Feuer’s Foibles

Every day for the almost 35 years I have been involved in the HME industry, I have learned something new.

Actually, every business owner, manager and sales representative learns something new each day they go to work, talk with customers and speak with manufacturers. Business education abounds in every interaction we have with a customer or referral source. If you are attentive to your business and your work, it’s almost like going to school.

I have found that in any business, it is not sweating the big issues that matters; it’s sweating the small stuff. It’s all about the foibles.

Merriam-Webster defines “foibles” as “minor flaws or shortcomings in character or behavior.” As a home care business owner, you see such flaws or shortcomings every day and likely wonder if they will really make a difference in your revenues. The answer is yes, they will.

I have often found myself a witness to business being escorted right out the door into the arms of a competitor.

While I accept the research that says up to 15 percent of our business is garnered from the mistakes of others, it is depressing to watch it happen right before your eyes. When someone neglects the customer or treats them in a way that they feel is unacceptable, there is always another provider standing ready to welcome them into their family of customers.

Allow me to share with you some situations I have seen that may almost seem unreal. But these scenarios are real, and any one of these eight foibles could be enough to cost you thousands and thousands of dollars worth of business. Perhaps reading about them might guide you as you interact with customers.

Keep in mind the states and locations may have been altered to protect the innocent, but the stories are real and no protection for the offenders.

Foible One

The man with the walker entering a store in Texas appeared to me to need assistance, but an employee told me workers could not be “jumping up and down helping every customer who had trouble maneuvering their walker as they come into the store.” If they did that, the employee added, they would never get their work done. I assumed customers were not this company’s No. 1 priority.

Reminder: Your image, your reputation and your concern will be judged by every interaction you have with customers. Work to ensure that when the customer leaves your store, he or she will be talking about your efforts to extend yourself beyond the expected.

Foible Two

A sales representative in Illinois told me she had no interest in discussing with clients any of the products her company sells unless there was a commission in it for her. She actually decided not to attend an in-service program on a product that did not offer commission.

Reminder: Look beyond yourself and move into the world of the customer. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could improve our customers’ quality of life by trying to meet their needs?

Foible Three

I have a problem forgetting a company manager in Philadelphia who scolded the staff for mistakenly taking the phone off the answering service 15 minutes prior to the noted store opening time.

Reminder: It is the personal contact we have with the customer that will ultimately separate us from the competition. If there are people in your company who regularly come in early, make sure they know how to handle the telephone so they can increase the customer’s chances of talking directly with a company representative.

Foible Four

About two years ago, a supervisor in a Pittsburgh-based managed care company yelled to her staff that the phone was ringing but made no attempt to answer it even though it was sitting less than two feet away from her. The end result: The call was lost.

Reminder: Everyone is in customer service. If the phone continues to ring, you cannot afford to lose the call. When it is apparent no one is getting that call or people are presently too busy to answer, you need to answer it. Never allow your status as manager/director prevent you from being the first person to pick up the phone.

Foible Five

I remember the day in Chicago that a sales representative and I pulled to the side of the road at about 5 p.m. so he could fill in his sales call report even though he did not actually make all the calls he was now writing down. He told me that he needed to have every blank hour filled in even if he did not meet with anyone because his manager refused to accept open spaces on the call report.

I also noticed the report had only enough space to identify whom we met with, and not what transpired during the call. It was apparent it was all about quantity rather than quality.

Reminder: I have learned that the more calls you make, the more people you meet, the more money you will eventually acquire. But, you need to balance the number of calls with the quality of the calls.

Each week, you need to ensure that you are not simply spending your entire time stopping by to say hello, but have scheduled calls that are dedicated to educating referral sources about your products, services and difference. Then the numbers will have more meaning.

Foible Six

As a secret shopper, I once called upon a Canadian company where a customer service representative told me that if I wanted an oxygen set-up to go just right, it would take three days. Did I actually hear this correctly, I wondered?

Unfortunately, I had it right. Three days for great work and, I guess, one day for a so-so set-up. I had my choice.

Did they hear how that sounded to the customer? Was what they were saying actually true? Or were they simply trying to buy themselves more time and avoid a late-afternoon delivery?

Reminder: Since we do not manufacture most of the products we sell, we must focus on service. One of the best tests of our service is the speed at which we work.

Our referral sources often have little time to make the referral, our customers are often impatient and we live in a want-it-now society. Yes, the customer wants it done right, but we must reconsider the timeframes in which we provide needed services.

We need to keep in mind that the average length of time in a hospital is less than five days. Having been a case manager, I can tell you the time allotted for discharge planning may be as short as just a few minutes.

Foible Seven

I remember working with a sales representative in Denver who believed that having a 10 a.m. appointment meant not showing up until 10 a.m. We found ourselves not only running to appointments but also arriving with no time to psychologically prepare for the meeting.

At one appointment, we were unable to see the referral source. “We are on time, aren’t we?” asked the sales representative. We were told we were 10 minutes late, so the social worker left for another meeting. We would have to wait three weeks for another appointment.

I was not sure how warmly we were going to be greeted by the referral source, who no doubt believed we had no regard for her time. What a difference if we had only shown up 10 minutes early.

Reminder: Appointment times are starting times, not arrival times. You need an extra few minutes to focus your attention on the call. Consider that the person with whom you are meeting might have a watch that moves faster than yours. If it is moving slower, you win. But if it is faster and you show up right on time, you may be the loser. Such a small foible can mar that all-important first impression.

Foible Eight

In Boston, I overheard a customer service representative tell a referral source who was complaining about a very late delivery that they were “doing the best they could.” The employee added that the reason the delivery was late was because the purchase order had been misplaced.

I personally was not sure they were doing the best they could, and I was also wondering how the paperwork got misplaced. It sounded as if the customer service person was offering excuses for not getting the work right instead of working on fixing the problem.

Reminder: Customers are focused on only one thing: themselves and what they need. Telling the customer you are doing the best you can only reminds them they could have received better service. And to compound the problem by telling customers you misplaced their paperwork fails to create a sense of assurance that you will ever get it right.

Have one of “Feuer’s Foibles” occurred in your company? Let me close with a few quick tips for avoiding some of them:

• Make sure your customers are your No. 1 priority.
• Continually remind yourself and your colleagues about your competitors.
• Respect the time of the referral source and the patient.
• Think about what you can do to improve the quality your patient’s life.
• Keep thinking about ways to be efficient and fast; it’s a winning com- bination.
• Seek suggestions and ideas at your next staff meeting about improving all areas of your operation.
• Your No. 1 company consultant is going to be someone who works for you. Listen carefully to the conversations in the office, for therein lies some of the best advice.

Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc., Pembroke Pines, Fla., and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. You can reach him at www.DynamicSeminars.com or by phone at 954/435-8182.

1. Not making customers your top priority
2. Not working on sales unless there is a commission involved
3. Not going the extra mile to foster personal relationships with customers
4. Not pitching in yourself
5. Focusing on quantity, not quality
6. Not responding to patients in a timely manner
7. Being late for appointments with referral sources, or anyone
8. Offering excuses for not getting the work right instead of fixing the problem