When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

- Paulo Coelho, from his book The Alchemist. Perhaps my favorite book of all time. This line always reminds me how important it is to be sure of what you really want – because you might get it.

Ken Robinson is a fantastic presenter and this is him at his best. Re-creating the education model is something I’ve become even more interested in now that my daughter has entered public schools, and I see for myself what works and what doesn’t. Several things are clear:

• The old model of one-size fits all education is broken.
• Education systems use technology at a lackluster, laughable level.
• Teachers are not the problem – the ones I’ve met have, without exception, been motivated, intelligent people who have a deep and sincere desire to give children the very best education possible.
• Unfortunately, the very best education possible is often not all that great (see bullet point 1).

My wife and I spend a considerable amount of time, money, and effort supplementing her school-based learning because she’s capable of so much more than she’s given. This raises a common conversation for us; should we not do that? Should we somehow try to keep her at the prescribed educational level so she won’t be too bored in the classroom? Of course, we recognize how ridiculous a notion that is. I mention it only to point out the absurdity inherent in a system that treats every child the same, and focuses the majority of attention on the children who are struggling to the detriment of the capable, but bored, children.

Everyone should watch this video. If you know anyone on your local school board, send them the link.

(Note: This post is specifically for healthcare collection agencies, but the ideas apply to ANY business)

Agencies serving the healthcare market enjoy a unique marketing advantage: Most of your customers and potential customers know most of your customers and potential customers. The healthcare industry tends to be well organized, and groups such as HFMA, MGMA, and AAHAM allow for frequent conversations between decision makers at healthcare facilities. So when you provide outstanding service, your customers will tell others and you will get more customers.

But that sword cuts both ways; when you provide lousy service, they also talk about that.

The trouble in most agencies is that you’re not giving your customers anything at all to talk about – not good nor bad. You have become a back office commodity. This is not news to you. Discussions about commoditization have been around for as long as I’ve been in the industry. Be assured it remains a serious issue. I have on my desk six brochures from six different agencies. They’re all very well made and professional. And they all have exactly the same message – We’re ethical; We have better technology; We collect more. I bet I could black out the company names and other identifying information and even the people within the organizations represented would not be able to pick out their own brochure!

If you’re a human being, right now you’re thinking, “But Shawn – we ARE different. Our systems ARE better than the competition and we are PROUD of our ethics. We DO collect more and we can prove it.” Fine, I’ll concede all of those points. Here’s the thing – your customer doesn’t really care. Every agency says the same thing, so the customer just tunes it out in the same way pig farmers get used to the smell of pig shit.

The solution is to be different! Stand out from the crowd and give your customer something to talk about. Those qualities mentioned above are great and necessary, but they’re just the baseline. They’re the minimum requirements for playing.

If you want your customers to become your best sales staff, follow these steps. It will not be easy, but the rewards are well worth it:

1. Read Purple Cow by Seth Godin
2. Figure out what makes you different from the competition. If your differentiators mention systems or processes or facilities, start over. Think people, not purchases. What are the unique qualities of your team that would make a customer want to do business with you?
3. Differentiation is not enough. What story do you want your customer to tell about you? What can you do that’s so remarkable, so out of the ordinary, that your customers can’t help but talk about it? Go do that.

Need help? Call me.

I had the pleasure of knocking back a few with my friend, Brian, last night. There is nothing quite like the perspective of a trusted friend together with the mental oiling provided by bourbon to help me see an idea in a new light. As we were talking, I was reminded of this piece by Walker Percy:

Not only should connoisseurs of Bourbon not read this article, neither
should persons preoccupied with the perils of alcoholism, cirrhosis,
esophageal hemorrhage, cancer of the palate, and so forth–all real dangers.
I, too, deplore these afflications. But, as between these evils and the
aesthetic of Bourbon drinking, that is, the use of Bourbon to warm the
heart, to reduce the anomie of the late twentieth century, to cut the cold
phlegm of Wednesday afternoons, I choose the aesthetic. What, after all,
is the use of not having cancer, cirrhosis, and such, if a man comes home
from work every day at five-thirty to the exurbs of Montclair or Memphis
and there is the grass growing and the little family looking not quite at
him but just past the side of his head, and there’s Cronkite on the tube
and the smell of pot roast in the living room, and inside the house and
outside in the pretty exurb has settled the noxious particles and the
sadness of the old dying Western world, and him thinking: ‘Jesus, is this
it? Listening to Cronkite and the grass growing?’

- An excerpt from Bourbon, an essay in Signposts in a Strange Land by Walker Percy, 1975 (full text here).