In customer service, it’s not unusual for customers, patients or clients to show their thankfulness through small tokens of their appreciation—usually a thank you note or a small basket of yummy treats, maybe even an edible arrangement if you did a super fantastic job. But is someone’s appreciation crossing the line from being thankful to being inappropriate when a gift is expensive? What if the gift is lots of cash? And what if there is something in it for the person being thankful? A colleague recently shared the following story.
Real World Story: “It was a few days before Christmas, and I was checking in my last patient of the day. He was a truck driver who needed to fulfil his employer’s physical screening requirement. He was there with his wife, and both were delightful people. We chitchatted a bit while I checked in the truck driver. We talked about their family and the upcoming holidays. I liked them instantly.
“The physical went well except for the patient’s blood pressure level. It was a bit high.
“Now, in full disclosure, I am a certified x-ray technician and have a full 38 years of medical office experience, which also includes work as a medical assistant and medical office manager. I know how to administer injections, draw blood, apply and remove sutures, administer drug screenings, conduct DOT and employment physicals, as well as the basics of taking vital signs, to name a few procedures that I am experienced with.
“And so I explained to the patient that his blood pressure level was a bit high. I instructed him to see his primary care physician to discuss how best to control his pressure levels before they become a problem. He was grateful and appreciative of the information but became anxious that this may cause him to fail his physical. I told the patient not to worry and simply wait to receive his results. I left the patient in the examining room and told him I’d see him at the reception desk. The truck driver and his wife eventually emerged from the examining room. She continued out to their car and he stayed behind. He asked that I extend my hand out, and he outstretched his fist over my hand. Then he said, ‘I want you take what I have in my hand, but you cannot look at it until after I have driven away, okay?’
“The exchange was surreal and caught me fully unaware. The truck driver smooshed something into my hand and waited for me to close my hand. Then he said, ‘Again, please don’t look until I have driven away.’ I agreed, and he walked out into the parking lot. I started to feel a little embarrassed, thinking that he probably just gave me a small amount of cash. I didn’t wait for the couple to drive away. I looked in my hand immediately and was in shock. I thought that maybe he had given a $10 or $20, but it looked instead like a $100 bill. That is, until I unfolded the bills. The $100 was actually $200 cash!
“I immediately ran outside to hand back the money and just barely glimpsed the man jumping into his car. He heard me calling after him but waved me away through his now opened window. ‘Keep it!’ he yelled back at me. ‘Please, just keep it!’ He then quickly drove away.”
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Consult office policy: When in doubt about how to handle expensive thank you gifts from patients or customers, always refer to your office’s written policies for guidance. If there are rules, note that they may pertain to the solicitation of gifts, not necessarily the acceptance of gifts. Also note that there may be a stated difference between gifts of cash and gifts of merchandise.
- Notify a supervisor: If there are no written policies to guide you, or the policies are vague, then notify your immediate supervisor about having received an expensive thank you gift, along with the details and circumstances surrounding the interaction for which the gift was made. A supervisor can help determine when gifts are out of line, especially expensive cash gifts.
- Use good judgment: If an expensive thank you gift makes you uncomfortable or is against office policy, politely decline the gift while being thankful to the patient or customer for their kind gesture. You want to ensure that there is no perception of impropriety regarding the gift and the service you provided, which can later have repercussions that may cause you problems. You also want to ensure that you don’t feel compromised or obligated to the patient or customer in future interactions.
Remember: In whichever field we work in, we should always strive to deliver exceptional service. And it’s fantastic when we get noticed for our hard work by the people we serve, whether it’s through a thank you card or an edible arrangement. But when it comes to expensive gifts of gratitude, we should always strive toward ensuring that we haven’t created an impression of quid pro quo—especially when the gift giver has much to gain or lose from the service received.
Does your medical practice’s customer service program have written guidelines for how to handle gifts of gratitude by appreciative patients? Sign up for our customer service course today to learn more about how to ensure your team is handling gifts of appreciation appropriately and in line with office policy. It’s a great way to ensure ethical customer service delivery!
Barbara Khozam, Accredited Speaker, CSP®
Customer Service Speaker – Trainer – Author
Phone: 619 572 1117
Email: Barbara@BarbaraKhozam.com
Website: www.BarbaraKhozam.com
