10 minutes too late

Like a typical male, I avoid going to the doctor until it's pointless to deny that I must. And I've been so successful at avoiding illness, that in spite of living in the UK since 2002, I have yet to draw upon the services of the NHS in any way.

As it happens, I've been getting more colds in the past year than I ever have before. So after nearly seven weeks of sporadic coughing, an appointment was duly made with the local NHS GP.

This, of course, is like touching the kettle to see if it's hot enough for your tea, but I was in an adventurous mood. Besides, I thought it would be a good point of comparison considering that I spend at least 8 hours a week inside private medical practices.

If I had only been given the chance! After spending a little more time than I expected at a private plastic surgery practice in Chelsea (because my client clearly needed to speak with me about an important issue in her practice), I was almost certain to be late for my appointment with the GP in Bermondsey.

A hasty call was made to beg for leniency. But alas, in spite of all protestations, they replied: "if he's over 10 minutes late we won't see him".

Wow. That's strict. I can't help but wonder what would happen if patients had such a rule? Imagine a patient saying: "if the doctor is any more than 10 minutes late, I won't see him and I'll instead see a doctor who respects my time, thank you very much!"

Something tells me we're a long way away from that dream world.

"Go private!" you might say.

But would that dream world be any more real in the private space?

Watch this space....

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More Patients copyright © 2008 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.

An easy paperless way to gather patient feedback

I was visiting with a prospective client at the Princess Grace Hospital the other day and I noticed the above device in the reception (The Patient Experience Tracker). Of course, I was intrigued as I was just brainstorming with another client the previous week about a device that may help us capture real-time patient feedback - and voila! There it was!

I looked up the supplier (Dr.Foster Intelligence based in London) and found the following explanation of the features of this device on their website:

The system provides a simple, practical and robust way of rapidly and frequently capturing and analysing results from large numbers of users, without the need for paper-based questionnaires and analytical resources.

• Simple and easy to use with hard wired and mobile data capture units
• Easy to capture and upload data on a daily basis via a docking station, modem and telephone line
• Data stored on a central server
• Unique electronic codes identifying each unit, enabling the data source to be identified for rapid report generation
• Lightweight handheld units - large enough to be handled by frail patients and with large print to ensure the questions can be easily read
• Ability to standardise or customise the questions
• Questions produced in any language

This kind of technology appears to take the human factor out of handing out feedback forms, retrieving them, summarising and compiling the data for presentation. Best of all, it's real time. I'm not sure how often one can generate reports, but I would assume that such a kit would enable reporting at any time - 24/7.

To learn more by viewing a video of an NHS Hospital's experience in implementing these devices, visit their website.

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More Patients copyright © 2008 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.

Closing the gap between how we are perceived and how we perceive ourselves

Have you ever been surprised by the gap in how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you? I certainly have. There have been times when I've been sure that a customer's experience was positive only to realise down the road that it wasn't nearly as positive as I'd hoped.

To eliminate this uncertainty, we've decided to survey our customers about their experiences with us, before we get surprised. I've also advised my customers to survey their customers.

In my experience, I've found that some companies don’t understand why they should survey their customers. Maybe they think that no news is good news. However, research has demonstrated that the very act of surveying customers adds positively to the customer experience. An article published in Harvard Business Review (How surveys influence customers - 2002) revealed that surveyed customers are less than half as likely to defect and more profitable than those who had not been surveyed.

Some think it's a good idea to survey their customers but then don't actually follow through. Others collect and quantify data but don’t circulate the findings. Still others do the measuring and distributing but fail to make anyone responsible for putting the information to use.

A revealing statistic published in another Harvard Business Review (Feb 2007) underscored the extent of the problem. Bain & Company’s recently surveyed the customers of 362 companies.

Only 8% of them described their experience as “superior,” yet 80% of the companies surveyed believe that the experience they have been providing was indeed superior.

I can't help but wonder what the results would be if I conducted a similar survey amongst businesses in my customer base. The findings would be extremely important, considering that when customers are asked for the number one reason they do business with a customer, 52% said "Service" while 38% said "Price". (Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Report, March 2006).
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More Patients copyright © 2009 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.

How "clever" ideas can be Bozo-moves

Beware of "clever" ideas that can make you look like a Bozo in front of your customers.

A few days ago, a cosmetic surgery advisor that recently attended my training emailed me to ask if she should mention appointment fees to patients before they came in to attend the appointment. These questions seem like dilemmas (mention the fee = more price resistance on the phone; don't mention the fee = startled and possibly upset customers). However, these questions can be answered easily if you only ask: "How would you like it if you were the customer?"

The answer is simple now, isn't it?

Here's a story that demonstrates how companies can let short sighted goals obscure more important objectives by obviously not asking themselves this question:

Laura recently purchased over £400 of goods from NEXT website. After giving her credit card number, NEXT placed her order on a new NEXT account.

Mind you, Laura didn't want a NEXT account because store accounts often charge much higher interest than credit cards - and it's a bother having to keep track of more than a few credit accounts. She corrected the issue and paid by credit card after NEXT issued her a statement on the new NEXT account - that she didn't want.

Now, all of this probably started as a clever idea (from someone in marketing) in response to the question "how do we get more people to sign up for NEXT accounts?"

"I know", must have been the reply, we just won't tell them we're signing them up! But it's just dumb. It's a Bozo-move to get a customer to sign up for an account they didn't want.

If you do a lot of online buying, you'll know that many of your purchases need to be returned or exchanged for different sizes. And sometimes, certain stores just don't seem to size their clothes in a way that fits just right.

Well, in this instance, nothing from NEXT fitted. So, instead of continuing the trial and error process, Laura brought the clothes back to the nearest NEXT store and returned the goods. Because this was an online purchase, the customer service representative at the store told her that the website would credit her account.

Naturally, because Laura paid for her goods by credit card, she assumed that the account they were referring to was her credit card account. What they really meant however, was that the store was crediting her NEXT account.

Now, that's just adding insult to injury - it's a double Bozo-move!


When a customer purchases something and then decides to return it, don't "credit their store account" if they paid in a different way. Instead, refund their money to the credit card if they paid by credit card, cash if they paid in cash, cheque if they paid by cheque... you get the picture.

Customers aren't stupid. But they do get annoyed when they have to chase companies to do what they wanted done in the first place (twice).

A company like NEXT doesn't get that. I hope you do.

Create a movement. We need it.

In this video, Seth Godin, author of "Tribes: We need you to lead us" argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.



Questions to take away from this:

• Who are you upsetting?
  
• Who are you connecting?
• Who are you leading?
  

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More Patients copyright © 2008 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.

Beyond Customer Satisfaction: Leveraging Patient Feedback

Recently I conducted a workshop on "Delivering Outstanding Customer Service" with a Harley Street clinic. One of the really cool outcomes of the workshop was that the Practice Manager started surveying her customers to get a read on their level of satisfaction. Clearly, she wondered: how can I know where I want to go if I don't already know where I am? Great question!

As I reviewed her new survey I noticed that she included one very useful question that we spoke about at the workshop that is missing from most customer feedback surveys, and that is:

What could we have done to make your visit to our clinic a better experience?

This is a fantastic question because, beyond measuring satisfaction, it actually seeks to understand what your customers expect that you may not yet be delivering. It may even lead to new services or products that are complimentary to the services or products you already offer.

Another good question is:

Would you recommend our clinic to your family and friends?

Many surveys ask this question. If you do, have you noticed that the answer is usually "yes"? But, how often do those recommendations actually materialise?

If you're not satisfied with the number of patient referrals you are actually getting (especially considering that almost everyone you see says they would recommend you), then this post is for you!

To understand why people might recommend you, attach the following questions to the question above:

• what would you say?
• who would you say it to?
• in what circumstances might you recommend us?
  

Asking these questions performs several functions. First, it helps you understand what people are actually saying about your practice. Is it what you want them to say? Is their message "on brand"? How interesting is it? Would it compel you to act, if you had a similar problem? If you knew someone with a problem, would their recommendation compel you to "pay it forward?"

Having your customers answer this question also helps them pre-articulate a recommendation, which is good practice for when they actually may recommend you.

Note: if they leave this question unanswered, that may be a message to you that there is actually nothing really all that remarkable about your service. If that's so, that's probably why you're not getting as many recommendations as you'd like.

The second and third questions are also useful. First, they provide you with heaps of intelligence on how word of mouth actually happens (who are the typical recipients of the recommendations? In what situations do recommendations occur?). Secondly, they are also idea starters for customers who want to recommend you, but haven't yet thought of to whom or when.

Again, if you find that these questions remain unanswered, that's another sign that there just isn't that much to talk about.

Now, if I had a pound for everytime somebody told me that british people are different, that they just don't like to talk about where they had their eyes, breasts or teeth done... I'd have my feet up in Aruba 365 days a year. There may be some truth in that, but people still talk about brilliant service - whether they're in Afganistan or Yemen - and yes, they even do in the UK!

Remember, people don't tend to talk about when they had their expectations met. They do, however, talk when they've had their expectations exceeded, and they talk a whole lot more when they've been disappointed. Ever wondered why the evening news and the papers is 95% bad news and hopefully 4% neutral and 1% good? It's because good news rarely sells as much as bad news does.

You can leverage this patient feedback to tell you whether or not you have built "remarkability" into your pricing, promotion, process, product, or people. Like Seth Godin's "Purple Cow", are you truly "remarkable"? Are you doing something that exceeds expectations so much that your customers recommend you to everyone all the time, even when they are not talking to people who may need you right now or in situations that warrant the discussion?

That's the kind of word of mouth that will eventually enable you to fire your advertising agency and stop wasting money on paying people to pay attention to your solicitations! And who wouldn't want to do that?
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More Patients copyright © 2008 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.

LiveseySolar launches a new website for Cadogan Clinic

After 10 years in this business, I'm convinced that the internet is one of the most powerful and reliable sources of good quality enquiries for private healthcare businesses.

It is for this reason, that the team here at LiveseySolar is very excited to announce the successful launching of a new website we have designed for one of our clients, the Cadogan Clinic.

The Cadogan Clinic offers the UK’s top doctors, consultants and surgeons in state-of-the art facilities, led by Bryan Mayou, a plastic surgeon at St Thomas’s Hospital and the St John’s centre for Dermatology and Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. He is a pioneer in microvascular surgery and is credited for introducing liposuction into the UK.

Some of the specialists practicing at the Cadogan Clinic include

• David Gualt, a world authority on the ear and its reconstruction, and inventor of Ear Buddies™.
• Ian Franklin, a consultant vascular surgeon at the Charing Cross Hospital. He teaches and lectures at home and abroad on minimal access vein treatments and he is the foremost trainer of other surgeons of the technique of VNUS Closure in the UK.
• John Scurr, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital, and a pioneer in many fields. He was the first to describe economy class syndrome or the risk of deep vein thrombosis occurring in long haul flights and also its prevention.
• Jonathan Bowling, a dermatologist internationally known for his contribution to mole monitoring using the Dermoscope. Like most dermatologists he passionately believes that moles should be monitored by specialist doctors rather than nurses and photographers.

It is the first purpose-designed Day Care Surgical Clinic in London, which provides facilities for patients to receive treatment in a luxury environment. Based in the heart of Chelsea, the clinic is the ideal destination for the discerning patient seeking the most exclusive location and atmosphere in which to receive treatment.

Early response from both inside and outside the clinic to the website has been very enthusiastic. We built the website with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in mind. Of course, it will take a few months before these effects are fully visible on the search engines, but it's primed to be a contender in the highly competitive cosmetic surgery space. After initiating a PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign about a week after launch, the Clinic is already enjoying a 10-fold increase in web-based inquiries over the last month.

Please have a look at the website, we'd love to hear what you think!
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More Patients copyright © 2009 Rod Solar and LiveseySolar Practice Builders Ltd. All rights reserved.Rod Solar is an expert in health care sales, clinic sales training and provides advice to his health care clients that support their sales efforts. Questions about improving your health care practice through public, customised or bespoke sales or customer service staff training may be directed to Laura@LiveseySolar.com. Readers are also welcome to visit our website at www.liveseysolar.com or call +44(0) 207 407 4452.