On a recent client site visit to the fabulous city of Detroit, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hit up Shake Shack 😋 (which we only just got here in Oklahoma).

So I’m waiting where the sign says Order Here. No one seems too concerned about taking my order. After what felt like a really long time, someone finally came up to me and said, 

“Are you waiting to order?”

Um… “Yes???”

The employee then pointed to a kiosk on the wall and told me I could order at the kiosk.

 I guess “Order Here” doesn’t really mean order here???

I placed my order, took a number, after which the system would text me to pick up said order when it was ready.

Then, I was asked to leave guilted into a tip (Yes, I realize this is a personal problem, but I have a real fear of some tipless worker spitting in my food). I’m still not sure what the tip was for exactly since I thought a tip was supposed to be for service.

After cleaning my own table, I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out when or how I was ever served???

Order my own food  ✔  
Pick my order up ✔ 
Clear my own table ✔ 

While I’m all for automation and normally a fan of Shake Shack, where is the human connection in this entire experience??

Sadly, some of you are doing the same thing with your referral process and don’t even realize it.

You want referring doctors to send you patients in the way that works best for you but not the way that is best for them.

Example #1 – Hello referring doctor. Please fill out all of this tedious information with your referral because it’s better for our staff that way. (This sends the message that you’re not concerned with their practice or their staff.) 

Example #2 – While we’re always happy to see your patients, we’re too busy to communicate with you about their progress. (This indicates that you want all of their referrals but don’t care enough to let them know how their patient is doing or when they can expect to see their patient back.)

You want more referrals from more referring doctors (the equivalent of the tip at Shake Shack) minus the service.

The practices with the most successful referral network programs??

They understand the value of each patient and take the time to say thank you to referring providers and communicate about their patients’ progress.

They utilize technology to their advantage to streamline processes and improve service. Not to eliminate service all together.

For example, offer an online referral tool or custom phone line for referring doctors.

Or employ a dedicated physician liaison to keep the lines of communication open between practices.

After all, It’s the human touch that makes all the difference.