Yes, Doctor. You Too Are in Sales!

My mom recently had cataract surgery, and being the good son she raised me to be, I accompanied her to her eye doctor for a follow up visit the next day.  During this visit I was reminded of the fact that no matter what type of business you are in, you are in sales.  Any business that feels it is above the need to treat their clients and prospects with the highest regard is in jeopardy of losing them to a competitor.  Even if you’re a doctor or lawyer – you still need to sell yourself, and provide good customer service.  Apparently this idea was lost on the owners of this particular practice.

For weeks, my Mom had known that a day after her cataract surgery, she had a follow-up appointment with her surgeon - let’s call him Dr. A.  The visit started nicely enough, the typical walk into the office, signing in and waiting to be called.  She was first seen by a technician who removed the bandage covering her eye and then gave her some instructions for the next few days, then left and said, “the Doctor will be in shortly.”

A few minutes later, a gentleman entered without saying a word, sat on the doctor’s stool, started looking through her file, and proceeded to ask her to place her head in the contraption thingee where the Dr. looks into patients’ eyes.   My Mom and I both looked at one another, and I’m sure my mom was thinking the exact same thing as I was, “Who the heck are you, and where is the doctor who we were expecting?”

My mom asked this politely, and received an answer about how the doctor was away and couldn’t make it in that day, etc.  I was floored at how inconsiderate and careless this was!  It seemed like he, and by extension, the entire practice, couldn’t care less about their patients and how they were treated.  Otherwise, they would have made sure we were aware of the fact that the doctor we were expecting wasn’t in.

At the very least, there are two or three things that should have taken place that didn’t:  During check-in my mom should’ve been told, “I’m sorry, your doctor couldn’t be here today, but don’t worry, Dr. B is here, is excellent, and will take great care of you.”  The same should have been said by the tech who saw her.  And when Dr. B entered, the least I’d expect is a simple introduction.  Ideally, she should’ve been called ahead of time so that she could decide whether to keep the appointment and be seen by someone else, or reschedule.

Trouble is, these guys don’t realize that the usual rules of business, sales, and customer service apply to them, and I’m sure they lose patients every day.  I know of at least one they lost that day.