Oct 19, 2008 01:58 PM
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(Updated Oct 19, 2008 10:33 PM)
As an MBA in Marketing, I often tend to ponder on how good or bad the customer service of any shop, institution or enterprise is and more often than not, I stand disappointed by the low standards of the same in our country. However, during the past week or so, I have been pleasantly surprised by the exemplary customer service I received from Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital which prompts me to write this piece of testimonial for them.
Yesterday, I had a eyelid chalazeon operation at this hospital located on Cathedral Road in Chennai and I have been interacting with Dr. Agarwal’s over the past 10 days or so regarding this matter. What struck me on the first day I went for my checkup was the professional way in which the whole operation was being conducted. The moment you enter the premises, you are greeted by some friendly staff at the reception counter, followed by which you are placed in a seamless workflow of operations where you meet one consultant after another as you go through the various stages of eye checkup right from basic refractive checks to the more complex retina checkups after dilation. The best part was that nowhere during this entire workflow was I left to wonder where I need to go next or whom do I have to contact next – The staff took full care of me and guided me along the whole process.
Again, yesterday when I went for the operation, there was a whole lot of hand-holding (literally) – I had gone for he surgery alone but never really felt like that thanks to the friendliness of the staff.
Moving ahead from customer responsiveness, the equipments looked pretty state-of-art and the doctors highly skilled and professional. One good part I liked a lot (maybe more due to my marketing background) was the “One” Experience: To elaborate more, it was not any particular doctor or staff who was taking care of me… I was evaluated my 3-4 doctors and operated by another one making me feel that the entire Dr. Agarwal’s Hospital staff was working seamlessly as a team – Even the prescriptions did not have the name of any particular doctor – It was a feeling that the entire hospital as a singe unit was responsible for my treatment. May sound elementary but, trust me, if you read some legacy marketing texts like Kotler, you will learn that this is one basic premise of branding which very few institutions manage to achieve.
I was further delighted later on in the evening when I received a courtesy call from the hospital enquiring about how I was feeling after the operation. They also invited me to visit the doctor in case of any complication. Masterstroke – Must be costing them less than a rupee per patient but manages to touch the heart of the customer and encourages him or her to come again.
Overall, a great experience – In spite of the fact that the charges were pretty high. The same chalazeon surgery I had done at a small eye clinic in Kolkata about a year back had cost me Rs. 1300 while Dr. Agarwal charged me Rs. 3000. Quite a premium you must pay for the service.
But then, given the fact that your eye is one of the most precious assets you posses, you might go ahead with this hospital and be sure that you are in safe hands instead of bothering about low investments when you go to treat such a valuable organ. Furthermore, one thing I liked was the lack of hidden charges. Whatever I had to pay, I paid upfront: The counselor told me the amount I had to pay for the operation. Apart from that and the initial checkup fee, I did not have to spend any extra bucks in the numerous visits I paid to the doctors both in the pre-operation and the post-operation stages (I visited them today and will do so again next week).
Chennai is known for its hospitals – especially the eye segment. I have heard that people from all over the country and even across the world come to get treated at Sankara Netralaya. Well, I have not visited Sankara Netralaya and can’t tell you what are its pros and cons compared to Dr. Agarwal’s but all I can do is highly recommend Dr. Agarwal’s Hospital for all your eye care needs – You won’t be disappointed for sure!
