Kenny Chapman saw his doctor's partner after a pinched nerve and was struck by how the substitute spent time asking personal questions instead of jumping straight to diagnosis. Chapman uses this to argue that service technicians and businesses should build rapport with customers first, before pitching solutions.
Hey, everybody, Kenny Chapman here, the blue collar coach, coming to you live with this week's video version of Freedom Friday Focus now question. This week, new doctor, same practice. I had a phenomenal vacation last week with the lovely Christie in the Riviera Maya area of Mexico. And we spent one epic day doing a lot of body surfing, a lot of swimming, a lot of getting tossed around in the ocean. I got a big bruise on my side. I got a bruise on my other shoulder back on this side of my back. But the worst part was the pinched nerve in my neck that I ended up with that, that I had to go see my doctor upon my return to the state. So I go to my doctor, right? Always easy to get in there, not always on time, not well. I call my doctor, he's out sick for the day, so I need to see his partner. Now, I've been with my family doctor for over 20 years. I've never had to see his partner. But my doctor is not available and my neck is in pain. I have to see this guy. So he says, okay, well, come on in. So I see him. Now, think about it. He's double booked because his partner's out. Got to run those calls. You know how it is when the tech calls in sick and now we dump some other calls on other technicians. What happens to the level of service? So he walks in, I said, doc, sorry about jamming up your schedule. I normally wouldn't do this, but I'm in really, really bad pain. He said, hey, don't worry about that. Lowering my level of duress. He said, so tell me a little bit, how long have you been with Dr. Bowman? Well, about 20 years. Guess what? He's got my file this thick, sitting next to him from all the times I've been there over all these years and years. He knows how long I've been there, but he's asking me. No, no different than asking your customer, how old is the house? How long has the water heater been in here? How old is the equipment? They might know, but I want them telling me, or you might know. I want them telling your technician, right? So then he begins, I'm sitting here, I'm in massive pain, ladies and gentlemen. And he's going, so you've been there that long? Okay, I understand. And, well, what do you do for work? How long have you been in the Valley? What kind of happened here? Oh, I'm from Florida originally. He says he went to medical school in this other place. What brought him? We just spent about 10 minutes getting to know each other. Then he began to ask about my pain in the neck. No pun intended. And so as I sit here and I think I'm watching this take place, I'm like, my gosh, I trained this. This is the important. See, I had to believe in him a little bit. I had to understand him. He's been practicing for years and years. He's just been in this partnership for only four or five years or whatever is why I haven't seen him. He's very qualified at what he does, but I don't know him yet. No different than our technicians walking in the door. They're very qualified, but. But the technician doesn't know them yet. So I don't care if they've been. Company's been there a hundred times. No different than I've been to my doctor over the years. He took the time to get to know me personally, then I can get behind his recommendation. No different than us and our technicians. Give that some thought. Connect early, build the trust early, then offer options. I'm Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach. Until we talk again. Have a better than fantastic week and I'll see you next time.
