I want you to meet the “K” brothers. My first attempt at finding a Podiatrist was a bust. My appointment was in the early a.m. My afternoon patients always complained about how nasty my front desk personnel were. While I didn’t condone it, I understood why they might be short with afternoon patients. By noon, enough patients had complained about paperwork, waiting to see me, having to pay their bill, their insurance carrier and a hundred other things that my staff, clocked in at 7:30 and were pleasant caring individuals had morphed into professional hit men and women.
Anyway, the first doc’s staff were cold, uncaring, and definitely not helpful. As it turned out, they were mirror images of their boss, the podiatrist. He entered the room without knocking, quickly introduced himself and asked why I was in his office. Before I could complete two sentences, he interrupted me, taking control of the conversation. He assumed I wanted my nails cut, proceeded to cut them, then stood up and headed for the door. I was having pain in my left great toe and I had to raise my voice to get his attention. A quick exam, a short explanation and he was gone. His nurse put my shoe on, took me to the desk, made an appointment for a 3 month follow up and out the door I went. I never went back.
Luckily, I found the “K” brothers. I will refer to the brothers frequently in this book. Even though I was a last minute, appointment on a Friday afternoon, I was treated as if I was an old friend. There was a knock on the exam room door and in walked a smiling, welcoming doc. Dr. “K” asked me why I was there, listened to my complaint (I broke my toe when I fell), DID NOT INTERUPT, and then reviewed my physical exam and x-ray. He reviewed my options, TOLD ME WHAT HE WOULD DO IF IT WAS HIS TOE, gave me a flat bottom shoe, made sure I understood the treatment options, then sent me home.
I instantly liked and trusted him. His smile was genuine and infectious. He was lighthearted, professional, and closed with a joke. You would think he had been reading my blog. I had met his brother once before. I wondered if they were twins. In one visit, the brothers had clearly developed a rapport with me and my wife that usually takes multiple visits to develop.
These docs are naturals. My son, Jeremy, is a natural. He can walk into any room and immediately make friends, establishing “rapport” easily. He never studied “rapport”; it just came naturally. If, while reading this book, you can learn how to instantly establish rapport, I will have accomplished my goal. So, let’s look at some other docs and see if we can figure out how to establish and nourish rapport and what traits prevent the creation of a relationship based on rapport.
Here’s today’s joke:
I was at a football game. Sold out stadium, but the guy next to me had an empty seat next to himself…
…As the game wore on, I asked him “Who’s seat is that?” He looked at me sadly and said “That was my wife’s seat but she passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I replied. “You don’t have any other family that might want to come to the game with you?” He shook his head and said “Nah… they’re all at the funeral”
