"I tried to tell them something wasn't right, but nobody would listen to me. They thought they had all the answers. Now look what happened. If only they would have done something earlier, we wouldn't be going through this." "You wouldn't believe how long we had to wait! Those doctors act like they're the only ones with a schedule. My time is important, too!" "Listen, that's the best place to get help for that. They treat you like a real person there, not just a number." Patients and their families talk–a lot! What they say about you and your practice or other healthcare organization is the key factor in your ability to attract new patients, retain existing ones, and achieve financial success. Word-of-mouth about your behavior is more powerful than expensive advertising, credentials on the wall, or your powerful business plan. Could You Be Sabotaging Your Success? Magnetism is an apt metaphor for your interactions with your customers. In every encounter with patients, family members or employees, you are "magnetic;" that is, you are either attracting or repelling. They either feel valued or devalued, informed or in the dark, comforted or insecure. In thousands of "magnetic moments," your treatment of all of these individuals creates their immediate perceptions, their fixed opinions, and cumulatively, your reputation. Your reputation is priceless. Patients Remember. Our company did a telephone research study of customers' perceptions in a hospital setting. Six months after they had received hospital services, we asked them to tell us the one most positive incident they remembered about their interactions at the hospital, as well as the single most negative experience. We wanted to know what was significant enough that they still remembered it months later. I'll share only the top five here. 1. Staff attitudes: Responses were typically adjectives describing how a staff person acted toward the patient or how he/she seemed to be feeling during the interactions. Examples of positive attitudes were "nice, friendly, courteous, and respectful." Negative descriptors were, for instance, "mean, angry, rude, not a good bedside manner." 2. Timely service: People described how quickly the service was provided and/or how much time was spent waiting. For example, patients mentioned, "got me help quickly; fast service; in and out in no time; got my medicines right on time;" or, negatively, "was very sick and had to wait three or four hours; made me sign papers to see if I could pay right after I got there, but could not see me for hours." 3. Meeting medical needs: Patients talked about the adequacy or effectiveness of the medical treatment. Here's a sample of positive experiences: "kept the wound dressed frequently; did all they could to relieve the pain; doctor was very thorough." Conversely, they said things like, "had to yell one time because I couldn't breathe; bruised my breast in the mammogram; arm got infected where the drip was." 4. Meeting psychological needs: People were impressed with actions that personalized the contact, comforted the patient, or otherwise added the "human touch." Examples were "said comforting things; used humor; smiled and patted my husband on the shoulder; talked to the baby; touched my hand; rubbed my back." 5. Communication: Patients described how well the staff kept them informed, answered questions, and explained procedures. For instance, "tech told me what she was going to do and then did it; answered my questions about the baby; doctor talked to me and got my mind off things; spent time teaching me." Poor communication also created lasting negative impacts; e.g., "wasn't given a straight answer about my condition; had to tell the story about what happened over and over to each new nurse or doctor that came in; no one told me what to do.' Furthermore, our research revealed that not only do people remember, they tell others. Plenty of others! And, as you can guess, the bad stories are juicier and get repeated much more often. So you see, you do get free advertising! What will they be saying about you? Will their experiences be "attracting" or "repelling?" Business-building or business-destroying? It's those small, "magnetic moments" with you and every healthcare team member that make all the difference! Beverly Smallwood, PhD, psychologist, works with healthcare organizations to attract and keep the best employees and patients. To receive a free Special Report on "Top 10 Ways to Impress Patients", visit www.MagneticWorkplaces.com. February 2007