By Jay Juffre
Are we there yet? As of this writing, it seems like we are almost, maybe, perhaps, we hope, putting COVID in the rearview mirror. I think headlines, variants and unfortunately some more hospitalization and death will continue to haunt us for months to come, but overall, most people are returning to pre-COVID lifestyles. For most organizations, this is a tremendous opportunity. No matter how your associate, staff or patient experience was like pre pandemic, there is a limited window to implement changes which will make things even better. A quick example, I have a colleague who grew so frustrated (because of supply chain issues) that his dealer could not locate brakes for the vehicle he had purchased just 18 months earlier, that he went to a competitor and traded the vehicle in for a new one. Much to his surprise, when he showed up to take possession of the new sedan, after signing some paperwork, he walked out to find his new fully detailed car pulled right up front. Not that impressive yet, but there is more. A red carpet had been rolled out and velvet ropes lined each side of the pathway he would take from the exit to the car. The salesperson and dealership had gone out of their way to make the purchase a big deal. My friend felt like a million bucks and more importantly, he went out of his way to tell everyone about his experience. Was the dealer doing this pre-COVID? Who knows? But they are doing this now. If you were great at creating a wonderful human experience pre-COVID but put some of those activities on hold out of safety concerns, get back to them quickly. If you were only good, you now can be great. There are some who are looking carefully at ways to impress visitors, patients and employees and others who are stuck in neutral. The companies who reconnect with patients, their teams, and the community the quickest will be the ones who win in this post-COVID era.
Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President, ImageFIRST. For more information on ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com.
