By Jana Love
January 19, 2015
Lately, to my disappointment, I have not encountered near enough notable customer service exchanges. In fact, quite the opposite ~ until the other day! My daughter recently had surgery and her surgical pre-op nurse demonstrated service at its finest. It was obvious that this person operates naturally from a place of compassion, but she was also textbook perfect with her service delivery ~ and in my world, with what I do for a living, I don’t use that “perfect” word very often.
As I do voluntarily with all service experiences, I will think about what made this exchange work so well. In this experience, what made this so extraordinary was the perfect use of all of the customer service basics. Her eye contact began at the greeting and was consistent until the end. She genuinely listened, responded with care and compassion, and kept my daughter the center of her attention when she was with her. She did nothing without carefully explaining her actions beforehand. She recognized the instant my daughter was getting nervous and fearful. She quickly stopped what she was doing so that she could make sure that Madi felt comfortable and was a part of the process. Her bedside manner was completely authentic. As in most pre-op rooms, there is only a curtain between surgical beds, and you couldn’t help but hear her talk to the next patient. She was not a robot- saying the same thing, the same way, and using the same humor with the same process. Her words and care were tailored specifically to that patient and their family.
This is our expectation of service; however, how many times have you been in a doctor’s office or hospital and you become a step in the medical process instead of a “patient/person”? The world is a busy place and that’s not going to change. What needs to change is the message. Customer/patient service needs a new focus. People in charge of personnel need to speak a louder message, set a clearer example, and each day strive for “perfect.” The most interesting part of the “fix” for less than perfect customer service is that the answer is easy. We seem to over-complicate, under achieve, expect less, and be “okay” with just getting by. Why?
I hope whoever is reading this will grab hold of a new service philosophy starting NOW. Set the standard, and make it clear. Expect more, deliver more, and do it better each time you try.
