Chris Collins tells how a vet's failure to acknowledge his dying bulldog Rocky taught him that technical skill means nothing without empathy. In business, you have to connect with customers as people, not just process transactions.
Hi, Chris Collins here. And if you know me, you know that I have bulldogs. I look like a bulldog and my nickname is the bulldog. And I want to tell you a story about my very first bulldog, Rocky. When Rocky was about six years old, he started losing a lot of weight and his tongue got really ashy and gray and I just knew something was wrong. So I took him to the bulldog doctor in Riverside, California and the doctor checked him out. He did a CAT scan on him, he found a mass and he did a biopsy and he came back and he said, rocky has lung cancer. My first reaction was I should have made him quit smoking cigars sooner. But the vet said that's a very serious thing for a bulldog to have and it isn't a surgery that I would do. He said, most guys won't do that surgery on a bulldog. It's a terminal thing and he has a very fast growing cancer. And I said, well, is there anything that I can do? And he said, I know there's one doctor who's really, really good that comes in from the east coast and he's only here two or three days a month and he'll do the surgery. And he's been very successful doing it. So I got the doctor's information and I got an appointment with him in a VCA that he would come to. So we waited weeks for this appointment with this doctor. And our appointment was at 10 o' clock in the morning at a VCA animal hospital that if you can imagine on a hot summer summer California day, the smells and the sounds of a crowded veterinarian waiting room with other dogs and cats around. And we showed up at 9:45 and checked in and 10 o', clock, 10:30. At 11 I went back up to the receptionist and I said, hey, we've been waiting here about an hour and our appointment was at 10. Is the doctor gonna see us? And she said, I'm so sorry, the doctor's in surgery, but as soon as he's done, you're the first one he's gonna see. So 11, 11 30, 12. Finally at 12 I went up and I said, is there any chance that he's gonna see us pretty soon? And she said, you know what, you should probably go to lunch and come back. So it's hard to go to lunch with a dog. You can't exactly go into a restaurant. But we found a place with outside seating and ate lunch and went back, sat in the Same spot at 1 o', clock, 2 o', clock, 2:30. Finally at 2:45. They come out and they say, okay, the doctor's gonna see you now. They're. And they ushered us into this little room. And so you had Rocky sitting there, my ex wife Satan sitting next to me, and me. And then there was an empty chair. And the doctor comes in. He was in scrubs. He sits down, he crosses his legs, and he says, I've looked at the pictures. He definitely has a mass. It's a very aggressive cancer. If you'd like to leave him, I'll perform the surgery tomorrow morning. And goes to stand up and walk out. And I'm like, whoa, hold on. Hold on a second. I said, what are his chances of survival if he has the surgery? And he said, I can't tell you that. It's been a while since the pictures were taken. I don't know what I'm going to find when I get in there, but if you'd like to leave him, you can. I said, okay, would you recommend chemo after? And he said, I don't know what I'll recommend until I get in there, but if you want to leave him, you can. And he literally just walks out. And Satan turns to me and she says, that man is not going to touch my dog with a knife. I'm like, whoa, this guy just walked out. And now you're saying that the only doctor that can perform the surgery, that we know of, can't perform the surgery. And I said, why? And she goes, he's not a dog person. I go, what do you mean he's not a dog person? She goes, he came in here and sat down and never once acknowledged Rocky petted him, nothing. He just came in and left. He's not a dog person. And we all know if you're a dog person, you're a dog person. And so dog people don't really like people that aren't dog people when it comes to the conversation of dogs. And so to her, he's not cutting her baby open with a knife, because he's not a dog person. And she would never trust somebody to have a knife around her baby if they're not a dog person. And they don't love dogs as much as her, because in her head, the two don't match. Now, I know from being in business that the best mechanic isn't the guy that you want talking to customers. Sometimes the best lawyer isn't the guy that you want talking to customers. The best doctor isn't the guy that you want talking to customers. But in this scenario, think about it. You got a Doctor that flies all over the country. He's at the top of his game. He's constantly training and learning new technologies, and he's on the edge of technology as far as surgery goes for animals. He works really, really hard. He's away from home most of the month, going and doing surgeries. He's in up all night, gets barely any sleep. He is the best of the best and prides himself on being really, really good at what he does. And he has a customer that doesn't want to do business with him because he didn't connect. That's what happens in our businesses every day, is we don't connect with customers about the stuff that matters. We don't pet the dog. It's not about the commodity. It's not about selling the hamburger, the car, the computer, whatever it is you're in the business of selling. It isn't about that. It's about the connection with people. Oftentimes, I find lately I get a better response from a company buying something online than I do from people. I can go into a bookstore and I can buy a book and never get acknowledged. I can go up to the cashier, they ring the book, they tell me how much, I give them my money, and I leave. And nobody even asked me how my day was going. And I can go on a website and buy the book, and boom, instantly, as soon as I buy it. Kris, thank you for your order. That's more than I get from a human being. In most scenarios, nobody pets the dog anymore. It's about people and connecting with people, about the things that matter, not the commodity. And that is the key to success in business today, is you got to connect, you got to pet the dog.
