I fly a lot. Last year I flew 32 times. This means I took at least 64 separate flights across this nation. It is interesting to watch the people attending to your needs when you fly. The flight attendants, gate access people, even the baggage handlers. Some of these people seem to get it. They understand distinctly and correctly that they are here to take care of us, we are the customers.
Lately, I have had the unpleasant duty of working with some rather unique billing situations for my practices. It seems in every case the billers have reached a point where they are treating their customers poorly. I really don’t understand this. The billers are accepting a check from my clients for supposedly providing a service and yet they seem to mistreat their customers.
In one case, I discovered a billing company that was performing far below par. The practice group was losing $25,000 a month, while paying four percent more than the national rate for the services provided. When we approached the biller about these issues, they threatened the group saying, “We’ve worked together a long time, you wouldn’t want anything to ruin our relationship and jeopardize your income?”
It seems to me that somewhere along the line the difference between “customer” and “provider” became blurry, and now the group has to be indebted to their service provider. Whenever I see this type of relationship I get really scared; I start wondering what is actually taking place and how much the group is really losing.
In summary, I own a business and I have clients. I am very grateful to them every day that they allow me to work for them. They are my customers and I must always find a way to make sure I am providing a good value to them in return for payment.
Ask yourself if you are being treated like a customer. Are you a happy shopper at Nordstrom’s? Or another face in the crowd at Wal-Mart? For further information call me at 517-486-4262.
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