Does Anyone Remember Common Sense?

 Put your customers’ ahead of your policies.

With an economy that is exploding, you would think that businesses would go out of their way to fine tune their customer service and ensure that people will continue to patronize their organizations for a long time to come. This seems to be common sense, yet I recently experienced a business where policies trumped people.

I was having some difficulty with the Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital after my wife had been admitted for physical therapy. She was only allowed one visitor per day. I visited her every single day except the day when her aunt wanted to go instead. I also wanted to visit her the same day that the Bishop from our church wanted to see her. I spoke to interim CEO Amy Teal to see if I could visit my wife the same day as the Bishop. However, the hospital had very strict rules: Only one visitor per day. No exceptions!

Ironically, when my wife was in Lancaster General Hospital, I asked one of the nurses if the Bishop could visit my wife while she was in a coma. She was on a ventilator and unconscious for two weeks. The hospital had specific rules that did not allow for outside visitors. However, the woman I spoke with asked for more detail to find out if there was a specific reason that I wanted our Bishop to see my wife instead of their chaplain. I explained that our Bishop was not connected to the local diocese and that as a Traditional Roman Catholic, it was important for my wife to be able to be anointed by a Traditional Roman Catholic Priest or Bishop.

I could tell that she didn’t truly grasp what I was saying; however, she did promise to speak with the higher ups and explain the situation to them and follow-up with me. She was a woman of her word. She got back to me later that day and asked me for the Bishop’s phone number. She explained that the hospital would make the exception and that he would tell him what he needed to do in order to visit my wife and anoint her in the intensive care unit.

After the Bishop’s visit, he called me to let me know that the hospital accommodated him and allowed him to go in and perform his blessings on my wife. He also said that he was the only outside person they let in that unit. They did it because I asked them to do it and gave them specific reasons.



I challenge you not to hide behind your policies. Remember that when it comes to customers, one-size-fits-one. The more attention you pay to your customers’ needs, more customers will patronize you.

"There’s only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman of the board on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." - Sam Walton