The Lenbrook Way Demonstrated
One of our residents made my day recently when he said, “It’s clear you really love this community.” We were at one of the informal “Community Chat” meetings we hold weekly with a small group of residents, and he’d seen me pick up a stray piece of paper off the carpet … a simple act that prompted a sincere compliment.
He affirmed my belief that good resident service really is in the little things that we demonstrate each day as much as it is in the big things.
A Culture of Service
To ensure we don’t leave good resident service to chance, we are building a culture of service throughout Lenbrook. This year we’ve introduced and invested a cumulative total of 1,000 hours of training and development for our associates through a program called The Lenbrook Way. This program articulates our culture, expectations and standards for consistent customer service. It spells out specifically how our associates can demonstrate Lenbrook’s culture of service on a daily basis.
But, we’re not just building this program based on what we think service should be. We realize that good customer service is always from the eyes of the customer. Even when we might think we’re providing good customer service, what really counts is how the customer sees and feels about it.
That’s why Lenbrook conducts annual resident satisfaction surveys in addition to quarterly resident information meetings, monthly resident committee meetings and weekly Community Chats — so that we can continually seek and listen to input and feedback from our residents.
Demonstrating Customer Service
While it’s nice to recall the compliment received for picking up litter, I can also recall a time when frustration arose out of a perceived lack of service. A different resident left me a voicemail about an immediate need. I started working towards a solution right away, and had planned to call them back once it was in place. But the resident got concerned that I wasn’t working on it when they didn’t hear back from me quickly.
I had failed to demonstrate that I was responding with a simple call back to them. Our Chaplain, Robbye Jarrell, uses an expression for this responsive behavior. She calls it making a “peace of mind” call. I missed the opportunity to demonstrate responsiveness by placing that call. You can be sure I will be making peace of mind calls in the future.
The Lenbrook Way asks management and associates to demonstrate that they are Competent, Responsive and Caring through their daily actions … simple actions such as saying hello and addressing each resident by their name when we pass in the halls on to more complex actions like how to create a positive outcome when situations don’t go as planned.
One of the hallmarks of our service culture at Lenbrook is our staff knowing our residents names. It’s one the residents enjoy and let us know, as often as possible. It’s a clear demonstration of The Lenbrook Way and one we’re proud to call a part of The Lenbrook Difference. Now if I can only learn how to make eye contact and say hello when I am picking up that stray piece of paper.
Chris Keysor is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lenbrook. His passion for the senior living industry began early in his career as a CPA with KPMG Peat Marwick. Chris progressed in executive responsibilities over the years, working for a senior healthcare provider, healthcare financing organizations and senior living consulting groups. Chris is also a nationally ranked Ironman triathlete, which he says comes in handy raising his two young children with his wife here in Atlanta.