Service Fanatics: How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way

Chapter 10

Healthcare Requires Service Excellence

How often have you stood at a service counter in a retail business or patronized a restaurant where it seems everyone ignores you? Recently I was at the checkout of a large electronic consumer products store. Nearly every employee I passed while browsing stopped to ask whether I needed anything. When I got to the cashier, the young woman behind the counter was typing on her smart phone, while I stood right in front of her with my purchase. She finished typing, put the phone down, and rang me up, without acknowledging me or even looking at me. As she was executing my transaction, another employee arrived at work and walked behind me, and she yelled out to him, “Hey, Ron! Where you been? What’s ...