient (customer) satisfaction, process quality, and reducing perception of wait time.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/


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