There are stupid questions. And there are certainly stupid statements. But even so, they often present a kernel of wisdom for your taking.
Last week, I saw the following stupid question, actually a rhetorical question, on LinkedIn, posted by a physician. I don’t know this guy, who I’ll call “Dr. LinkedIn”. Perhaps he’s smart. Well, in the book sense. But there’s obviously something missing here, something that you can pick up and run with.
Dr. LinkedIn posted something to the effect of “why should I have a good bedside manner if they’re not paying me anything extra for it?”
For anyone but this guy, and, I have to admit, the multiple other physicians who left comments supporting Dr. LinkedIn’s position, there are many answers, not the least of which are “because you are a human being” and “because you are in one of the many professions and even ‘jobs’ that involve caring and service.”
Plus, for Dr. LinkedIn, the answers center on the fact that he is destroying his career, proving himself to be no more valuable than a ticket puncher, and, even more importantly, destroying the business for which he works or, even worse, in which he’s a partner.
But it’s not my job or yours, to fix a broken individual. Of course, we’re not going to hire this guy. And if we hired him in error, we’d be stupid not to fire him as soon as we could. Because Dr. LinkedIn is going to kill your business.
Contrast this with the story that I believe I heard the investor Mohnish Pabrai tell (who heard it from someone else – I certainly don’t claim ownership) about the owner of a gas station who has a competitor right across the street. Even though both are self-service gas stations, this owner has attendants who clean windshields and the like, providing some service and a personal touch to each customer. The gas station is clean, flowers are planted—it’s inviting. Contrast that with the station across the street – your standard old filthy gas station. Yet the prices are the same. Where are you going to fill-up?
This is the same theme that I’ve been exploring for medical group leaders for well over a decade on the weisspc.com blog. It’s my concept of an Experience MonopolyTM. In short, an Experience MonopolyTM is delivering an experience for patients, referral sources, and facilities that they cannot get from anyone else, with the added caveat that simply providing an experience isn’t enough. At its core, a successful exchange involves delivering value as well, and that’s the case whether we’re talking about relationships with patients, referral sources, or facilities. See, for example, What a 57 Year Old Burger Joint Can Teach You About Delivering Value and From Robert Frost’s Road to the Great Junction and When You Have Time to Gripe.
It seems so simple to you, doesn’t it? The magic thing, though, is that it doesn’t seem simple to many, to those content with just doing the job, with being a commodity—those keeping an eye on the clock for quitting time.
So, in light of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, give some thanks to the fact that your competitors include many who think like Dr. LinkedIn. After all, he is the gift that keeps giving.
