A Story of Customer Service and Toilet Paper
The old adage “The customer is always right” gets thrown around a lot in business but how often does anyone give real credit to the phrase? Well, today made me think about that saying in a whole new light. Maybe it’s not just about who is right when a customer is angry, but rather it’s a reminder that what your customer thinks is important and that listening to them is right.
Working at a clinical research site focused on gastroenterology issues should cause me to be more aware of certain bathroom issues. However, the fact that I do not personally suffer form Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, or any other GI issues leads me to take things in the bathroom for granted. Let’s face it- how often do you really think about your bowel habits, the proximity of a bathroom, or the toilet in a public restroom? I never do. The closest I might come to actually putting thought into my bathroom dash is when my bladder is about to burst. Once seated my thoughts always drift (drift because everyone knows that the longer you “hold it” the longer you spend in the act of peeing!) to the real pros of depend undergarments- no more having to leave the long lines at World’s of Fun right before its your turn to ride, no more wasted time on long road trips! If I had my way everyone would be wearing them!
But honestly- I do not think about bathrooms. But a research patient spending four hours at our facility for a clinical trial definitely does.
Sometime after hour two, and quite a few bathroom trips in, our super sweet, super funny study patient exclaims, “Have you ever considered getting softer toilet paper for your bathroom? I mean, it’s fine for once or twice but GI patients could really use something more geared toward their use and their condition.”
My first thought? I wanted to smack my forehead like they do on cartoons and shriek DUH! How had we not considered that? We treat patients with severe diarrhea, constipation, hemorrhoids, etc. and yet we missed the opportunity to be very selective with our toilet paper???? It seemed so obvious yet it took a patient to point it out.
My second thought? Thank gosh for patients, especially those that feel comfortable enough with their providers (or in this case research coordinators) to bring up concerns, comments, or requests. And, the fact that our patients do feel comfortable enough to request softer toilet paper from our office? Well that’s a testament to the fact that even if we picked bad on toilet paper we did do something right!
We care enough to make our patients comfortable whether they are sharing concerns about their illness or our choice in paper products. And now, thanks to a certain research patient, we also care enough to stock the bathroom with soft, absorbent tissue!
