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A Great Customer Service Standard!
posted: Saturday, September 19, 2009
How often do you attend trainings, seminars or read in these pages that the customer always comes first? That their satisfaction and getting exactly what they want should be the primary goal of every salesperson? I am guessing that you have heard those sentiments everyday that you've been a salesperson. Right? However, words are different then actions and it is those who turn the words into actions that have the biggest repeat customer base.
I went to a Doctor's appointment last week and saw something that I certainly do not remember seeing before. As we all know, we spend a good chunk of our lives waiting in Doctor's waiting rooms and we spend another chunk of our lives waiting in the exam room for the Doctor to actually make an appearance. What I saw and experienced last week was a customer service standard that was placed on display for everyone to see.
There was a sign at the check-in desk that said, "If you are not called back to an exam room within 5 minutes of your scheduled appointment time, then you will receive $5.00 off of either your co-pay or bill." Then when I got to the exam, room there was another sign that said, "If you are not seen by a nurse within 5 minutes after being seated in the exam room, then you will receive $5.00 off of your co-pay or bill." I think I read the signs over a hundred times just to make sure I didn't need to see an eye doctor as well.
I asked one of the nurses about it, and she said that it was a customer service standard set forth by the doctors who run the clinic. The only reason they did not offer the same promise regarding the doctors was because there is no way to predict how long a doctor will have to spend with any given patient.
It's one thing to talk about providing the highest level of customer service; but it is a whole different level to display what your expectations are and then be prepared to offer something if standards are not met. To me it wasn't the $5.00 off, it was the very public promise that every customer is important and customer service is important to this company. All great companies have non-negotiable sales and customer service standards.
FINAO: Failure Is Not An Option - Brad Huisken - President, IAS Training
I went to a Doctor's appointment last week and saw something that I certainly do not remember seeing before. As we all know, we spend a good chunk of our lives waiting in Doctor's waiting rooms and we spend another chunk of our lives waiting in the exam room for the Doctor to actually make an appearance. What I saw and experienced last week was a customer service standard that was placed on display for everyone to see.
There was a sign at the check-in desk that said, "If you are not called back to an exam room within 5 minutes of your scheduled appointment time, then you will receive $5.00 off of either your co-pay or bill." Then when I got to the exam, room there was another sign that said, "If you are not seen by a nurse within 5 minutes after being seated in the exam room, then you will receive $5.00 off of your co-pay or bill." I think I read the signs over a hundred times just to make sure I didn't need to see an eye doctor as well.
I asked one of the nurses about it, and she said that it was a customer service standard set forth by the doctors who run the clinic. The only reason they did not offer the same promise regarding the doctors was because there is no way to predict how long a doctor will have to spend with any given patient.
It's one thing to talk about providing the highest level of customer service; but it is a whole different level to display what your expectations are and then be prepared to offer something if standards are not met. To me it wasn't the $5.00 off, it was the very public promise that every customer is important and customer service is important to this company. All great companies have non-negotiable sales and customer service standards.
FINAO: Failure Is Not An Option - Brad Huisken - President, IAS Training
