I recently had a “customer service” experience that really hit it out of the park for me. A hospital went the extra mile to ensure that the personal touch was there and that I knew my business mattered to them.
Two weeks ago, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. As first-time parents, we tried as much as we could to prepare ourselves for the event of having a child. Inevitably, we were overwhelmed with all that goes along with going to the hospital, having a baby, and coming back home again.
During our two-and-a-half day stay at the hospital, we saw a number of medical professionals parade in and out of our room. I can honestly say that I was impressed with each one of them. Especially the incredible nursing staff. They were amazing!
As many know, leaving the hospital with your newborn child feels a little bit like you’re getting away with something. And after you get home, you have an overwhelming feeling of “okay, what do we do now?”
After floating through the first stages of parenthood for a few days, my wife and I received a card from the hospital where she delivered our daughter. As I retrieved the mail that day, I was sure it would be a generic card that all new parents get.
We were both stunned to open the card and find a handwritten note and signature from each and every one of the nurses that took care of us during our stay. They even remembered our daughter’s name! (And spelled it correctly!) Actually, now that I think about it, stunned doesn’t even begin to explain our feelings about this gesture. We cried. That sums it up.
The personal touch that was delivered by the nursing staff with this card made me ponder the logistics involved in accomplishing this enormous feat. A big city hospital, with an incredible number of births each year (we were one of six births that DAY), multiple nurses to track down (all with different shifts on different days), manages to get them to all sign the same card with a personal message for the new parents.
I began to think: if a hospital can pull this off for something like a baby’s birth (where you pretty much have to show up to a hospital), what are we doing to make doing business with us personal on behalf of for our financial customers?
People can choose to bank anywhere they want. It’s going to be the personal touch that brings them back time and time again to do more and more business with your organization.
We all have on-boarding programs (if you don’t, please find my contact information is below to discuss further) to deliver the touch points to our customers after they open a new account or take out a new loan. But what sets your on-boarding apart from all of the others? What happens after the on-boarding period is over? What makes your customer want to pay attention? To have them ask more questions, really engage in conversation with you?
Maybe it is a handwritten note from the branch manager or banker that interacts with that customer. Maybe it’s something different. The answer is going to vary for each organization. The key is finding something that will make it personal, and sticking with it.
Have more thoughts on the subject of providing personal touches? I’d like to hear your responses! Leave a comment below!
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