Customer service lessons from the London Underground ...
While constantly being reminded to "mind the gap," it occured to me there's some customer service lessons to be learned from the London Underground. Especially for us in health care.
Lesson No. 1: Keep talking.
OK, the Brits seem to love to talk — and often use more words than necessary. But beyond "mind the gap," the incessant announcements are quite helpful.
There are updates on congestion and delays to help us better plan our routes.
There are reminders about weekend track work that will impact some lines.
There are announcements about upcoming train stations, transfer options and key sites at the stop, such as "Change here for the Circle Line" or "Alight here for Buckingham Palace."
As someone unfamiliar with the Tube, I found these extremely helpful — even though we did miss a stop or two, but more because we were chatting.
Remember, in health care, all of our patients and visitors are unfamiliar with navigating their care — and are often in a very vulnerable and frightened state.
So talk more, not less.
Lesson No. 2: Signage at every turn.
I grew up on Boston's MBTA. One thing the T could improve upon is the ratio of informational and directional signage to paid advertisements.
On every Tube train we took, there were easy-to-read line maps. There wasn't one or two per car, there was one everywhere you looked. Sitting, standing, it didn't matter. Just look up and you can see where you are — and where you're going.
London's ratio of ads to informational signage was just right — and that made the paid ads all the more noticeable.
For our patients and visitors, make sure they can find their way easily. And when someone likes confused, take the time to walk them to where they need to be.
Lesson No. 3: When in doubt, communicate.
The London Underground is relatively efficient. You arrive at a station, the doors open, people disembark and others board (after minding the gap), the doors close and the train departs.
This all takes 30 to 60 seconds.
But when it takes 61 seconds, the staff come on the PA and say something like, "Sorry for the delay. We are experiencing a signal problem and will be underway shortly." Which usually meant less than a minute.
Contrast that with the lack of communication at Heathrow's Terminal 1 and on our US Airways flight back to the states where we endured cumulative delays of more than four hours — delayed gate assignment, delayed departure, delayed landing, delayed arrival gate and many missed connections.
Throughout this process, the airport and airline made very few announcements. And when they did, they had very little information. If they had been totally up-front with us about our delays and our missed connections, everyone would have been happy.
Again, more talk, not less.
All of which gets me to think about how this applies to my world — health care.
Communication and customer service are the chief complaints at most hospitals. It's the wait times. It's the fact we don't always tell patients what to expect or we don't update them enough as to what is actually happening.
A lack of information creates a vacuum. If we don't tell folks what is happening, they will make up their own ideas. And get frustrated. And then get upset. And then tell someone else. And then we have a reputation — and not the good kind.
As we look to improve care and make health care more efficient, let's also make our communication more user-friendly. Let's tell people what they want and need to know — when they need to know it.
And there's one more lesson from the Tube — this one a marketing lesson.
Lesson No. 4: Put your logo in great places!
View of House of Parliament from just outside the Westminster station.
Photo shot on iPhone and edited with Photo fx.
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