"Melissa’s behavior reminds us of what makes this facility special to the community and surrounding area."

Andy’s Story

On July 28, 2022 my disabled 89-year-old mother had an appointment at the diagnostic center of Memorial Hospital in Diamondhead. When we arrived, the outside weather was clear, however, by the time the appointment was over, the weather had turned into a torrential downpour. The question for us was how were we going to get my fully disabled mom to the car without getting her completely wet?

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during, and after a purchase. This makes it an important part of the value chain of clients. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that of increasing customer experience.

We went to the front of the building to review our options and remembered there was a rear exit not generally open to the public. We went to the front desk and asked for assistance. Melissa Fore said “absolutely”. She guided us through the areas with my mom (in her wheelchair) and got us to this exit doorway. After, she had us pull our car up to the exit, she grabbed her umbrella and escorted us to the car. She was able to keep my mother covered but sacrificed her own health to get us in safely and as dry as possible. The alternative was to run as fast as we could to the car in the lot and for all of us to get wet. In addition, we would have to take a chance on my mother getting a cold with her already fragile immune system. The other option was to ask your employee to take us out the back door where the car could be quickly accessed, where she then covered us with her personal umbrella all the way to the car to minimize the potential for illness in an elderly woman in a wheelchair.

Customer service is the act of supporting and advocating for customers in their discovery, use, optimization, and troubleshooting of a product or service. It’s also the processes and leadership that support the teams making good customer service happen. The objective of customer service is not just to find a quick solution to any one customer problem, it’s personal to every situation.

Melissa chose the latter and we are thankful! Instead of directing us to the main exit, she suggested an alternative approach and sacrificed her own wellness. The result was a better experience for the customer, as well as a personal approach. In a world that does not consider this the norm, your employee made this choice and we are forever grateful.

In a world of complaints, I thought I would share this accolade for you to share with your leadership team and recognize this behavior as an example of what should be the norm. Every patient/customer has a right to seek health care from multiple options, but Melissa’s behavior reminds us of what makes this facility special to the community and surrounding area.