Walk the Talk

Yesterday I visited with a doctor who shall remain nameless. He was interested in how to take his practice to the next level with networking. But his take on networking was that it would provide a quick fix. His thoughts are more in line with "what's in it for me, now" rather than "how can I develop relationships." It's not his fault, I guess, cause I'm sure he didn't learn about relationship development in med school.

He kept saying how different his practice is from a regular medical practice, and what he stated as the variables did not sound very different to me. Additionally, when I arrived at his office, I entered a rather nicely decorated waiting room. What struck me, though, were a couple handwritten signs posted on the closed window of the reception area.

One said, "Do NOT knock on the window, nor shout hello. Just sign in and we'll get to you soon." H-m-m-m, rather an interesting welcome. No one opened the window for several minutes.

The other sign said, "Absolutely no cell phone usage in the office." I could understand that one because perhaps they do testing that the usage of the phones would disrupt.

What was the extra hit, was a little sign on the sign-in clip board. On a piece of masking tape was a message for all to read, "There are no phones for public usage in this office."

I don't know what you think, but I thought it was all rather unfriendly. I wonder if he changed some of this signage if his practice would grow more easily. Notice I said change the signs, not change the rules.

What is your experience, either good or bad, with the medical offices you have visited?