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Do Your Employees Like Your Patients or Customers?

I may seem like I am asking a silly question, but truth be told, beyond the customer or patient satisfaction numbers, chances are, your employees may not like your customers or patients all that much.  I am not saying that your employees are treating customers and patients with open disdain or contempt. They may be exhibiting behaviors and using language in internal meetings that demonstrate a lack of respect in a “we know better than you attitude.”  

Really?  

The lack of employee concern and caring, communicated verbally and non-verbally in the workplace, with average to mediocre employee satisfaction surveys, may be a pretty good indication that leadership behavior is sending a powerful unspoken message.

When little differentiation exists (a service, is a service, is a service) to tell vendors, hospitals, doctors, and other providers apart, employees are liking their customers, can set you apart from your competition. And with little opportunity existing now, and in the future, to differentiate yourself in your competitive healthcare vertical, success and growth beyond a simplistic single strategy of the acquisition will only come when attitudes towards prospects and customer's change.

Besides, employees in the office and the field are your front-line brand ambassadors. The visual and emotional representation of your brand.  And if they behind closed doors speak with contempt and disdain, then what does that say about your brand, your leadership, and strategy?

Leadership and employees are the best brand ambassadors that exist. They can do more to create customer evangelists than you may even imagine. But, if internal attitudes and actions are arrogant, condescending, and pejorative, then growth just got a lot harder. And marketing with all the creativity and tactics in the world, can’t fix that.

Can't have one without the other. 

Michael is a healthcare business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought-leader.  As an internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Marketing Matters is read in  52 countries and listed on the 100 Top Healthcare Marketing Blogs, and Websites ranked at No. 3 on the list by Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives, and a Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association. An expert in healthcare marketing strategy, digital marketing & social media, Michael is in the top 10 percent of social media experts nationwide and is considered an established influencer. For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, call Michael at 815-351-0671. Opinions expressed are my own.


For more topics and thought leading discussions like this, join his group, Healthcare Marketing Leaders For Change, a LinkedIn Professional Group.
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