I recently went to the emergency room here in my hometown. | by Guilherme Sebold | Oct, 2025
I recently went to the emergency room here in my hometown. It was a Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. I woke up feeling ill with symptoms that reminded me a lot of my COVID-19 condition. At my partner’s insistence, I ended up going.
The wait for pre-checkup was approximately 15 minutes. When I finally got in, the doctor sarcastically corrected me by saying, “Lungs don’t hurt,” as I tried to explain my symptoms. I was confused; was she telling me I was mistaken… or insinuating I was lying?
I continued to wait for medical attention until, 45 minutes later, I was called in. The doctor ordered an x-ray, but I had to wait another 20 minutes while the technician returned from the bathroom, and then another 20 minutes after the doctor himself returned.
Finally, he quickly looked at the scan, said my lungs were “excellent,” and handed me a prescription for the same medications I had told him I had taken before leaving home. Until, when I asked about the doctor’s note, he responded curtly, without even looking me in the eye: it would just be a statement of attendance, and I should return to work immediately.
It was an uncomfortable day filled with pain, shortness of breath, and extreme fatigue. But later, with a clearer head, I realized the nuances of what had happened to me: the sarcasm, the irritation, the indifference. They were small attacks, but spread out over two hours, almost imperceptible to outsiders. It was the kind of experience that doesn’t leave a visible scar, but a mark.
Obviously, I never want to go back there again; the experience was horrible, and that’s exactly how you lose a customer. Because it’s the experience throughout the contact with the business that determines the degree of customer loyalty.
However, going in the opposite direction, we see an example of the right path. Following the first chapter of the book Never Lose a Customer Again, the author, Joey, tells us about his experience with a dental crisis and a dentist who successfully navigates all stages of serving her newest client, managing to transform what is normally a horrible experience into an extraordinary one.
All types of businesses can create extraordinary experiences for their customers. If you or your employees have direct contact with customers, then you can create an experience for them that can indeed be the best.
The second chapter of the book Never Lose a Customer Again was quite convincing on this point, narrating a negative moment for Joey and detailing what happened, exposing how a dental crisis turned into a moment of relief for the author.
Joey was living his life peacefully, until one beautiful sunny morning… while eating a very popular sweet in the United States, his tooth breaks and he is forced to find a new dentist, as he had recently moved. Following a friend’s recommendation, he called a dentist who, unbeknownst to him, would provide him with such excellent service that it would be featured in an entire chapter of his future book.
His experience included the initial welcome from the secretary, who reduced the paperwork required to just six minutes of filling out online forms.
Just two hours later, he was seen for his emergency, receiving excellent service from the dentist, and receiving the added bonus of financial guidance to advise him on the payment options that would least impact his budget.
The entire dental procedure consisted of a two-hour wait for the appointment to begin, an hour and a half of care, and a bonus two hours later, when he received an extra call from the secretary, confirming with Joey that he had the anesthetic, thus ensuring that after the anesthetic wore off, he would be covered with a new dose in hand. A memorable experience.
So, as Joey himself stated: “If a dentist can create an extraordinary customer experience and earn their loyalty for life, all companies in every industry in the world can do the same.”
What about you? Do you have a business? How is your focus on customer service? Do you reduce bureaucracy? Do you provide after-sales service?
Negative experiences hurt, and they hurt in a way that goes beyond money; they touch the soul. That’s why positive experiences have the power to catapult customers to the highest level of loyalty.
My bad experience won’t be forgotten anytime soon. But instead of dwelling on it, I prefer to look at the good examples and learn from them.
Want to learn in detail what we can take away from Joey’s story? See you in the next article, when we’ll continue our reading and unravel how to transform the art of this service into concepts applicable to any company. See you there!
Read this text in Portuguese: https://medium.com/@unus.mundi/i-recently-went-to-the-emergency-room-here-in-my-hometown-5c8e10b535b3?source=rss——personal_stories-5
And if you want to buy Joey’s book, here’s the link to buy it on: Amazon
