IS CUSTOMER SERVICE AN OXYMORON?
August 18th 2008 06:45
The specialist mind set
My wife recently had to undergo 'urgent' surgery in a private hospital. After numerous expensive visits and consultations the specialist set a date some seven weeks from the last visit and consultation for the 'urgent' surgery.
In the week before the scheduled surgery several phone calls were received asking my wife to be in attendance at 6.45am on the day of the surgery. Two days before the surgery, more phone calls requesting a 6.30am start and a request for payment before the surgery, even though no proper invoice had been provided (and still has not been provided) suitable for presentation to Medibank.
A very early start was made on the day of the surgery in order to meet the 6.30am request. At 8.30am, after a meaningless wait of two hours with no explanation or apology the staff of the private hospital prepared my wife for her surgery, which was successful.
After the surgery I received a phone call asking me to pick up my wife as arranged. When I asked about parking at this notoriously difficult spot I was tersely told, “If you wait long enough you can park in our building. We are always very busy, but if you wait long enough you will get a park.”
Really! I am not the first person to raise the issue of apparently greedy, avaricious specialists treating their customers extremely poorly. Do specialists deliberately double book (or is it triple book) appointments to cover latecomers and 'no-shows'.
As a businessperson I expect my suppliers to act and behave in a courteous and professional, business like manner. Unexplained two hour waits are clearly unacceptable.
This reminds me of my dealings with another specialist some years ago who charged his time out at $85 in six minute blocks. After a long wait in the overflow room of his overcrowded rooms, the specialist took great delight in telling me about his recent trip to a wine growing region.
“To save money with our restaurant meal we took along our own wine. Instead of paying $15 a bottle at the cellar door we saved $2 a bottle at the bottle shop.”
Perhaps we are all missing something with this specialist mind set? Should we be running our business like a specialist instead of trying hard to look after our customers and form long-term ‘win-win’ relationships.
My new Business Development Manual, CUSTOMER SERVICE for the 21st CENTURY was published in July 2008 - www.sydneybusinesscentre.com
My wife recently had to undergo 'urgent' surgery in a private hospital. After numerous expensive visits and consultations the specialist set a date some seven weeks from the last visit and consultation for the 'urgent' surgery.
In the week before the scheduled surgery several phone calls were received asking my wife to be in attendance at 6.45am on the day of the surgery. Two days before the surgery, more phone calls requesting a 6.30am start and a request for payment before the surgery, even though no proper invoice had been provided (and still has not been provided) suitable for presentation to Medibank.
A very early start was made on the day of the surgery in order to meet the 6.30am request. At 8.30am, after a meaningless wait of two hours with no explanation or apology the staff of the private hospital prepared my wife for her surgery, which was successful.
After the surgery I received a phone call asking me to pick up my wife as arranged. When I asked about parking at this notoriously difficult spot I was tersely told, “If you wait long enough you can park in our building. We are always very busy, but if you wait long enough you will get a park.”
Really! I am not the first person to raise the issue of apparently greedy, avaricious specialists treating their customers extremely poorly. Do specialists deliberately double book (or is it triple book) appointments to cover latecomers and 'no-shows'.
As a businessperson I expect my suppliers to act and behave in a courteous and professional, business like manner. Unexplained two hour waits are clearly unacceptable.
This reminds me of my dealings with another specialist some years ago who charged his time out at $85 in six minute blocks. After a long wait in the overflow room of his overcrowded rooms, the specialist took great delight in telling me about his recent trip to a wine growing region.
“To save money with our restaurant meal we took along our own wine. Instead of paying $15 a bottle at the cellar door we saved $2 a bottle at the bottle shop.”
Perhaps we are all missing something with this specialist mind set? Should we be running our business like a specialist instead of trying hard to look after our customers and form long-term ‘win-win’ relationships.
My new Business Development Manual, CUSTOMER SERVICE for the 21st CENTURY was published in July 2008 - www.sydneybusinesscentre.com
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