Several years ago I was doing a talk for my local Kiwanis Club and met a most delightful individual by the name of Greg Ferman. He was courteous and upbeat and happened to be an optometrist. I mentioned to him that I was looking for a new optometrist since mine had unfortunately passed away. He gave me his business card and invited me to set up an appointment to come in for a checkup.
A few weeks later I made an appointment to see Dr. Ferman and was totally impressed by this man’s very helpful and pleasant staff and office ambiance. As soon as they took my name and asked me to take a seat, I could see a very well lit waiting area. There was a copy of the daily morning newspaper on one of the cushioned waiting room chairs and a rack of current popular magazines. After a few minutes one of his assistants came over to me and invited me to go back to the examining room. After sitting down I noticed more reading materials including the Reader’s Digest, one of my favorites.
After a few moments, Dr. Ferman walked into the office and cheerily greeted me by name. This energetic individual who bubbled over with optimism and enthusiasm lit up the room with his presence. Here was a man who loved what he did and it showed in the way he explained his procedures and added little tidbits of interesting information. Since I wear semi permeable contact lenses, he explained the different types of lenses available, the advantages and disadvantages of each type. He explained how the eye worked with his props and pictures. I learned more about my eyes and their level of health in 40 minutes than I had learned in all the previous years I had gone to other optometrists. By the end of my visit my level of satisfaction on a scale of 1-10 was a 14.
It wasn’t long before I was recommending my wife and friends to this amazing optometrist who was an optimist.
Of course, in order to be a business success and insure lifetime clients and customers, just being an optimist isn’t going to be enough. Small business owners must practice good client service that insures the likelihood of retaining clients for life. One of my experiences with Dr. Ferman gave me a first hand view of how this might look. Just last year my contact lenses were becoming more and more difficult to wear. I made an appointment and he determined it was one of two things that was causing the problem. First, it could be the fact that my eyes were getting older and less tolerant to contact lenses or possibly my wife’s use of a healing oil was being absorbed by my lenses. After a new set of lenses, that were softer and more pliable, did not fix the problem, I made up my mind that I wanted to opt for laser surgery. He explained to me the pluses and minuses of this kind of corrective surgery and as part of an agreement with a laser surgery clinic provided several pre-surgery check ups that monitored the readiness of my eyes for surgery after I stopped wearing the contact lenses.
This went on for 3 ½ months when finally it was determined that my right eye actually had a condition that would not provide me with the best vision after laser surgery. I cancelled my laser surgery which eliminated the possibility of any reimbursement from the laser clinic to Ferman Optometry for the check-ups he had provided. When I learned this Dr. Ferman made it clear that he would not accept payment from me to cover his costs for all the pre-surgery examinations he had performed. He explained to me that he valued his clients too much to take advantage of them. This is real customer service!
I then decided to try a new set of contact lenses and lo and behold they worked perfectly.
Apparently, the cause for the dryness and discomfort was the healing oil my wife had been using, but had ceased, since I had stopped wearing my contact lenses.
My point is this man is a success because he strictly adheres to a set of values that treat his patients and employees with respect. He and his staff go the extra mile and provide a most positive and happy experience. They exceed expectations at every turn.
Small business owners would do well take emulate this optimistic optometrist’s approach to filling the needs of their clients and providing real customer service. If they do, they will happily keep their clients for a long, long, long time.
Tom Borg is a business consultant located in MI, who works with small and mid-size companies to profitably improve customer acquisition and retention and employee performance. He helps these businesses achieve these objectives through his use of consulting, speaking, video and professional writing. To ask him a question or to hire Tom, please contact him at: (734) 404-5909 or email him at: tom@tomborg.com or visit his website at: www.@tomborgconsulting.com
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