Responsiveness

Written By: Chris Enger

The other day I was searching for an item to purchase. It could be found at various stores and was in high demand, so I kept checking the various retailers’ websites or mobile apps. Each retailer had several stores in the area, so I would switch geographic locations to check each individual store’s inventory.

As technology would have it, I was notified by one of the apps I was using that the item was in inventory, and I could purchase it for pickup that day, which I did.

Immediate precision.

It made me think about what that type of transaction looked like 30 years ago.

I would have needed to pick up a phone book and find one store’s phone number. I would then have to dial that number and wait for someone to answer. Once I did get someone on the phone, if they had any sort of database of wares, they could then put me on hold while they checked their computed database.

If they didn’t have a computer, they would put me on hold, get their book out that had hopefully been updated, and then go and look on the shelf to see if it was there. The entire time, I am holding on the phone, waiting for a response. If store A did not have the item, I was on to store B, and the process would begin anew.

Our day is one of instant gratification, of supreme responsiveness. Is it 100% perfect? No, but it is extremely accurate, and the pace at which business is now completed is staggering. Think how you feel if you must wait 30 seconds while a web page is loading.

“RESPONSIVENESS” is not just part of the Med One Way; it is one of its three pillars. When we think about responsiveness, we tend to simply focus on the interactions we as a company have with our customers: a salesperson receives an email from a customer and responds quickly; credit and finance quickly approve sales and provide funding; even a driver makes a lawful change in their schedule to make a delivery.

Responsiveness dictates how we react to all variables in a situation – that lawful schedule change made by a driver to make a delivery, for example. In some states, Med One is limited by law on how long our employees can work before taking a mandatory lunch break. So, if a driver is making a delivery, they must make sure they take their break at the lawful designated time, even if they are only halfway to their destination to provide immediate care for an infant.

Responsiveness is forward planning by the manager in making sure the driver assigned to drop off the needed equipment has had their appropriate breaks so that their drive may go unimpaired.

Responsiveness is also defined by how we as a company adapt. Larry and Brent starting Med One Rental to accommodate the returned lease equipment is an example of how we respond to market forces around us.

Another example of how Med One has changed how we do business to better respond to the needs of rental customers is the creation of the Med One Rental Portal. This portal is used by several hospitals to order rental equipment online.

Those requests come at all hours, day and night. They are quickly responded to, and the rental needs are taken care of. The portal was created not as a response to an immediate, present need but to be ready for a needed response in the future, and it’s now a fine weapon in Med One’s arsenal.

Med One will continue to thrive as we take care of this core principle, that we respond to the needs of our customers, both present and future.