My appointment was scheduled for 9:50am and I had arrived 5 minutes early.
At 10:20 I was still seated in the waiting area growing more frustrated by the minute. (Full disclosure: I’m what you might call a “Type A++”).
At 10:16, I was ushered back to the dental chair and was welcomed by the dental assistant who then prepped me for the procedure: a crown on a bottom rear molar. A few minutes later, Brian, my dentist came in, numbed me up and told me he’d be back shortly after the Novocain took hold.
39 minutes later, Brian returned to find me sitting upright on his stool with steam emanating from my ears. I didn’t have to verbalize my discontent, it was obvious. He kindly thanked me for my patience (something I don’t possess) and then motioned for me to assume the patient’s position back in the R.C.O.P (reclining chair of pain.)
Fully aware that I was not a happy camper, Brian didn’t leave the room again until the procedure was complete.
On my way out, I stopped at the front desk to settle the account and schedule the follow up appointment. Holly, the front desk staffer, had obviously been tipped off to my less-than-perfect service experience. She took care of the transaction and then reached into her drawer and pulled out a $10 gift card to a nearby big box retailer. “You know, Mr. Chester, we like all our patients, but we especially like and value you.” she said. “We know how busy you are and it’s our goal to never keep you waiting. However, this morning we had an emergency when a gentleman showed up with several teeth that were broken off in an accident. Unfortunately, that knocked us off our schedule. Please accept this card with our apologies and a promise that we will try very hard not to delay you again.”
I felt like an idiot for acting self-important. After all, my time is no more valuable than anyone else’s, and things like this happen all the time. Lacking patience is not something to be proud of, but rather a character flaw I need to correct.
But moreover, I left Dr. Brian Levitin’s office feeling valued and important. Holly’s response to me was authentic and sincere, not some rote statement from a policy manual. I credit Brian for empowering his staff to do whatever they feel is necessary to turn a frown upside down. That’s the epitome of a service-based culture.
ON POINT: It’s an imperfect world. We all get trampled out there in the marketplace and, sometimes, our customers get trampled by things we (our systems and processes) do, or fail to do. It’s in those moments where we have an opportunity to differentiate ourselves from the pack by having our front line service providers empowered with the tools, the training, and the autonomy to act without permission.
