Business Advice | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 9

Home  /  Consistent Patient Satisfaction Requires a Strategy, Not a List  /  Business Advice

Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

Boost Customer Happiness - 7/9/24


There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make Read more

Brainstorm to Better Yourself - 7/2/24


I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping Read more

The Power of the Pause - 6/25/24


When I’m facilitating a meeting, and it feels like it’s going off-track or the discussion is going a little longer than it should, I may say something like “let me pause the conversation so that…” or “let’s pause just for a minute and consider…” I don’t like the word STOP. Read more

Handle Interruptions Heroically - 6/18/24


In the middle of a project, Jimbo, the customer service team member, had to stop what he was doing because he received an e-mail from a customer complaining about their experience at a recent event. Later that day, Jimbo was asked by his boss to put everything on hold for Read more

From Employees to Teammates: The Shift - 6/11/24


Be a great teammate. Be a good team player. We’re all part of the team. We’re no longer employees, we’re team members! The phrase “Team” is used in describing co-workers so much more than it was used years ago.  Then, we would be talking about employees, talking about staff, talking Read more

Nurture New Relationships - 6/4/24


Freddie was a new business owner in town.  He was launching a franchise, had acquired some funding from a local bank, and was in search of staff who cared about customer service. All the while, he was in the process of renovating a storefront for his business, so he was Read more

There’s Positivity in Patience - 5/28/24


The employee at the financial services firm was working with a new client on a relatively simple loan.  The documentation was about as clear as it could get to the employee, but the customer had lots of questions.  The employee calmly, clearly, and specifically answered each question.  The meeting Read more

The Goal – A Great Experience - 5/21/24


The following is a narrative of a great experience (people, process, service, facility) at a minor league sporting event – key points that could apply to any business are in bold… Mark and I pulled into the parking lot, excited about the game.  The Slapshots had been on a roll Read more

•••••

Consistent Patient Satisfaction Requires a Strategy, Not a List

Posted on November 20, 2014 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

New Picture (1)The recent Healthcare Finance News article 10 ways to boost patient satisfaction, offers a list of Customer Service Standards that – when adhered to – “should do the trick” to grow patient satisfaction at your organization. The author notes that there are actually at least 30 ways to grow patient satisfaction. While the Standards noted in the article are generally good tactics for an individual employee to use in interacting with an individual patient, one could get the feeling that having satisfied patients is all about implementing a checklist.

It’s not.

Instead of 30, there are hundreds of ways to improve patient satisfaction. Keep in mind that patients form their opinion of their experience based on 3 key factors: The Attitudes/skills/knowledge of the employees, the Processes that they experience as a patient, and the Service itself. With Attitude/Process/Service as the backdrop, there are many ways where employees can convey a positive and caring attitude, exhibit a technical, customer service, or communications skill, and covey knowledge (of the patient, of processes/procedures/policies, and of services). There are hundreds of processes that a patient may experience – from registration to pre-op testing, from having x-rays to paying for services, from calling in to the facility to placing your meal order. And the services – the x-ray itself, the food, the surgery, the anesthesia care, the medicines provided – one inpatient stay alone has many services provided. And I haven’t even addressed the look, feel, and cleanliness of the facility itself.

To improve patient satisfaction for the long-term, you have to think strategically. What is the patient’s definition of a great experience? How can the organization provide that experience? What culture would foster a sense of responsiveness, caring, efficiency – where healthy internal relationships enable a great patient experience? How can processes become more simple and self-evident, efficient and yet customer-friendly? How can services be made more consistent, higher quality, and more seamlessly delivered?

To create and sustain high patient satisfaction, create strategies to transform your culture, to design and deliver a great patient experience, and to continually involve the Voice of the Patient in the design process and your continuous improvement initiatives.

Go beyond list-making to deliver a great patient experience.

Did you like this post? Here are other Healthcare-related posts:


The Approach to Redesigning the Clippers Fan Experience

Posted on October 22, 2014 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Blog 10-22-14Steve Ballmer made billions with the technology giant that is Microsoft, but with his latest massive personal investment (his purchase of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers), Ballmer is targeting something where technology is not the focus. According to the article Clippers 2.0 to be big on ‘fan experience,’ Ballmer says, Ballmer is focusing on the fan experience. He’s got a winning team, a top coach, basketball superstars…and he’s focused on…the fan experience. You may ask “Why,” but I’m going to ask “How?”

“You’ve got to think about what things are like in the arena. You’ve got to think about what things are like in the community, on the broadcast and what things are going to be like on the phone, on the go, on the PC, whatever,” Ballmer said.

He’s taking a look at the experience from the customer’s perspective – what do the fans see at the Staples Center? How does the community perceive the organization, what is life like in the community, and how does the community experience the Clippers?

In other words, to gauge the experience and learn how to improve, you must first know your customer and know how your customer experiences the organization.

This is a core concept that is not understood by enough sports organizations. Too many companies take their MBAs, their Doctorates, and their decades of business acumen; then, they decide to assume what would make a great experience, because they know best. They create new product-oriented concepts and push them to the customers, because they’re more creative. They design the perk or the benefit or the marketing scheme, because they’re just smarter.

But those that really know best and really are the smartest do this – they see the business through the customer’s eyes. They identify core customer needs and customers’ decision-making factors in determining whether to come back or spread positive word-of-mouth. They listen to the Voice of the Fan, and they act to give the fan what they desire.

If you’re looking for a smart strategy for building your fan experience, start by surveying and talking to fans, seeing the experience through their eyes.

Did you like this post? Here are other Sports-related posts:

Learn about our CSS Sports services at: http://cssamerica.com/sports


BRE and “Live Business Intelligence”

Posted on October 15, 2014 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Blog 10-15-14In the article North Peace Economic Development Commission to launch a regional Business Retention and Expansion, the NPEDC says that it’s creating a BRE program – in short – to convey it cares about local business – those that aren’t being recruited like royalty and yet still provide well over 70%-80% of job growth in most communities. But as you read further in the article, there is a key statement: The NPEDC says the information gathered through the program provides live business intelligence to attract new investment, foster and support growth of the existing investment, and identifies key challenges facing the business sector of the region.

This is the 21st century – information travels at the speed of a click, a tweet, a post, or a like. It’s vital that local BRE programs have the intelligence on your local businesses (and FOR your local businesses) that identifies opportunities for growth, risk of job loss or facility closure, needs for improving aspects of the local business climate or technology infrastructure, opportunities to address development-constricting processes or policies, challenges in workforce development or excessive permitting fees, etc.

When we work with clients outside of the BRE world in local government, healthcare, pro sports, and education, we often suggest that they need to have a Voice of the Customer (VOC) strategy. Likewise, for BRE organizations to have “live business intelligence,” they must be intentional about that VOC strategy. Take and use these quick VOC tips that we’ve shared with clients in other industries:

  • Have a quantifiable component (i.e., surveys) to evaluate multiple aspects of the local industry’s experience in working with municipal processes, policies, code/ordinances, and people.
  • Utilize predictive characteristics about retention/growth likelihood based on key factors (e.g., Leadership Change, Economic Concerns, Alternative Locations/Recruitment Efforts, Business Performance, etc.) or historical risk factors locally.
  • Gather information from more Passive means on a daily basis about the company, other company facilities, organizational performance, etc. – See http://brebuzz.com/ – this defines “live business intelligence.”
  • Include Focus Groups and 1-on-1 interviews for deep dives on specific issues or about consideration of future changes/improvements.
  • Include Local Industry Advisory Boards that provide some consistent feedback mechanism as ideas are developed, refined, and moved toward implementation.
  • Use multiple platforms (face-to-face, web, social media, e-mail, telephone, etc.) to ensure breadth of responses to/from clients and the community.
  • Share results in actionable formats with deadlines and timetables – ensure customers know what you’re doing or planning to do with the information they provide to you.

Make “live business intelligence” a part of your Voice of the Customer strategy.

Did you like this post? Here are other BRE-related posts:

See more on Business Retention & Expansion business intelligence at: http://brebuzz.com/


« Previous   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 109 110   Next »