Spotlight on Emergency Care Volume 3, Issue 4, October 2005 Moments of Truth in Customer Service I want to begin this quarter’s newsletter by thanking the hundreds of you who stopped by to chat with us at the Emergency Nurses’ Association and American College of Emergency Physicians meetings last month. Your enthusiasm for and interest in our new CalmerKids™ Training Module is greatly appreciated. And, we’re also pleased that so many of you have subscribed to our newsletter. To our new readers we say, “Welcome!” Our topic this month is “moments of truth in customer service.” I’m sure you’re familiar with “moments of truth,” both within and outside of the emergency medical field. Here’s one that I just experienced at the Emergency Nurses Association meeting in Nashville. We stayed at a pleasant hotel less than five minutes from the conference center. We were greeted warmly when we checked in, offered help with our baggage and made to feel welcome. The next morning we took advantage of the hotel’s complimentary breakfast, which, by the way, was really quite good. The hotel also provided free shuttle service to and from the convention center, which was great—until the second day when the larger van broke down, leaving only one small van for a whole lot of people. Later that evening, I asked the desk clerk if, given that the larger shuttle was down, we might have a problem getting to the convention center the next day by 9:00 am—it was essential for us to be there on time. My thinking was that if the van was still broken, I’d just call a taxi. Her reply? ”I’m really not sure... and after all, they are complimentary.” That was the moment of truth. My colleague and I turned to each other and smiled. We had really appreciated everything about the hotel—until that moment of truth. The clerk’s one inappropriate comment changed our whole feeling about this hotel. Moments of Truth in Emergency Care Customers of emergency departments and urgent care centers face dozens of moments of truth every day. Every encounter, every conversation, can lead to one of those moments. It’s essential for leadership to help staff understand the potential of moments of truth. On the positive side, even seemingly small or simple gestures can make a huge difference to the patients we serve. For instance... offering a cup of coffee to a distraught family member, or giving a blanket to a patient, or proactively letting patients and families know that the surgeon will be delayed... all of these “moments” send messages of caring and create connections. Obvious? Perhaps, but the challenge is in creating positive moments of truth during a busy shift. Unfortunately, on the negative side, it takes only one inappropriate comment to undo all that good work. While this may seem obvious to some, it is often not so obvious to others. With the appropriate leadership and guidance, staff can learn the impact of both positive and negative moments of truth on the patients they serve. And of course, these moments also greatly impact the entire departmental environment, and can therefore have a major impact on staff satisfaction as well. Action Items: How to Manage Moments of Truth in Your Facility Here are a few ways you can help create more positive moments of truth—and minimize the occurrence of negative ones: When interviewing prospective staff, ask them how they’ve created positive moments and handled negative ones (e.g., complaints). Even if you’re short-staffed (and who isn’t!), don’t hire if you sense a potential problem. One person who is not on board can really hurt teamwork and service. Create scripts for handling common issues (e.g., delays in care) and for proactively setting expectations for patients (“The labs will take about 45 minutes to get back”). Discuss with staff specific scripts they can use and actions they can take with particularly upset or angry patients. Acknowledge those in your department who model the creation of positive moments of truth—and reward them in meaningful and visible ways. As a leader, make sure staff sees you doing what you’re telling them to do by modeling positive customer service moments of truth. About Our Organization Created in 2003, Petrack Consulting is dedicated to helping physician and hospital leadership bring excellence to emergency services. We work collaboratively to fully understand our client’s needs, and then address programmatic initiatives with measurable outcomes. Our unique background in emergency medicine, administrative medicine, and organization development allows us to create uniquely effective solutions for enhancing emergency services.