When it comes to your brand image, every contact matters.
For two long days I had sat in a dark viewing room, watching focus group participants pick apart my client. We were at the end of the last session, and when the moderator checked-in with the back room minutes before finishing the group, we decided to send her back in with one simple question: tell me one thing that my client had done right.
She posed the question to the group, and the change in the atmosphere was palpable. People crossed their arms, frowned, and looked from one to the other uncomfortably. Finally, someone spoke.
“Well…they cured me.”
This moment perfectly summed up something we observe time and again in our research work for hospitals and health systems: when it comes to your overall brand image, every contact matters.
Saying every person on the team matters is not lip-service, it’s absolutely accurate.
Poor impressions damage brand
Not only can a challenge setting an appointment or a problem with billing leave a bad taste in a patient’s mouth, it can also reflect negatively on other, unrelated services. For example, another focus group participant said: “If they can’t get [scheduling] right, what are they doing when I’m under anesthesia?”
While there’s no doubt we hear our share of medical practice horror-stories, we hear even more stories about administrative challenges that leave a poor overall impression and can damage a system’s brand image. I recently visited one of my clients and upon pulling into the parking garage, I encountered a truly crabby parking attendant. Walking in I wondered how many other people had the same experience as their first impression of the hospital? While I cannot imagine how they reacted, I know it left me with a poor impression.
Make sure your entire team understands that every contact your team members have with a patient and a patient’s family is part of the total care experience. Every team member matters, and how they treat that patient is part of that patient’s care. When you think about the patient journey, understand that all the touch points are part of your brand experience. If you work through pain points – whether they’re with access, medical care, or administrative issues–you can improve the experience for both patients and staff as well as improve your overall brand and image in the community.