Rapport Is Everything
Rapport Is Everything
A tale of two hospitals.
Last year, my wife spent a month in Lancaster General Hospital followed by a month at Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital. While I’m certainly glad that my wife recovered and is now back at home, the difference between the two hospitals could not have been more striking.
At Lancaster General Hospital, I received a phone call from my wife’s doctors nearly every single night. Each doctor was slightly different, but what I remember most about each one of them was their excellent rapport skills. They took the time to explain what was happening, to update me on my wife’s condition, and to make sure that they answered all of my questions. They all demonstrated an unparalleled level of patience, helpfulness, and compassion.
Even though my wife was in a coma for the first two weeks of her stay, being able to speak with her doctors while I still couldn’t see her made me feel as if I was in the room watching her sleep. They kept me calm throughout a very difficult time and helped me keep a positive perspective.
When my wife left Lancaster General Hospital, I made a point of writing the new CEO a letter thanking him for the excellent treatment my wife received and praising his excellent staff — each of whom went out of their way to accommodate me and keep me in the loop while they cared for my wife.
Unfortunately, when Kim went to Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital, I never once heard from her doctors. I only met her doctor one time — the day she was leaving the hospital for good. I did not receive any updates or reports and most of the staff with whom I came into contact — with a couple of excellent exceptions — were apathetic and, in many cases, rude, disrespectful, and nasty.
It’s hard to believe that both of these hospitals are part of Penn Medicine and yet, have such strikingly different cultures. The point is, you might have competition who do the exact same work as you. The way you treat your customers and the rapport you build with them will make all the difference as to whether or not your customers will want to continue to patronize you or go somewhere else. The more time you spend making your customers feel appreciated and valued, the more customers you’ll continue to have.
"Rapport is the ability to enter someone’s world; to make him feel that you understand him; that you have a strong, common bond." - Tony Robbins
(This excerpt is taken from my seminar entitled The Fine Art of Instant Rapport I encourage you to click here to watch my seminar video click here to watch my seminar video click here to watch my seminar video The Fine Art of Instant Rapport available at Dave Romeo Online University.
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