EC4 Consulting

Hey all.
Getting your way around the cold weather?
I wanted to share two experiences that have been on my mind, as you may possibly have experienced the same.  Two service providers I have interacted with in the past month, left me with negative impressions of my interaction with them, which seems a shame, because the outcomes a really quite easy to change.  One was an upmarket famous brand coffee shop, and the other the "outpatients" emergency ward of a very well established local hospital.  In both cases, I eventually got what I had gone for, but the "journey" left me thinking that I was not really regarded as a person, with my own view of life, particular needs, likes and dislikes.
To be more specific.  At the coffee shop, where the coffee is really good, and quite a bit more expensive than the average for the area, I had to wait agood few minutes for attention, even though the floor was not busy.  There were at least 3 young ladies serving, and yet they looked totally bored, and stared fixedly at the passing shoppers, making the odd comment to eachother.  When service came, I struggled to understand the accent of the waitron, but we got through the order.  I got my coffee 10 minutes later and then waited another 30 for further attention.
At the hospital it was fairly similar, except this time I was in some pain from a silly accident involving fighting dogs (yes safety officers, I guess I didn't do a proper risk evaluation or toolbox talk before commencing operations!).  Now to be fair, they did take me through to a cubicle within about 8 minutes or so of paperwork(my sustained bleeding onto the floor and an irate wife probably gave urgency to the situation), but it was the long lonely wait for a doctor after that, that had me thinking.  A VERY critical rugby match was taking place at that moment.... would I be ignored until half time?
Well after half an hour a very friendly and efficient doctor stitched me up, so end result was good, but what could both organisations have done to make the experience a little more personal?

My feel, is that there is a lack of effective, well practised communication skills and strategies, designed to make the staff more aware of those small aspects that change a poor or average experience into a really "love to come back again next time" memory, not that I want to be going back to emergency rooms too soon again.
After having to interact with persons from at least 3 different African  and a number of different European cultures during my career, I have grown to realise the value in nurturing a  knowledge of cross cultural relations, effective communication skills and understanding what makes people tick, in order to pre-empt their specific needs, and thereby creating good impression, and taking service delivery to  a new level.  Its not just the cup of coffee I am paying for, its the whole experience I want to live whilst in your establishment!  Just think about it, isn't that what makes the difference between a routine and special experience...its the people!

I have put together some workshop material for both basic and advanced classes in communications skills and cross cultural communications,  to help the client close the gaps in service delivery, and improve impression.  Call me for more on these developements.

Email me with similar experiences you've had, and stay safe.

Bruce