Reading a discussion in the Healthcare Executives Network supported my ideas about a brand. YOU need to have the goods or services you represent give the aha moments and the wow experience to be successful. If you want people to remember and have the positive experience of your product, organization, procedure, etc..then give them a reason. I have worked with companies, departments and have stressed this wow component. It was a pleasure to see this discussion brought to the forefront of healthcare.
In a discussion forum on the LinkedIn Healthccare Executives Network group it was brought to my attention Tony Hsieh’s book called Delivering Happiness. Eg. of good business is how Zappos built their company and brand on customer service. What you might not know is how they were able to do it and why it works for them. There are two keys for building a successful company on service and that’s margin and patient investors. margin (the difference between sale price and cost) is what enables you to invest in great service. If you shop at Nordstrom versus the Rack, you expect more service because you’re paying more even though you can often find the same product at both stores.
Zappos operated at a loss for at least 5 years from the company’s inception so that they could build their customer base. The following 3 years they ran the company at break even so that they could continue investing in service. They did things like express shipping for free so that they could give their customers that “wow” experience. Their service reps were encouraged to build relationships with their customers. In his book, Tony stressed value of the relationship with that customer was more important.
I have always stated the profitability and margin is directly related to service, value added components and solving challenges for the customer.
I see a bigger reason to practice these ideas and pick up and read Delivery Happiness by Tony Hsieh.if you want to succeed in business (or in life for that matter) you will need to know how to solve problems and make people happy. In fact, solving problems and delivering happiness is at the core of every successful business person.
Can we afford to “live in the wow” in the healthcare industry? What should customer service look like? Given that we’re moving to a consumer driven system, I would like to hear how you could be tailoring your services, goods, or products?
Passionately,
Marsha
MARSHA DIAMOND 