Value Is in the Attention to Detail ◾ 81
◾◾ The meticulous and painstaking thoroughness with which the needs of patients are attended to through what an organization does, says, or how its staff conducts itself ◾◾ The consistency of work quality and compliance with standards, requirements, and expectations ◾◾ A heightened ability to detect, anticipate, or catch inadequacies, mistakes, and/or to address areas and issues that may not even occur to the patient to ask about Every patient encounter is a collection of details. At the heels of every triumph lies an immeasurable layer of details. In the words of Gary Ryan Blair, “Although we measure our lives in years, we live them in days, hours, minutes, and seconds.” Organizations that have mastered the science of ATD embrace a deliberate, even obsessive intolerance for mediocrity or failure, as well as a passion for completeness. By paying ATD, an organization delights, assures, reassures, clarifies, enlightens, and illuminates the many impulses invoked by the service experience. Perhaps the most significant benefits of ATD are that they build trust, customer loyalty, and an army of disciples for an organization’s services. ATD reaffirms patients’ belief in an organization’s commitment to handle not just the seemingly inconsequential, but also the desperately vital. When you have a history of ATD, your most critical patients will passionately defend and forgive your imperfections because they happen so infrequently. When a company demonstrates a history of ATD, the majority of its customers reach the following conclusions: ◾◾ A company that obsesses over the little things must truly care about its customers ◾◾ A company that obsesses over the little things and the seemingly inconsequential must be capable of taking care of the big things ◾◾ To obsess over the little things means that you possess good-quality products and services
Today’s Culture of Distraction Distraction is the enemy of ATD. Today’s modern devices and digital c onveniences—from the web and social media to smartphones and
