We are always looking and talking around the department of examples of customer service that we each personally receive in our everyday lives and how it compares and contrasts to SOE.   Rich “Greeblen” Schmelter, our Customer Support Manager for EverQuest/EverQuest II and EverQuest Online Adventures, had an interesting customer experience at a medical imaging facility recently.

Here is how Rich recounts his experience:

“Recently, I found myself in a situation where my customer expectations were far exceeded, and in a place where you normally don’t think of yourself necessarily as a “customer”.

A couple weeks ago, I had an appointment with a medical imaging facility to get a scan to check up on a recent health issue.  For those unfamiliar with this process, it is where they put you in a big MRI machine and inject a type of dye into your bloodstream though an IV so they can see your circulation better.  It’s serious business and can be an intimidating process, and the fact that it takes place in a clinical environment affects the experience.

When I arrived, I went into the office and was mentally prepared for the same less then desirable experience I had when I’d done this previously at a different location.  I walked into the waiting room and nothing was out of place.  Moderately comfortable plastic chairs, dusty silk plants, white painted walls with health posters and pamphlets placed at strategic locations, magazines on the veneer coffee tables that were months old with the mailing address cut off of their covers, a little TV in the corner playing a video on healthy eating.  Like I said before, “clinical”.  This was essentially every doctor’s office I’d ever been in at any point in my life.

I went up to the counter to check in and was standing behind a customer that was speaking with one the receptionist behind the typical plexi-glass window.  They were speaking in Spanish so I had no idea what they were saying, but after only 2 minutes of waiting, another staff member went to the adjacent window and beckoned me forward.  My mind clicked, “Hmmm, something’s different here. That was pretty quick.” 

She was very polite and attentive and had me filling out the necessary paperwork quickly.  I sat down, filled out the 3 forms, turned them back in, and settled back into the plastic chair facing the double doors I would soon go through, waiting my turn while thumbing through a magazine from November 2007 and listening to the cheery woman on the video explain how to make black bean burgers, which apparently is a very healthy vegetarian meal that’s good for folks with high cholesterol (in case you were wondering).

When my name was called by the receptionist, I got up and walked up to her and she greeted me by name and had me follow her through the double doors.  That’s when everything changed.  I was faced with a truly different environment that took me unexpectedly.  It was kind of akin to the scene in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie where the guests went from the plain hallway into the main candy room with the chocolate river.  Well, not really like that, but the experience of walking from a plain, boring, sterile environment into a completely different, but comforting environment was marked.  The walls were no longer white, they were a soothing mocha color, the lighting was soft, but bright enough to see.  The receptionist stood in front of me and gave me her full attention while she explained the order of events for my appointment.  She even asked me if I had to use the restroom and showed me where it was if I needed to use it while I was there.

We walked to the left down the hallway and through a door in a glass wall that separated the entry hallway with the double doors from another waiting area.  To the immediate left was the changing area where you put on those silly hospital gowns that wrap all the way around (thank goodness no open back gown!).  To my surprise, the waiting area in this part of the office had very nice big couch and a couple of lazy boy recliner style chairs.  On the end tables, there were scented candles and one of those little waterfall things making bubbling noises.  There was even soft, soothing music coming from somewhere.  Someone clearly had gone to a great amount of trouble to make this area as comforting as possible. 

I changed into the gown and when I came out, the receptionist was waiting for me.  I noticed there was a metal detector wand hanging on the wall and joked with a chuckle “So are you going to check me for weapons or something?”  Unfazed, she replied that they used the metal detector to check for objects that had to be removed before MRIs and that senior citizen women who have had their hair done recently often have numerous tiny bobby pins that are tucked here and there that you can’t see to remove.  Her reply was more descriptive then that but I was surprised at the detail she went into when most people would have replied to my lame joke with a simple “no”.

I went into the waiting area and sat on the couch.  I noticed that the temperature in this area had also been adjusted so that people waiting would not get cold.  Mounted on the wall across from the seating area were pictures of the different types imaging they do at the facility.  They were presented in a way which both highlighted their scientific purpose but also displayed them in an artistic fashion.  While I waited, I looked at these fascinating images until a nurse came to get me for my IV.  This actually turned out to be the staff member that checked me in earlier.

She led me into another room back up the hall and she had me sit down while she prepared to start my IV.  This area had all the regular equipment you see in a doctor’s office, but it was similarly decorated and lighted as the area I’d just been in and was very comfortable.  The nurse was also very attentive (more so then usual) and we had a little conversation while she prepped me for my scan.

Then it was back to the waiting room for a few moments before the technician came to lead me back into the area where the scan would take place.  He introduced himself and shook my hand and then we walked down the hall further to the scanning area.  As we left, I heard the beeping tones of the metal detector wand and looked over my shoulder to see the receptionist scanning an elderly woman’s hair hunting for tiny bobby pins.

When we arrived in the room at the end of the hall, I laid down on the table that moves through the machine and listened while the technician explained the process of the scan and the nurse hooked up my IV to the machine that injects the dye.  Within about 10 min, the scan was complete and the nurse came in and took the IV out and I went back to change into my regular clothes.  As I left, the receptionist met me at the double doors and answered a couple questions I had before handing me a little bag and saying goodbye.  My immediate thought was “Who gives out a schwag bag at a doctor’s office?”  Then, it was back through the double doors and into the “real” world again. 

Throughout the whole experience I had at this facility, there were two main things that stood out in my mind.  First was the focus and attention to detail that every single person that I encountered had.  When I was with them, they were 100% focused on me and making sure I was being taken care of (I also witnessed this when they were with other people).  Second, was the effort they put into creating an environment that was welcoming and comforting to their customers.  I’m certain that this environment also positively affected each employee at that facility as well, adding to the level of service they were inclined to give to everyone that came in to their office. 

While I hope that I was able to describe my experience well enough to impart the feeling of customer satisfaction that I had, rest assured that when I left the facility and drove back to work, I was still in amazement at everything I had witnessed and had definitely felt that my customer expectations had been exceeded. ”

Attention to detail, making each person feel important, and exceeding customer expectations are the cornerstones of the support that we are striving for at SOE.  This is a great example of how it can be done in a place where you would least expect it.

Brad “Mutato” Wilcox
Executive Director of Global Customer Service