Do People Mind Your Manners?
Do People Mind Your Manners?
Courtesy counts.
Recently, my wife was recovering from Covid, a hospital induced coma, and a mini stroke. As she was being discharged from one hospital, she called me to say that she was being sent to another hospital in 45 minutes and asked me to meet her there. Naturally, I grabbed up some clothes for her to wear and got in my car to locate the new hospital. I had never been there before and after getting lost a little bit, I found the building.
My fear was that she was already inside so I went to the front door. I was surprised that it was locked. After all, how many hospitals lock the door in the middle of the day? However, as I quickly learned, Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital is a little bit different from most other medical facilities.
I tried to get some help from the front door flunky, Doreen, but she body-blocked me from entering. I told her I was there to meet my wife, Kim Romeo. She said that my wife had been admitted yet and I would have to wait for her to arrive. Then, Doreen went back to her desk and closed the doors behind her.
I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next. If I was at Red Lobster, they probably would’ve given me one of those pages that flash red to let you know your table is ready. But I didn’t get one of those. She could’ve taken down my phone number to call me when my wife arrived, but she didn’t do that. I checked and I saw that the hospital didn’t have a marquee reading, “Welcome Mrs. Romeo” to let me know when my wife arrived, so I was left on my own.
Ultimately, I called someone whose phone number was in the packet that my wife gave me at her previous hospital. Someone was nice enough to call me back and said to watch for an ambulance pulling up in the front of the hospital. Just as she said that the ambulance arrived.
My point is that we all have to be responsible for our manners. There were certainly many better options for leaving a better impression. Unfortunately, the key ingredient is that you have to want to make a good impression. I realize that Doreen was probably just a minimum wage high school student, yet somebody thought it was a good idea to leave her in charge of admitting patients.
I don’t know if training would’ve helped the situation, but it would have been the first place to start. Remember, you are your organization to your customers. Choose your words and actions wisely and professionally.
"You gotta wanna." - Jack Stack
(This excerpt is taken from my seminar entitled The Fine Art of Tact and Diplomacy.) I encourage you to click here to register for my exclusive Zoom presentation of The Fine Art of Tact and Diplomacy seminar on Thursday, February 10, 2022 from 9 AM to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.
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