Everything is service

I accompanied Esther to the doctor today, it was a standard pre-baby check up. Today was our first appointment with a new doctor after changing practices, and as a qualifier, we changed doctors very late in the process.

I’m not writing about the baby, that is covered on another blog. I’m writing about service.

Our experience with the previous doctor was abysmal. Not for the medical care, it was more than adequate, but for the service. The people working the front desk were short, terse, generally grumpy and not the first thing you want before your appointment. The doctor was always rushed, seemed distracted and could not remember my wife’s name if not for the chart in her hand.

The reason we changed practices was all because of the service we received, or not.

Everything is a service. Whether you are writing software, teaching a class, cranking widgets or cleaning bathrooms, each of these is a service.

While some of those are obviously services, others seem more like production jobs. The change comes when a market has enough competition and low enough costs that customers can change with little or no loss, for the gain of better service.

From front desk and call center staff to technicians, janitors and widget crankers, to directors and managers, each of those people are responsible for a customers perception of the service an organization provides.

While everyone has a bad day, poor customer service should not be accepted and a philosophy of “Check your problems at the door” adopted.

Even internal service organizations, like IT have to worry about departments going outside of the normal acquisition channels. Again, low risk change for better service.

Remember, everything is service.