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Defeating The ‘We Can’t!’ Mentality

Recently, I had the privilege of presenting at a conference being held in a beautiful resort. The grounds and building were breathtaking. We were warmly greeted with smiles as the bell captain took our bags and welcomed us. However, as we stepped through the revolving doors, it was the grandeur of the lobby itself that was the most charming and captivating. My first impression was sealed. This place was magnificent. This will be a first-class experience. Then we checked in or tried to.

I stopped at the front desk only to find out that my name was not in the computer. That is funny because I received a confirmation. “Please recheck. I am sure you have a reservation for me. That is H-O-M-I-S-A-K, Lynn.” They told me, on second glance, that it was not there. When I asked what the hotel receptionist could do for me, his response was “I am very sorry, we can’t accommodate you. Our hotel is completely booked.” I didn’t hear anything past “we can’t.” After several more futile attempts at my insistence (trying various name combinations and spellings), I could see the receptionist getting annoyed so I resorted to contacting the conference coordinator (who found our name on the master list in a flash).

Bottom line, we had our key, no thanks to the receptionist’s efforts. Had he made better attempts to please his customers at the first sign of concern, he could have been the hero. Instead, he chose the “we can’t” mentality.

We got up to our room and it was beautiful. It was clean and very comfortable. Okay, on second thought, maybe I was a little too quick to judge. Sure, my initial (visual) impression had been tarnished by the way we were treated but stuff happens. I told myself to let it go.

Day Two. My husband and I went down to the restaurant for lunch and shortly after we sat down, our server arrived to take our order. I will admit I can be a little “Meg Ryan-ish” when I order food but I simply asked for the chicken, tuna and egg salad platter right from the menu. No changes, no “on the sides” and no “hold the anything.” The server explained that there was no egg salad today so they were going to give me an extra helping of tuna or chicken instead, “your choice.” In that case, I politely asked if she could please substitute that extra portion with a small green salad and balsamic dressing. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We can’t do that.” I asked if they were out of salad. “No, we have it but we can’t substitute.”

I sat back thinking, wait! They are the ones substituting in the first place! Was this their idea of customer service? Well, the server did end up bringing me a green salad (albeit with honey mustard dressing!), claiming the chef said that it was OK. Why was “we can’t” the first thing to come out of her mouth when clearly she could? How about, “Let me check and see if we can do that” or “I am sure we can do that”?

Last Day. Despite these few incidents, the conference was exceptional and our last day called for a special treat. Lazy morning. Room service. I ordered a $14.95 bowl of oatmeal, which was supposed to come with fresh fruit, milk and toppings. What I received was, literally, a tiny saucer of oatmeal with no fruit, milk or toppings. If you travel often, you understand it is generally not worth your time to get caught up in the weeds over disappointments like this.

However, after I ate all three spoonfuls of bland, pasty oatmeal, I washed my dish, presented it to the front desk when checking out and questioned this particular breakfast item I was served. What was the desk manager’s response? “I am sorry that happened,” followed by those dreaded words … “I can’t do anything about that. You will have to see our banquet manager.” Then he looked away. He was finished with me. Did he actually suggest I hunt down the manager myself?

“How about,” I replied, “you make the call for me and have the banquet manager meet me here in the lobby?” The banquet manager did come, was thoroughly embarrassed and genuinely apologized. She also took responsibility and offered solutions (replacement, refund, food for the road) for my inconvenience. Finally, someone did the right thing. She could do something … and she did.

Good customer service begins with hearing our customer’s or patient’s needs and if the request is outside of policy or possibility, being able to turn a negative response into a positive one that offers a solution. In other words, do not be quick to declare what we can’t do, focus on what we can do.

Instead of “We can’t address your additional condition today, Mrs. Jones, because we do not have time in our schedule to do so,” how about a response that is more based on patient interest? “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Mrs. Jones. I am going to suggest that we focus today on what you came in for and reappoint you next week so we can give you the proper amount of time to comprehensively evaluate and treat this new condition.” (Of course, I always recommend looking at the patient’s complaint to make sure it is nothing emergent. Maybe you could even introduce some brief, temporary treatment and reinforce the reason for the follow-up appointment.)

Whether it is in a luxury hotel or a doctor’s office, good customer service goes a long way in building a reputation. Listen, really hear what people are saying and encourage their feedback for continuous improvement. Give more than is expected, under promise and over deliver. Treat patients right, thank them at every opportunity and apologize like you really mean it.

Finally, lose the “we can’t” mentality. We all can do better than that.

 

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