What are your partners saying about you?

In the healthcare world partnerships are commonplace. Private groups working within large systems. Large systems working together on out-patient facilities. Etc. Etc. If your organization has such relationships, do you know what your partners are saying about you (for better or for worse)?

A situation I experienced — albeit not healthcare related — recently left me thinking about this.

(Imagine flashback sound effects)

The other night my wife asked me to look at something in the basement bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom I was greeted by gurgling coming from the shower floor, as water and sediment were rising from the drain. I know very little about the intricacies of home plumbing, so after plunging it a few times I called a plumbing service. Not wanting to cash in my 401k to cover the emergency fees that evening, I opted to schedule a visit the next day.

The next day rolls around and the plumber shows up. At this point, the water has slowly drained out of the shower. He runs the sink and flushes the toilet. Sure enough water starts backing up through the shower drain. Rather than “snake” the line his recommendation is to have a different company come out and do camera work — run a cable camera down the drain to scope out any possible issues. “I guess that makes sense,” I think to myself. He then says, “We have a great relationship with another company that does this kind of work. Running a camera will cost about as much as snaking the line.” He added, “I could snake it now, but if the problem is a broken pipe or tree root then it’s not going to make a difference.”

He calls the other company and sets up a time for them to come out. I shell out fifty bucks for him showing up, and he’s out the door.

Day two rolls around and I get a call from the second company. They ask, “So, what exactly did Bob (not his real name) tell you yesterday?” I give them a recap of what’s gone on so far. They say, “Well, we can’t do camera work until we’ve snaked the line to make sure it’s clear. I’ve got someone on their way to your home now to assess the situation.”

At this point numerous expletives are swirling in my head. I don’t want to be rude, so I thank the woman on the phone and wait for the next dude to arrive. He does. I give him a recap of the situation and he immediately lays into the other company. “I don’t know why they would have told you that… we can’t do camera work until the line has been cleared… I keep having to fix these guys’ mistakes… customers are ticked because they aren’t fixing their issues… I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this… ” He blasted them pretty hard — which was interesting since the first plumber thought he had a great relationship with the second group. Then he proceeded to clear out the clogged line quickly and easily.

As the customer, I appreciated the honesty of the second plumber. And being that he came in and fixed the problem with ease and confidence, I put a lot of stock into his words. I paid the first guy to simply stare at the drain. Who do you think I’ll be calling when I need service in the future?

Word of mouth is the most powerful and effective form of marketing. When your partners have nice things to say about you, those words have a huge impact — much more than when those same words come from someone within your organization (AKA: tooting your own horn). But when your partners have bad things to say about you, it’s even more detrimental than bad mouthing from competitors.

Don’t just assume that your partners are saying nice things about you. If the crappy situation (pun intended) I just experienced tells you anything, it’s that you need to know for certain what your partners are saying.