Doc, this was inspired by a conversation I had with you
Hey Doc, Remeber Me?
I’m the patient you wanted to serve and help. I’m the original inspiration that motivated you in the first place to open your own practice.
Remember how you were going to serve my needs and desires better than anyone else out there? Remember that plan you had?
What happened? Did you too get caught up in all the noise, hype, and the daily grind?
I’m writing this to tell you that I “feel” like you’ve forgotten me, or at the very least, I “feel” like you’ve forgotten who I am and what drives me to want to give you my money and refer all my friends to you.
Doc, let me remind you about me (just in case you have forgotten exactly who I am).
First of all, please understand that I am NOT a logical creature. I was born this way.
You can forget all the processes and systems and the reasons why I “should” do business with you. I could care less about that stuff.
All I really care about is how I “feel” after interacting with you, your clinic and your products and services.
If for ANY reason along my journey (from my initial awareness of you until they put me in my grave) I “feel” like you don’t care anymore, I’m going to be going somewhere else and taking as many people with me as I can.
FYI: The reasons I may choose to “feel” like you don’t care about me are many. My reasons are NOT based on logic nor does it have anything to do with realistic or logical or rational thought processes. I’m an emotional creature that wants to know how much you care – at all times.
WHY: Because I am NOT a rational, logical creature. Reality has nothing to do with my emotional feelings that drive my decisions.
FACT: I base all my decisions on the EMOTIONS I feel and THEN I will logically justify my reasons (in my own head and to others) for making that decision AFTER having made it and will then do everything in my power I can to support the decision I’ve made (good, bad or indifferent).
Come on let’s be real – you do it too, we all do. We are humans and it’s what we do.
So I’m going to ask you again, do you really remember me? Do all your “logical” systems and processes account for the fact I’m not a logical creature and do they ensure that I’m not forgotten? Do they communicate to me how much you still care?
Fair Warning: If at any point (from cradle to grave), I feel as if you’ve forgotten me, you are in trouble because once you have taken my money and then you disappoint me, I’m now an emotionally damaged creature that will seek out revenge for this injustice. Fortunately for me, the internet makes it so easy for me to tell everyone all about my horrific experience and how you forgot all about me once you took my money (reguardless of our good relationship leading up to this point).
PROOF: Have you ever heard someone resharing a weekend fishing story to someone else who wasn’t there? Just three weeks later, how big was the fish now? Remember this about me: I will confabulate my stories to be more entertaining so I ‘feel’ better when telling them, and so do you.
Doc, do you realize you and you alone have the power to help me confabulate my stores about you? Give me good material to work with and I will. Give me bad material to work with, and I will.
Remember me? I was another “ideal patient,” until you forgot about me. Now, I’m your worst nightmare come to life.
Why did you forget about me?
I guess you are too busy implementing systems and processes that make logical sense to remember who I am.
___________________________
Doc, let me ask you this: Do you really know your patients complete experience? Until you do, you cannot grow to the “next level.”
TIP: How to have a complete understanding of your patient’s emotional experiences as they journey through your processes and systems.
Be a customer of your own products and services. If You Cannot Do It – Get Someone that Understands “Who I Am” (your idea your patient) and have them engage your processes and systems and report back the emotional experiences they felt.