Either Suck or Kick Ass

Otherwise you’re doing a lot of work for nothing.

If you suck, well nobody cares & you didn’t try too hard.  If you kick ass, well people will find out  you rock, become advocates for your brand and you’ll end up a rock star. If you split the difference, you’ll still do a ton of work and won’t realize the benefit to the extent you could.

I’m definitely guilty of falling in between myself at times (something I’m working to change).

I had an experience that really illustrated this to me.

First of all, I had some chest pain. The Mrs. booked a doctor’s appointment and I agreed to go (was a bit freaked out).

So I head to the doctor’s office (one I’d been to many times though it was a while).  When I get there, they’d thought I was another Chris Lee. So they go to look up my record and I’m not in the computer. Uh, ok. They go to look for  a paper chart. Not there either. So I’d been to this doctor multiple times and my wife goes to her, my mother goes to her, both of my sisters go to her and my brother-in-law goes to  her.

So they tell me I can become a new patient of this new doctor or I can fill out a “New Patient Request” for the old doctor. But if I do that, I can’t get in for over a week. Uh, ok…I don’t go to the doctor. The only reason I’m there is that I’m freaked out that I had/could be having some heart trouble.

So I need to get in. I go the path of least resistance and pick the new doctor. Don’t know anything about her.

Fill out the paperwork again. Eventually get in. When she shows up, she actually seems kind of cool – actually concerned. So she starts going through everything with me and orders an EKG.

We do that and she doesn’t like the results so wants me to go to the ER.

So I end up going to the ER. She actually comes over that night to the ER and checks in on me and tells me what’s going on. At the ER, I get another EKG, a chest X-Ray and they start doing bloodwork. She actually checks in on me twice. Decides that there’s something there so they’re going to admit me.

I end up getting admitted, stuck, blah, blah, blah.

The next day she again comes in to see me, twice. Explains everything. Takes time. Shows concern.

So at this point, I’m pretty stoked. I figure I got totally lucky. My mom, wife & sisters aren’t too psyched with the other doctor anyway so it looks like new doc is going to get 6 new patients.

The she drops the ball. The last visit, she says that she’ll call us before we’re discharged and tell us what is going on. (An upfront contract – the concept I’ve come to like which I’d heard of from a colleague who happens to be a Sandler Sales trainer. Setting my expectations…)

Well, eventually after the additional bevy of tests, they tell me I’m getting discharged. They say the doc says follow up with her in a month.

Uh, ok. I’ve been there for 2 days, poked, prodded, stress tested, CAT scanned. And now go home & follow up in a month? We did hear the results of some tests which is cool but I’d just like an official sign off.  Tell me what to do, what not to do. Give me some sort of final recap & send me on my way.

I mention such to the nurse & she tells me I can call the doc & gives me the phone number.

I do call the doc & get her medical assistant eventually & ask her to talk to the doc to get the final instructions. She goes to check with the doc & comes back & says the final instructions are in the discharge orders they wrote for the nurse.

Well, I ask the nurse again about that & she says that’s all they said. That’s all there is. Follow up in a month.

So after my experience with the staff of the original doc which I was supremely bitter about, this new doc does so much and pushes me almost to the point of a total advocate. Going to drop 6 new patients in her lap & likely many more (as I’d Yelp & tweet my rear end off about it) and then stops just short.  What a huge bummer.Now I’m going to call tommorrow & see if I can get my recap but they were so close to making me a raving fan.

My lesson from this is basically commit or don’t commit.  Suck or kick ass. Don’t play in between or you just waste all your effort.

Like Mr. Miyagi says, walk on one side, ok. Walk on other side, ok. Walk in middle, squish, just like grape.

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