…reducing the cost of an interaction with a consumer isn’t usually the point. The real win is when a service person does the difficult work of solving problems and the essential work of connecting with people as individuals… every single interaction is an opportunity to do marketing, not a chance to cut costs.

I was reminded of this insight when I read his April 9th article asking Who Answers the Phone? In the article, Seth notes:

The new rules mean that the most valuable marketing event is almost always an inbound phone call.

The day after I read Seth’s article, my wife picked our baby’s pediatrician based—in part—on the conversation she had with the lady who answered the phone at the doctor’s office.

We had expected to have another month to visit doctors’ offices, interview candidates, and mull over our decision, but my wife’s preeclampsia forced us to abbreviate our process. While in the hospital, my wife sought after and received several recommendations, including asking the nurses about the pediatricians they use for their children. Those recommendations became our short list for picking a doctor. My wife made her time in the hospital extra-productive by calling the doctors on the list. She was so impressed by the lady who answered the phone for the first doctor that my wife decided she didn’t need to search any farther—we had our pediatrician!

As luck would have it, while we were in the elevator on our way to visit our baby yesterday we bumped into the doctor my wife selected. We stole a few minutes of his time to introduce ourselves and talk to him about our child. He impressed us both with his personality, composure, willingness to spend some time talking to us despite clearly being on his way somewhere else, and by his asking all the right questions about our baby’s progress.

My wife took the opportunity to tell him that it was the excellent conversation she’d had with one of his office staff that made picking his practice an easy choice. He was grateful for that feedback, and we were grateful for the opportunity to speak with him.

The real win is when a service person does the difficult work of solving problems and the essential work of connecting with people as individuals.

Perfectly said.

For me, the abstract became concrete for me only today. It happened during a conversation with my wife while we were slashing everything except the core essentials off of our “getting ready for baby” list. This is it. This is the real thing. In a month I’ll be a father.

The OB/GYN sent my wife to the labor and delivery rooms at Prentice Women’s Hospital for a suite of tests and monitoring. I left work and met her at the hospital. The initial tests look good and an ultrasound confirms that the baby is doing fine. We are waiting on blood test results for additional insights. If the test results are good, she will get to go home tonight. If not, she will have to stay the night for additional observation.

The emotional roller coaster of today’s events has finally caught up with my wife and she is now sleeping in the hospital bed. She looks like an angel. The only noise in the room is the rhythmic beat of the baby’s heart playing on speakers through the monitoring equipment. It reminds me of being on Amtrack as a child or returning home from college when I would rest my head against the side of the car and listen to the regular “chugga-chugga-chugga” sound of the train as it moved over the tracks.