Feeling the Vibes and Avoiding Them Like the Plague
What kind of attitude do you and your staff wear at the end of the day? Your service attitude needs to last until the last patient has left the building.
Sunday evening I finally fit my workout into my day, even though it was a little late for me. It was the first night since Daylight Saving Time ended and it was getting dark already. It was only 5:20, but I find it difficult to workout once it’s dark. Nonetheless, I threw on my workout clothes and jumped in the car. Walking into the gym I heard the roar of a vacuum cleaner. No one was at the front desk.
Hmmm. Self serve tonight?
“Good evening, Cathy. Have a great workout.” I said to myself, grabbing my own towel and heading into the weight room. There were only two other people working out. I usually like that, but it seemed really quiet and there was some feeling, I just couldn’t put my finger on.
I felt extremely unwelcome and found myself looking at the clock, thinking that it must be close to closing time. But it wasn’t, the gym doesn’t close until 7:00. I had plenty of time to workout. Maybe they didn’t change their clocks. Maybe I forgot to change mine. I continued doubting that I should be there. I felt hurried.
Of all the times not to bring my iPod! All I could hear was the buzz of the vacuum. But the workout must go on.
Ten minutes into my routine I noticed a woman standing at the counter, looking at the pricelist and the schedule of classes. I did two sets and she was still standing there, obviously looking around for someone to help her.
The buzz of the vacuum faded and the guy behind it lumbered up to the front desk. He has red, wildly curly hair and lovely, bloodshot blue eyes.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said as she visibly shrunk from him.
“Oh, no problem,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
Dude, your body language is showing it’s a problem, no matter what words are coming out of your mouth. I can’t even believe she feels she has to apologize for interrupting his vacuuming!
Another fifteen minutes passed and the vacuum had been put away. Its racket was replaced by the annoying beat of a reggae song. I like a reggae song here and there, but it’s just not workout music. It’s way too laid back to be motivating.
I giggled when I looked over at the red-headed guy who should have been behind the front desk. He was now wiping down the equipment, singing along with the song, “So don’t care where you come from, as long as you’re a black man, you’re an African.” Quite the sight.
I finished my workout as fast as I could and left. I just felt like I should.
What kind of attitude do you and your staff wear at the end of the day? Even if you’re not physically getting ready to go, are you checking out early?
Your service attitude needs to last until the last patient has left the building.
It’s dark out early now. You want to get home with your family. You’re hungry, you’re tired. It’s dinner time. Your child has a big project that you need to get home and help him with. The dog needs fed. You have a date. The kids need to be picked up from daycare. It’s Friday. The game is on TV tonight and it already started. The excuses are endless. There are many other places you’d rather be.
It’s not only the doctor that shuts down the patient flow before the official end of the day. The techs can do it just the same. One “ready to go home” attitude unfortunately out trumps three “we’re here to serve you” attitudes.
Patient’s will pick up your attitude and guess what? They won’t come in then. I felt it in the gym. You’ve walked into a restaurant late in the evening. There’s one table of people in the whole place and they are finishing dessert. The rest of the tables are already set for breakfast. The restaurant is still technically open, but very much closed, they just haven’t turned the sign over yet.
Look at your appointment book. What does it look like at 5:30 and 6:00? These time slots should be filled with patient names. If they aren’t, ask yourself, “Who doesn’t want to be there at those times? Who’s mentally leaving early?” Look in the mirror first, then look at your techs. What’s it costing you to be “closed” at what should be one of your biggest volume times of the day?
It’s takes stamina. Train every day. It’s the fourth quarter, stay in the game!