A couple of weeks ago I got to see the new face of medicine in action. I was having some weird chest pains and thought I'd try to get in to see the doctor. My doc, Eric Zacherias, is quit progressive. We communicate most of the time via email.
Well, I emailed Eric and he responded in a matter of minutes and suggested that I come in that afternoon to check things out. He asked if I could call his front desk to let them know I'd be dropping by. I called his receptionist and, as expected, I had to wait for twenty minutes on hold to talk to someone. When I did talk to someone they said Eric was booked for a week.
I promptly emailed Eric back. He suggested that I stop by after work. At 5:15 I stopped by his office, emailing him that I arrived. He had his nurse in front to meet me and usher me back to a room where Eric was ready to go. After a nice chat and a 15 minute evaluation I was declared good to go.
Eric represents the future medicine. The ability to see patients as customers and to have a personal relationship with them with no walls in the way.
The receptionist, however, represents the past. It doesn't matter if you're in retail, technology or medicine customers want to have a direct relationship with real people. Walls just get in the way of getting things done.
At it's core, the economic crisis was brought on by the power of people to make direct connections, disintermediating, layers inside companies and even companies themselves, making them irrelevant.
The best way thrive in these times is to cut out the layers. Not only will you save money but you'll also have happier customers.
