What Jesse the Cable Guy Taught Me About Customer Satisfaction
One of my biggest pet peeves is waiting HOURS for the cable guy to arrive to fix my Internet at home. I always feel like I am being held hostage, and do not dare leave the house in case they show up. I had been having Internet problems on and off for a year. When you have six teenagers at home like I do, having reliable Internet is crucial.
Our service provider had sent five different technicians over to our house over the past year without being able to fix the problem. Each one them had a different theory as to what was wrong, and each one of them assured me that my problem was solved, only to wake up the next day to the same random dropped service. It was almost like our house was cursed. I was certain my name was now in a rolodex of “difficult” customers.
That was until Jesse showed up at my house a couple of days ago. He’dbe the sixth cable guy from the same carrier to come out and try to fix my problem. So, I waited for him to show up. He’d be there between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Jesse, the stereotypical big n’ tall friendly Texan, patiently listened to my problem, as he perceived that I was frustrated and about to throw in the towel with his company. He asked me for details about how my Internet would drop, when, how, how often, etc. I felt a glimmer of hope: Jesse, unlike his previous colleagues, was actually trying to DIAGNOSE my problem by LISTENING to me and the symptoms of my problem. To make the story short, Jesse spent five hours at our home and figured out the problem. It was a huge relief to finally have reliable Internet and not have his company think I was a crazy customer. Jesse made a difference, and I am continuing service with his company because of him.
Jesse applied the two most important rules when it comes to customer service: Communication and Respect. Multiple studies on patient satisfaction show the same two issues having the greatest impact on their satisfaction with the care they receive. This list shows what patients consider important for patient satisfaction. All of their issues boil down to Communication and Respect.
COMMUNICATION means exchanging information with our patients. This exchange goes both ways: we need to find out their CONCERN, what are they worried about that brought them to the ED? The best way to find out their concern is to simply ASK THEM! What is it that you are worried about that brought you here today? Did we answer your concern today?
From our part, communication means that we EXPLAIN what we are doing and why. We keep them informed.
RESPECT simply boils down to treating them as we would like to be treated. Showing and providing courtesy, comfort, privacy and attention to their needs. Gone are the days when the patient’s only choice was a large hospital-based Emergency Department where patients would have to wait for hours and the staff would be burned out and have an attitude that they were doing the patient a favor and not the other way around. Nowadays, patients have plenty of choice and we only get one shot at making a good impression. Our culture at EMERUS is based on the core values of Empathy, Community, Excellence, Integrity and Innovation. We cannot carry out our mission if we are not respectful of our patients.
So, here is our challenge: For the next year, we will focus on mastering PATIENT COMMUNICATION and RESPECT. We will learn methods, tips and strategies to improve in these two areas. It will take a team effort and the individual commitment of everybody to this cause. Will you join us in this campaign to improve communication and respect for our patients?
If you do, I can promise you that our patients will be grateful for your hard work, and it will give you renewed pride in the important work you do to heal our communities. What a privilege it is to work in a field where we impact people’s lives. As Jesse showed me this week, all it takes is a desire to do the right thing for the people we serve.
Cam Torres, MD,
MBA Director Physician Patient Experience Medical Director,
Baylor Emergency Medical Center at Grand Prairie
