ISKD and Peachtree Road Race

I have been involved in healthcare my entire life. As an adult, I've worked for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and now operate my own healthcare consulting firm, Primoro, Inc.

Many of you may not know of my association with healthcare as a child and as recently as four years ago. At the age of about three, I contracted a bone infection that most of my doctors believed damaged the growth plates on my left leg bones. During puberty as my right leg grew, my left side simply lagged behind. By the age of twenty my left leg was 2+ inches short as compared to the right. After wearing a two inch orthotic lift on my left shoe for 38 years, I decided to undergo a limb lengthening procedure with a fairly new orthopedic device called an intramedullary skeletal kinetic distractor, ISKD for short. Dr. Robert Bruce of Emory Orthopedics performed my surgery in January 2006. The surgery was successful and what a change the surgery had on my life.

Today I am pleased to tell you that I am registered to do this year's Peachtree Road Race on July 4th. In fact, after learning about my story, the AJC elected to do an article that appears in today's paper. Frankly, I never thought I would ever be written up in the sports section!

The point of this story is to highlight the accomplishments of this country's our healthcare system, the providers, the research companies. It is blessing that the spirit that exists in our United States allow for such advancements that does so much for those in need. I am an example of the ingenuity of the system our republic provides. For those of you who I know, and those of you I don't, Thank You!

Customer Relationship Management

Recently, I've been working with a pharmaceutical company in development of some consultative tools their sales team can use with customers. One topic the company asks I comment on is customer relationship management (CRM). CRM is broadly defined as strategies designed to manage a company's interaction with customers and prospective customers. Typically these strategies involve the use of computer software organize and automate the various business functions such as sales activities, marketing of products, customer service and other support.

CRM in itself is very interesting to me as most organizations view the CRM strategy from a company centered point of view. That is to say, a company will use these strategies only to the extent the system is beneficial to the company. For me, that seems backward.

As I have written many times, I have never seen a case where excellence in customer service was bad for business. Likewise, I've never seen any computer software deliver excellence in customer service. Excellence in customer service is always delivered by PEOPLE!

Now I do not discount the value of technology helping house customer data, making it easily accessible to those who need and the ability to mine data to help a company understand their customer better. But in the end, your business cannot depend on computer systems to deliver the service your customers expect. In today's technology driven business world, too few companies really train their people in customer service.

I am reminded of the customer service story I found as part of my research. A well dressed lady visited the local Nordstrom's shoe department. She jokingly asked saleslady, "I bet you won't sell me one shoe. As you can see I have only one leg." Well the lady lost the bet. This story exists because of Nordstrom's commitment to developing a customer oriented customer service policy. It should be no surprise that Nordstrom continues to be very successful clothing retailer.

Using technology to help you gather and maintain customer information, but remember to invest in the people who interact with your business's customer.

A Customer Service Story

Primoro, Inc and PrimoroVet provide a full range of business consulting services for the medical community. As many of you know, a key focus of our organizations centers on assisting medical providers in establishing customer service standards within their practices'. By improving customer service, businesses tend to retain current customers, enhance "word of mouth" referrals, and produce better bottom line results. As I have stated before, I cannot think of a case where good customer service was bad for business.

Today, I would like to share a personal customer service story about our local auto repair shop. The car in question is a European make (Volvo) and as you might expect, not the cheapest in general maintenance costs. This visit included oil and filters, tire rotation, etc. In specific, the cabin air filter was to be changed at a cost of about $90. As the technician inspected the existing filter, he determined that the existing filter did not need to be changed, thus saving me the $90. As you might expect, I enjoyed the savings, but more importantly, I appreciated this professional's evaluation and ultimate recommendation.

I cite this as top notch customer service. Rather than trying to sell me something I really did not need, this repair shop focused on what was best for the customer. In addition, my observations of the staff, the shop's cleanliness and the overall experience are all results of the owner's vision of what a repair shop should be, and, his leadership to execute his vision.

Excellence in customer service is no accident. Make excellence in customer service part of your vision and lead you team in executing your vision.

P.S. In case you are wondering, my repair shop is AllSpeed Auto Works.

Much Has Been Said About Social Networking - Read This!

Primoro, Inc., is actively engaged in promoting the use of social networking tools, a.k.a. Web 2.0 technologies, in medical practices. As you might suspect, many physicians are reticent about betting involved for fear that patients may use such a tool as a vehicle to disparage their doctor.

While that possibility exists physicians must recognize that there are many internet sites designed to provide patients the ability to "rate" their doctor. I've looked at these sites and there are patients out there who proverbially "throw their doctor under the bus." So what is a physician to do?

Oddly enough, I came across this blog through social networking. Follow this link and take a look at it. I believe you will find the information compelling enough to get involved in social networking.

For answers to your questions and an easy as writing an email social networking tool, call Primoro, Inc. @ 404-394-0014.