A good friend of mine here in Houston recently underwent hip replacement surgery. He’s now recovering at home and receiving both physical and occupational therapy. For a while, both therapies took place on the same day of the week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

My friend is comfortable with this schedule as it allows for a day of recovery between therapy sessions. He also has doctor appointments during the week as well. A few days ago, the occupational therapist advised my friend that they would have to perform therapy on Tuesday and Thursday.

After communicating his reservations with this schedule to the occupational therapy provider, my friend was told – “You have to be more considerate sir!”This scenario brings a couple of questions to mind – Who’s the patient here? Where’s the empathy for the patient’s situation? I understand that my friend’s request for a day of rest between therapies may create internal issues for the therapy provider. Still, patient comfort and satisfaction should be the primary focus.

If the therapy provider placed himself in my friend’s shoes, perhaps more consideration would be shown for my friend’s situation. It’s important to remember that all situations are different.

Is it possible to customize your products or services to meet the needs of your customer? Perhaps the “team” mentality could assist with this issue whereas the doctor and therapy providers could meet with the patient to develop a therapy schedule that addresses the patient’s recovery requirements and patient concerns – in this case, a day of rest between therapy sessions.

Take a look at your customers’ requests to identify possible customization opportunities. Customization leads to happy and more often than not loyal customers. Remember, you the service provider should be vigilant about meeting the needs of your customer.