by Anthony Cirillo

OK, did you read where people's dissatisfaction with hospitals dragged the American Customer Satisfaction Index down by five points? In response to the survey's results, a spokesperson for the American Hospital Association said hospitals have made and continue to make "tremendous improvements" in the quality of care.

I don't know about you, but I completely disagree with the notion that a hospital association--or any association for that matter--can determine whether or not they've made "tremendous improvements" in quality of care. Isn't that something for patients to decide?

Apparently I'm not alone in my thinking.

[More:]

So if quality is about total (and oftentimes, highly personal) experiences, where do we begin in terms of fixing it? First of all, here is where not to begin: Marketing.

On a community forum, a marketing director was lamenting over the stalled efforts of a customer service program his company initiated, which its employees found insulting. The company had contests, created a cartoon spokesperson, and produced flyers with that cartoon character demonstrating good and bad customer service.

Of course, I responded with this; the very fact that this program is coming from marketing sends a signal to employees that it is the "program du jour." Getting staff to buy in starts with involving staff in the process. Experience management is not mystery shoppers or consultants coming in to map the experience; it is fundamentally deeper and about creating context for employees to understand what it is that needs to change and letting them determine how that happens.

Which leads me to where such efforts should always begin: with the customer.

Barbara Glanz, a famous National Speaker Association member, has told the story of Johnny the Bagger to audiences many times. In this story, a young man with Down Syndrome changes the culture of a grocery store by being creative and giving his customers more than they expect. When Johnny finds a way to put his own personal signature of care on every interaction, his inspired action ripples out in unexpected and inspiring ways.

The key to this story is that the manager did not list "five steps you must undertake to make customers feel welcome." Instead, he asked Johnny to find ways to make customers feel welcome, which Johnny took to a personal level, treating customers as he wanted to be treated.

That is the essence of why experience management is failing: Instead of having meaningful interactions that have lasting effects, we create more marketing programs and checklists that seem contrived and cookie cutter. The key is helping employees to understand emotional targets--helping them to understand that customer service is more about treating others as we would want to be treated, as Johnny did.

Instead of defining quality for a customer or patient, allow them to define it for us.

Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC, is president of Fast Forward Consulting, which specializes in patient- and person-centered care and strategic marketing for healthcare facilities.