Have we Forgotten About Customer Service?

Last night, while at home getting my son ready for bed, I received a phone call from a doctor in Costa Rica. She needed to purchase our Cold Laser PowerPoint presentation and she needed it right away. Although it was almost 10:30 on a Sunday night, I took time out of my night to assist the client's needs. Granted, I didn't exactly move mountains here. All I did was process an order from home and email a custom PowerPoint to a client who needed it right away. I'd love to say I cheerfully skipped to the office with a smile on my face and happily completed the task with a positive outlook. That wouldn't be the truth. I briefly forgot how important customer service is! Although I temporarily dropped the ball, it ended up being a positive experience that I hope you can benefit from as well.

I won't be dishonest with you. I initially wasn't happy about meeting the customer's request. I did spend a moment feeling sorry for myself that I had to "work" on a Sunday night (again). I complained to myself, "no normal business is open or worrying about customers at 10:30 on a Sunday night". The stupidity of this statement hit me almost as soon as it ran through my head. Of course no normal business does this. Only an excellent business does this!

While waiting for confirmation from the client that the file transfer was successful, I began thinking about customer service and how vital it is for a chiropractic practice or any small business. I then became ashamed of myself for feeling sorry for myself. I quickly changed my point of view and decided this little side project on a Sunday night wasn't an unwelcome aggravation. Instead it was yet another opportunity for my business and I to shine!

I began to reflect on a modest little business we call ClinicallySignificantProductions.com. We are a small fish in a big pond, but doing surprisingly well. Do we offer affordable rates? Yes. Do we offer quality products? Yes. Are those two things enough to keep the momentum going? Definitely not. While I am totally confident we put out very high quality products at an insane value, that's not what makes us special. That's not what will grow our business and keep existing customers coming back.

What makes us special is the fact that I am willing to answer emails at 5:30 pm on a Saturday afternoon before taking my son to the park. I'll respond to a voice mail at 10:30 on a Sunday night. We'll happily produce that custom painting and place that photo right where you want it in your DVD. There is always a company out there with an equivalent quality product and a bigger marketing budget. What makes our company, and so many other small businesses out there, special is our intense desire to offer the best customer service.

As I got ready to sit down and have some cookies and milk for a bedtime snack with my son, I realized customer satisfaction applies just as much to a chiropractic practice as it does to the accountant, baker, or plumber down the street. Satisfied customers come back and they tell others!

I preach about patient satisfaction and keeping the customer happy all the time. Let me explain why I feel it is so important:

Most of the world has simply forgotten about customer service!

While there is always the exception to the rule, it just seems like most of the world is on some sort of disinterested, self absorbed auto pilot. Nowhere is this more evident to me than at one of the local big box retail stores. Most of the stock help doesn't seem to care, the teenage cashier appears totally indifferent, and just pray you don't need to go to the customer service desk! In most retail stores you'll probably have to work your way up the food chain to the manager before you find anyone who appears to have any interest in you or your problem. In my experience this often translates into caring just enough to not get fired!

This is what makes the small business so special. In most cases the owner is directly involved in day to day operations. The owner usually has a passion for the work and a serious interest in the success of the business. This unique quality of a small business is often one of the most overlooked opportunities. This is what makes a small business unique, and when taken to the next level separates a good small business from a great one! In today's world you need to be great, not average!

In most cases, there is someone selling the same product down the street or just a mouse click away. I can almost guarantee there is another Chiropractor around the corner. What separates your business from theirs? To be an elite chiropractic practice, or small business, you have to go above and beyond normal expectations. With competition and a sluggish economy it's sometimes not enough to simply provide customer satisfaction during normal business hours. Now that may be tough to swallow, but it's the truth.

I let call forwarding forward calls from my practice and clinicallysignificantproductions.com to my personal cell phone after business hours. Is that absolutely necessary? Probably not. However, I feel it is necessary to grow my business and my practice. Seeing the occasional evening patient or the weekend emergency patient is sometimes inconvenient, but it isn't the end of the world. Emailing a PowerPoint or packing a shipment on a Sunday night might not be my idea of fun, but its part of the job! Providing excellent customer service is inconvenient and time consuming but you don't have to view it as a chore.

Balancing family, fun, and work is one of the most difficult and rewarding challenges of being a small business owner. Anyone who owns a practice, or business they care about, knows this. I probably spend 70-80% of my time thinking about growing my business and practice. I constantly strive to find new ways to satisfy my clients and go the extra mile. I don't work 40 hours a week, it's more like 90. Clearly, owning my own business means a lot of hard work. Why do I do it? Because it also means I receive the rewards you can only see by being the owner of a small business.

I have the unique ability to schedule my work and patients around my personal life. I can block out a day to go on my son's field trip. I can take that Friday off without fear of angering the boss. I can schedule a vacation when I want. I can arrange my schedule to see my son on and off the school bus each day. I don't have to worry about a surprise lay-off when I report for work on Monday. When I think about these things it changes my point of view.

We shouldn't view providing excellent customer service and going the extra mile for customers as a pain in the rear. Instead we should welcome the opportunity to build relationships and grow our business! Handling a call after hours, seeing that weekend patient, granting a special request: these are all unique opportunities to show customers how dedicated we are to their satisfaction. Providing customers with excellent service and more than they expect is job security for the small business owner!

So, the next time you find yourself working on a weekend, taking that late phone call, or filling that unusual request don't think of it negatively. Is a patient or client any less important on Sunday at 10:30 pm. Are they somehow more valuable or more important on Monday at 9:30 am? Of course not! The next time you have to go out of your way to satisfy a customer take a deep breath and think about all of the benefits of being a small business owner. Then smile and take pride in knowing you are truly one of a kind! Trust that going the extra mile for your customers will pay off in the long run, because it will!
-Dr. James