Features
Watch That Attitude
I get many calls from HomeCare magazine readers sharing ideas or incidents that have affected their HME companies.
One, which I have heard more than once, is about the “quiet customer” who appears to have disappeared. One provider told me he was not aware that he had lost a good client until they saw each other at Sunday services.
I will sum up the problem in the following fashion: A customer who is loud and has no hesitation about shouting at you that something was not to his or her pleasure can be calmed down and satisfied. The old adage “the squeaking wheel gets the oil” is true.
But the quiet customer, who has for any reason felt slighted, may simply disappear. The “nice” client who waits patiently for service or calmly tells you about his or her problem may find that you put that problem on a back burner.
Although this customer may feel that tomorrow never comes, he never raises his voice, never nags and never makes a scene — however, this is the customer who also never returns.
How Do You Manage Your Time?Other things I hear about are ideas for the future. “We are planning to do this,” or “I am going to do that” are repeated in my frequent conversations with providers.
But that is too often followed by “when I find the time” or “I am so bogged down.”
Ideas come and go, so when you have one, stop and write it down. Once you have recorded it, prepare a brief business plan for the idea, and then gather the employees who can make it work.
The more often you do this, the more cooperation you will get from your staff. This is the kind of thing that makes their jobs fun. Then, when they do a good job, reward your employees. This could be a gift certificate, dinner for two at a popular restaurant or maybe even a small pay raise. Several providers who take this approach tell me that the competition among staff members has helped build both volume and profits.
What a nice way this is to build with, isn't it?
About Fear“Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without
fear.”
— Baruch Spinoza
Lately the calls and messages I receive from readers appear to have a common thread. HME providers are afraid of what might happen to their companies as a consequence of the changes emanating from Washington.
