One of the core philosophies at Integrated Loyalty Systems is Human – Business – Human (HBH). It’s a simple process and easy to remember. Here’s how it works:
• Begin every patient and employee interaction with something human – such as a friendly greeting and smile.
• Move to the clinical or business tasks at hand.
• End the interaction with another human element.
Think about the times when you’ve been waiting in line and you suddenly hear, “Next!” and it’s straight to business. Wouldn’t it feel nicer if they said something like, “Hi, who’s next, please? Hello Mrs. Smith, welcome to the Chicago Hilton. Is this your first visit to the Windy City?”
When it comes to healthcare, the more we “enter on the human” and talk with patients about the non-medical aspects of their lives, the higher the patient satisfaction ratings we earn.
People crave personal attention. Start with their name!
When we conduct our “mystery shopper” analysis in hospitals, the very first place the ‘human’ tends to get lost is when we call the hospital operator, who usually answers by just stating the name of the hospital. No good morning. No hello. No offer to help.
A very simple way to open with the human is to say “Good Morning! Thank you for choosing University Hospital, my name is Betty, how many I help you?” And before transferring the call, the operator can say, “My pleasure to connect you” — ending on the human.
When connecting with your team, you can do the same thing, starting your message with something like “Happy Monday everyone!” or “Great job on the last project.”
After conducting business, you can end on the human with something like, “Thanks for coming in today, and have fun on your trip to Florida this weekend!” This shows that you acknowledge their life outside of the business and were listening during your conversation.
In today’s healthcare, there really is value to this humanistic approach. When we create warm welcomes, we build a place where people feel cared for. When we exit on the human, we create fond farewells, where people feel valued and are more likely to return.
Think of HBH as bookends to every conversation, including emails and phone calls. It’s a simple way to add personal connection to every single patient and employee interaction.
For more lessons about how to Create a Caring Language, click here.
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