Do you remember this from a few years ago? A bleeding 69 year old passenger wasviolently dragged off a United Airlines flight by security. They oversold the flight and selected him at random to give up his seat and when he refused they removed him by force. United Airlines got it wrong on lots of levels and it was both disturbing and shocking. But I wanted to highlight here in this dispatch the thing the majority of companies get wrong every day. A complete disconnect between what they promise in their marketing and what they actually deliver.

In United’s case their famous slogan is “Fly The Friendly Skies”. Could this example of the experience they actually deliver be any further removed from what they promise in their marketing? This episode makes it crystal clear that the values running through that company are not aligned with the marketing promises the company is making. That is what turns an effective marketing strategy into marketing B.S.

While most businesses don’t go so far as making prime-time news for video footage of physically abusing one of their customers and emotionally traumatising 150 more who witnessed it, a huge percentage of businesses do not deliver what they promiseand they mistreat their customers on a daily basis.

Big companies are usually the worst offenders. Think about the picture BT’s advertising paints versus what actually happens should you need any customer service from them (God-forbid).

But this happens in your practice too if you let it. The way customers and patients are treated does not match your marketing or the vision you have in mind for your practice, and what the experience of visiting your practice should feel like.

The critical point that affects you and your practice is that all your marketing (and remember marketing is everything) has to be perfectly aligned with the experience that you and your team deliver to every patient and client. Anything less than this is aone-way ticket to irritated, frustrated customers, suppressed profits and referrals, and a toxic culture.

The good news is that if you are one of the few who take this seriously and work hard to deliver an experience that is congruent with what you promise you will reap the rewards. People think business is complicated. It isn’t. At it’s core are a few simple principles that you learned as a child. Do what you say you will do. Treat people well. Be nice. I know I give you ground-breaking stuff here :). But it’s the truth. Taking this seriously has a massive impact on your bottom line.