Conversation - a simple and big idea

Back in March, I wrote about my horrific customer service experience at the oral surgeon. To be fair, I thought I would share a contrasting experience at the dermatologist. Not to give you more personal information than you want, but a month ago I had 5 moles removed from my back (yuck). Two of them turned out to have "bad edges" which apparently means that, if left unchecked, they might later develop into skin cancer. Not good. So I had to go back in and get more of my skin removed to get rid of those nasty cells. If you read my previous post about my wisdom teeth, you understand my squeamishness about medical procedures (truthfully I'm a total weenie).

I went in yesterday to the dermatologist, where she explained that she would be making two incisions to remove the cells and would subsequently stitch them up. Unfortunately, they don't put you to sleep for such a procedure and you have to lie there awake with visions of great chunks of flesh being removed from your back. Ugh.

They get started, and as they do, they begin talking to me. Not about anything much. My kids, my siblings, their kids, their siblings, our shared fear of dentists... Before long, it was all over.
Not really so bad after all.

When I compare the two procedures (wisdom teeth versus back flesh removal), the dermatologist was actually much worse. After all, you're awake for heaven's sake. But my experiences were completely different. The dermatologist talked with me and put me at ease. This was such a simple thing for her. All she had to do was talk. And it made a night and day difference in my customer experience.

How can you take a simple idea, like a conversation, and turn it into something big?