All posts in Customer Service

Seth Godin is one of my favorite business book authors.  He has a fantastic website where he shares his insights as well.

Below, please find a recent post (original copy here) concerning the small things which leverage big results in building relationships that drive business.

Truly inspired work.  This is why Seth is such a leader…

Feet on the street

Dollars & Sense Creative Consulting Principal Jeff Good writes a bi-monthly column for the Mississippi Medical News, a statewide publication geared towards the medical profession. Here is a reprint of his most recent column dated July 26, 2012.

White Coat Hypertension (aka White Coat Syndrome) is defined by Wikipedia as “a phenomenon in which patients exhibit elevated blood pressure in a clinical setting but not in other settings.” Simply put, it is the manifestation of anxiety by patients when undergoing medical procedures. To those afflicted with this, it matters not if it is just a routine checkup or an emergency room visit. When in the examination room, the blood pressure goes up and the flight or fight instinct triggers.

I should know… I suffer from this.

I don’t know when this condition first expressed itself for me. The best I can remember it was in my thirties. I have always been blessed to be healthy, but as I aged, and started actually adhering to an annual physical, my exposure to the medical process increased, and the opportunity for unease presented itself. Interestingly, I am not afraid of the dentist, only traditional physicians. And don’t get me started with x-rays or MRIs. They freak me out!

Patients who are unable to cope with this may shun healthcare (skipping appointments, not seeking help when injured, avoiding the reality of that darkening mole, etc.) Furthermore, when in the doctor’s office, highly anxious patients can cause disruption and be a safety risk to themselves and others. Left unaddressed, these stressful interactions can further the downward spiral of anxiety and healthcare avoidance by the patient in the future. (A bad experience is a bad experience, and it is in our nature to avoid bad experiences)

So, as a healthcare provider, what can you do to help make people like me feel more at ease and deal with our apprehension? Simple, basic customer service skills can address this problem and lead all parties to a better outcome. May I propose the following?

Know your patient

Doctors are excellent record keepers. Make sure you include information on the psychological along with the physiological. Forewarned is forearmed for you, your staff and will set the stage for a more pleasant and controlled visit.

Talk it out

But don’t wait until the doctor and patient are finally together, do it at each step of the process! There is an awful lot of time from waiting room to exam room where anxiety can crescendo. Have a nurse or aide on staff that is able to talk the patient through the day’s plans and reduce concerns. Think of it as a concierge – someone to give personal attention to the patient. It won’t take much, just a confirmation of their presence, a little listening, and some sharing of information.

Accentuate the positive

When the doctor/medical team arrives for the actual exam or procedure, be sure to start with more talk, and make it positive. If the procedure is highly negative (a chemo treatment) connect to the positive. State your pleasure with the patient’s strength and endurance. Share a positive story about how other patients have fared in similar circumstances. Paint a positive picture of potential results that help the patient’s confidence and reinforce their commitment to the process.

Follow up

My wife gets a nice note from her OB/GYN after each annual exam. It’s a nice touch. Do you have a management information system that can trigger a note from the healthcare team? It seems we are all quick to send out a survey form that often beats the insurance EOB. Why don’t we send a thank you? Computers can do anything; we just have to ask them.

The above four steps are as basic as basic can be. But sometimes simple is the most effective path, just as Steve Jobs said, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Help your patient deal with their anxiety and you will be helping your practice by providing a more relaxed and controlled environment from the waiting room to the exam room, and all the places in-between.

Jeff Good is the co-creator and managing partner of BRAVO! Italian Restaurant, Broad Street Baking Company, and Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint. He recently opened Dollars & Sense Creative Consulting – a business-consulting firm. Together with partners Dan Blumenthal and Danielle Davis, he is happy to share with businesses his insight into customer service, command & control oversight, payment processing and office systems security as well as playful marketing and promotion. Jeff can be found when bussing your table or via email to Jeff@dollarsandsensecreative.com.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet poised the famous question “To be or not to be” and he pondered his own existence.  In today’s difficult business environment, we have heard too many stories of white collar theft and telephone fraud that strips good, solid, honest business people of both profit and serenity.

Remember the days when your phone training sessions could be as simple as asking your team to answer the phone by simply saying, “Thank you for calling ABC Business.  This is Danielle –  how may I help you?” Like the rotary phone and land lines, these days are gone and most people do not know how important it is to train your staff on answering the phone.  Scammers are smart and know how to get you to commit to something that could cost you hundreds.

In the world of retail and restaurants, there is a popular scam that has been going on for years.  Scammers know that many new and entry level or part-time employees answer the phone in retail and restaurant environments, so they prey on them.  The unsuspecting hostess at a restaurant will receive a phone call from a translator for a hearing impaired person.  They ask for large amounts of food to be delivered.  Being a business in a slow economy, the business is intrigued by this large sale.  Now keep in mind, the phone call is between the restaurateur and a translator who is reading emails from the actual “customer” who is “hearing impaired”.  The conversation goes on, and the next thing you know a courier is needed to transport the food from the restaurant to the desired location.  This courier has to be paid by credit card, or better yet, by a wire transfer ahead of time and asks that the restaurateur include this in the final bill.  This would mean the restaurateur would need to pay for the courier…. and now the restaurateur is about to get SCAMMED.  When the courier calls back to get a wire transfer or the credit card information, the restaurateur will actually be speaking with the scammer.  They will pay for “courier” and never see their money again.  And that is how the scammers steal your credit card identity and run up a huge bill!

Another popular scam is when a solicitor calls your hair salon and asks to VERIFY information for a shipment.  A receptionist answers the phone and the person on the other end of the line asks for his/her name and to “verify” the address for a shipment of cash register tape OR ribbons OR maybe a toner cartridge for the copier.  To the unaware, this all would seem quite legitimate. So – the receptionist usually gives the information freely! A week later, the salon receives a shipment of cash register tape or ribbons or toner with a bill for TRIPLE of what it should.  If the salon doesn’t have solid command and control procedure, the invoice probably would simply flow into the payables stack and the salon owners will have purchased the world’s most expensive, and unusable, office supplies.  This scam is difficult to get out of because the company making the call is legitimate; they are just doing BAD BUSINESS.  The salon receptionist has been recorded via on-line phone tape recording and the case is iron clad that she ordered it. The salon owner can spend valuable time to get their money back, but it is a lengthy process. Most business owners end up just hanging their head and learning from their mistake. THAT is how the scammers make their money on this fraud.

These two examples are why it is imperative to TEACH everyone who answers the phone about scams…. to be aware of the potential for fraudulent activity. Here are some things you can talk about at your next shift meeting or discuss over your next staff lunch meeting:

When answering the phone -

1.  Always be polite and courteous.

2.  Always thank the person for calling.

3.  Always have knowledge about the company you work for, what your policies are, who the vendors are with which you do business.  Beware of new vendors or strange sounding calls.

4.  NEVER “Verify” a shipment.  If someone wants to “VERIFY” a shipment, refuse further information and pass the phone to a supervisor.

5. NEVER assume.  If the call seems a little odd and you are unsure, ALWAYS pass the phone to a supervisor. Putting a scammer on hold while you get a supervisor pretty much ensures they will hang up.  They know they have been busted!

We all work too hard for our money in these difficult times.  Don’t let creative white collar thieves take your profits away by using your own people in an elaborate fraud of confusion.  TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE TO BE YOUR LINE OF DEFENSE!  If we all do this, maybe these practices will go the way of the dinosaur… but until then… REMAIN VIGILANT!