I was told of a situation this week that recently occurred at a doctor’s office. What made the situation interesting is that I know all the people involved. Here’s what happened…
A person needed to set up an appointment to see her doctor. She called his office to set up the appointment. It had been a good while since this person had to see her doctor so the employee who answered the phone didn’t know her. The employee informed this person that she hadn’t been to see this doctor in quite a while and asked if she had ever seen another doctor. She said she did for some minor issue. The employee then told her she should call that doctor and said they weren’t taking new patients. This person said she wasn’t new and that this was her doctor. The employee refused to take the appointment. Here’s where it gets interesting. This person and her family are personal friends, actually, they’re very good friends with this doctor and his family. She called this doctor’s wife and told her the story. The wife said they had noticed their number of patients was decreasing and didn’t know why. Now they do. I have personally gone to this doctor’s office and the employees, at least the 3 or 4 that I’ve had contact with, have the personality of a brick.
Two points here…
For the manager or leader… This doctor is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. His employees are obviously very upbeat and nice when he’s around but things change when he isn’t. This is why a core score is so important. The core score tells the real story. This doctor is losing patients and that’s a core score.
For the employee… You never know who the customer, in front of you, may know. Think about that. A good rule of thumb is to assume the customer is a personal friend of the CEO and you need to impress so you can get that raise.
