Learned While Almost Naked

So there I was sitting in my underwear, waiting for my doctor with whom I had an appointment for my annual physical examination. I had arrived on time and was ushered into the examination room about ten minutes later. After my blood pressure was taken I was told to undress and wait for the doctor.

I waited for over half-an-hour and became cold sitting there almost naked so I put some clothes on, figuring that, if I had waited this long for the doctor, he could wait a minute for me while I undressed again when he arrived. Another fifteen minutes slowly went by. I realized that I could no longer be examined and make an important appointment I had scheduled so I decided to leave.

I explained to the receptionist why I was leaving. She responded with, “I’m sorry, but we have no control if the Doctor is delayed at the hospital.” I said I understood, maybe he was saving someone’s life or delivering a baby. Certainly there are many medical procedures more crucial than my physical exam. But what I can’t understand is the complete lack of communications and patient relations (or from my perspective – customer service).

If the doctor was involved in a life-saving procedure or just having coffee with his buddies, someone in the office should be tasked with the responsibility of remembering that there are patients waiting for him who should be informed of the delay rather than wondering, getting cold in their underwear, and quietly fuming.

Good customer service (or patient relations) is just the simple matter of treating people in a respectful, helpful manner. When a vendor can’t deliver the product or service when it is expected, the vendor should respect the client / patient / customer enough to announce the delay and allow them to adjust their plans, not sit fuming in their underwear. Loyalty is built on a foundation of respect. Understanding this along with a simple communications system (“The Doctor is running late at the hospital, I’ll let you know when he will be arriving”) would have defused this situation.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment - Larry@larrygaller.com. Sign up for his free newsletter at www.larrygaller.com

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