We are articulating The Mastery Company's core values for the next several weeks. First, you'll read our definition of the core value which is followed by one of Dr. Cooper's internal emails about the core value.
These core values are where we come from. They are what we base our decisions on. These values frame how we relate to our clients, our vendors, and ourselves. They form our culture and shape our relationships and our work with clients. These core values are 'who' we are.
SERVICE
The Mastery Company's core value of service is based on the maxim, "serve those who serve." Our clients are unconditionally committed to serving their patients. They spend hours in continuing education to better their skills and learn new technologies. They authentically care about their patients' health, well-being and lives. They serve their staff by providing the opportunity of employment, professional and personal growth and development, and a job that makes a difference. They serve their communities by providing services that improves the health and well being of the people in their community. They serve their profession by demonstrating the highest ethical and quality standards anywhere on the planet. And their problems are getting bigger. Our job is to deliver the highest level of consulting services that allows our clients to provide the highest level of service to their patients, their staffs, their community and their profession.
ON SERVICE [INTERNAL E-MAIL FROM MARC]
I've been thinking about this a lot. What I believe clearly distinguishes our work in the industry, especially with our dentist-clients, is being in service. Now I don't mean 'being in service' as it is generally spoken. Everyone talks about being in service as meeting or exceeding clients' expectations, anticipating clients' needs, answering their questions before they're asked, and so on. That's only part of it. It's that other part of service that makes us unique. It's that other part of service that we deliver to clients.
This traditional description of service addresses service as a 'do,' an action, a verb of sorts, but there is a significant part of service that's a 'be,' as in 'being' in service. "Being" is what allows great service to emerge.
You see, to really serve our clients, to provide great service, we need to "be" able to "stand in their shoes," the technical term would be "recreate" them.That means we need to authentically appreciate their daily pressures of staff management, patient management, clinical delivery of dentistry, business management, and money management. Then there is their personal life management in the middle of all this. Add to these the external issues; increased competition, unflattering national news articles, the emergence of midlevel providers, an unstable economy, an extremely cautious market, third parties gaining strength, increased cost of business, difficulty recruiting qualified staff. These are issues our clients confront every day, the proverbial "rock and a hard place."
Two things give you the ability to "stand in their shoes" so you can fully "be" in service. First and foremost is 'listening.' You need to put aside your agenda, your to-do list, and your thoughts on what you think they need, and really listen. You need to listen for not only what is said, but what is behind what they said, what is implied in what they said. You need to be able to listen for their heart, not just their head.
Second is the desire to make a difference. "Being" committed to the notion that how you relate to the client can make an impact that is lasting. If you combine really listening with the commitment to making a difference, the conditions for providing unprecedented service will be present.
I believe we provide the best customer service of any practice management consulting company, but it isn't hard to beat mediocre. Even though we're number one, we can do a lot better. Let's increase our focus on customer service.
