Category Archives: Huh?

September 12, 2013 · 10:06 am

Eye-Yi-Yi

Nothing like a bad customer experience with a medical professional to begin one’s day on a happy note!  OK, so I don’t wear sarcasm well, but it’s either snark or anger (it’s a fine line!) so I’m going with the former.  Let’s get your take.

English: A human eye after the pupil was dilat...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I generally schedule my medical appointments early.  In fact, I try to be the first appointment of the day if possible.  In theory (and today proves it’s JUST a theory), I should be able to get in and out quickly so the entire day isn’t disrupted.  As it turned out this morning, not so much.  However, it is a nice lesson on how not to treat your customers.

The doc opens up at 8 which is the time of my appointment.  I present myself on time, walk to the reception desk, and am greeted with…nothing.  Oh, the receptionist is there, but she’s arranging papers, printing out forms (and not the day’s calendar of appointments – that’s sitting in front of her), and generally doing her best to ignore me.  After a minute or so, there’s a mumbled “I’ll be right with you”.  Three minutes later (I only know because it was 5 after 8 when she spoke to me) I get a “yes?”  OK, so I get it’s a little weird that I’m noticing how long I’m waiting, but remember the premise:  first in, no waiting, out quickly.

I tell her “I’m Keith.”  “Last name?”  My immediate response:  “the schedule is right in front of you. How many people named Keith are scheduled to be here at 8?” stayed inside my brain while I told her.  “Have a seat.”  8:06

I know who is going to examine me and she’s right there in the office.  Chatting and drinking coffee.  For the next 10 minutes.  8:16 is when I was called into the exam room.  I don’t generally bill by the quarter-hour, but if I did, these folks would now owe me more than I’ll owe them for the appointment.  It was a 5 minute eye exam, and when I asked about some results she informed me she didn’t have my chart because the doctor had it at his house.  Oh.  But he’d be right in. OK.

5 minutes later, in walks the doctor, chartless.  Looks at the results of the exam, takes a quick look at my eyes, and says he’ll call me but if he doesn’t I should call him to discuss the results.  Visit over.

Here are my takeaways that I think apply to any business:

  • An appointment is something that’s binding on both you and your customer.  You expect them to be there on time, you need to be as well.  I totally get that people might be delayed due to traffic or other issues.  Which leads to the second point.
  • When you break the above agreement, a little apology is called for.  I got none.
  • The person greeting customers (and patients are customers!) needs to be personable and customer-focused.  Grumpy, even first thing in the morning, is never acceptable.
  • When you are not prepared, don’t put the onus on your customer to fix your mistake.  Not having the chart is your problem – don’t make it mine by asking me to call you.
  • Finally, no customer should ever leave your business angry.  Not ever.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but compare it to yesterday’s experience.  I walked in at the required time and within 5 minutes I was out of the waiting room (in the middle of the day in a busy office) and into an exam.  Well-run businesses are easy to spot!

That’s my take – what’s yours?

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August 29, 2013 · 10:25 am

Getting Pinned

Credit card

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A friend had her pocket picked last night. Yes, I’m being literal – they got her wallet and immediately ran to a couple of stores to buy electronics which are easily turned into cash on the street. Fortunately she noticed her wallet missing not long afterwards and so was able to block the credit cards relatively soon.  Still, thousands of dollars of goods were charged – they were few in number but big in price.

As someone who used to supervise a fairly large online sports store, I’m well aware that it’s usually the merchant who bears the brunt of these fraudulent purchases.  Most of the time, the onus is on the retail outlet to verify that the card is being used by the rightful owner or the outlet will eat the cost of the goods refunded to the consumer.  Because of that, there are a lot of electronic countermeasures taken during online checkout to be sure that the card is real by both merchants and card issuers. You may even have experienced some of them while traveling, especially if you’ve gone out of the country (banks don’t like it when the card is suddenly being used overseas!).

What strikes me as odd, however, is that it’s far easier to commit fraud in the real world than it is online.  Think about your last experience charging something with a credit card.  The cashier may not have even looked at the card to see if the sex of the user matches the name on the card.  They might not have verified the signature.  Neither of those, by the way, is much of a deterrent.  Maybe you swiped the card at a gas pump which then asked for your zip code.  As in my friend’s case, if they have the entire wallet, there is probably something in there identifying the correct zip so that doesn’t work either.

Contrast that with a bank debit card.  You must have a PIN to use the card.  Forget the pin and there is no way to get cash or make a purchase.  Does anyone think it’s odd that when the bank is on the line (as with a debit card) for the money there is a fairly secure (ok, very secure except for the idiots who write the PIN on the card) check but it’s not there when someone else is liable?

It seems like a pretty simple fix and it can save billions.  Like many things in business, you shake your head and wonder why no one is taking the time to do it.  You agree?

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August 21, 2013 · 8:34 am

Kids And Cards

Once in a while I spot something that elicits an “Aw come ON” from me as I read it. Let’s see if you agree. Bowl-BlackBackgroundThe piece was in yesterday’s USAToday and was a front page article in the sports section on the topic of high school football all-stars.  You can click-through the previous link to read it if you care to.  In a nutshell, participants in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl are asked to sign a couple of hundred trading cards each.  The kids aren’t told what the cards are for nor are they made to participate.  It’s “an opportunity, not a requirement.”  The cards are sold and in some cases they become quite valuable.  No money goes to the kids.

While I have some qualms about that, what caused the aforementioned response is the attitudes displayed by the adults involved:

“The answer is, ‘Well, you don’t have to.’ But for many of these players, this will be the only time in their athletic careers they are on a trading card. To be singled out at that point in time for their athletic achievement is not a bad thing.”  Leaf CEO Brian Gray says there is no pressure put on the high school players and they have the option to decline. “But really,” he says, “If you don’t want to be on the card, there’s something wrong with you.”

Seriously?  Anyone care to name an athlete who knowingly permits their name, likeness, and autograph to be used for purely commercial purposes without any compensation?  I’ll wait.  Didn’t think so.   Most of the kids think the cards are being used for non-commercial purposes – donations to soldiers, for example.  They are never told, and when they find out they don’t really understand how much some of them are worth.  Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck (a Stanford grad and by all accounts a smart man) objected to the card being issued, saying he had never approved it.  The company’s response:

Leaf responded by suing him, saying it had a First Amendment right to do so, claiming that the game operators had granted Leaf the license to player likenesses. The 2008 game was before Leaf began issuing sets of trading cards from the game, but it has issued alumni cards – such as the 2008 Luck card.

Now, I’m in my third decade working in sports and I’ve NEVER heard anyone claim they can issue merchandise as part of the First Amendment.  There’s a multi-billion dollar business called licensing that would disappear if that’s the truth.  Rationalization aside, why not just tell the kids clearly upfront what’s going on?  Hiding something?

One of my favorite Saturday Night Live characters is Dan Aykroyd playing a smarmy guy named Irwin Mainway who, among other things, sells “Bag O’Glass” and caters a school breakfast program with coffee and cigarettes.  His take is that “it’s a bottomless cup of coffee” makes it all just fine.  No, it really doesn’t and the trading card company’s isn’t OK either.  You agree?

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