Jim Hancock, earlier this week, wrote about the consequences of how we talk about our competitors. My brother, Dave Wooldridge sent us these thoughts on talking about our customers.

I saw this story and it is obviously not a reflection on all pharmacists, but it does show a small portrait of real life. Where is the compassion here? What company policies or guidelines, if any, were in effect to prevent this type of slanderous posting on a nationwide company database system? What training could have been given to employees to develop a customer oriented attitude before it got to this point?

Here’s an excerpt from the story, Customers Sue Over Walgreens Insults:

Elizabeth Noah couldn’t believe what was attached to the anti-anxiety prescription she picked up last month at Walgreens in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.: internal computer notes from the pharmacy about her!

"It says, ‘She seems shady,’" Noah said. "I just couldn’t believe it. I started crying."

Florida attorney Cathy Lively is suing Walgreens on behalf of Noah and two other women who say the same thing happened to them. They say people at the drugstore chain made disparaging comments about them in computer profiles and then stapled partial printouts to their prescription bags.

"The three women in these cases were all treated for mental health issues," Lively said. The form attached to one of the women’s prescriptions reads "CRAZY!!" and "She’s really a psycho." Another one of Lively’s clients picked up a prescription that referred to her as a b—tch. These nasty notes came from the pharmacy’s internal database, which is shared by more than 5,000 Walgreens nationwide.

"I don’t want to be labeled as shady in a nationwide database," Noah said. Lively doesn’t know why the derogatory notes were attached. She said that although it was too early to ask for specific amounts of money damages, eventually Walgreens would pay. "All three of the clients have suffered humiliation, absolute betrayal of their trust," Lively said.

"Personal or uncomplimentary comments about patients are totally inappropriate," Walgreens told ABC News in a statement. "This should never have occurred. We take patient concerns very seriously … and have launched an investigation."

"It is more than inappropriate," Lively said. "It is an egregious act."

Dave further comments, “I’ve found that others exclusively do business with Walgreens and think the staff is very courteous. However, this article brings up the thought … what if the customer-related actions (not formal policies) of every employer and employees in America, done in the cloak of corporate privacy, were exposed to the light of customer review? Would the unveiling of that behind-the-scenes information foster a greater loyalty or incite a mad rush to the exit doors?”

• Is it alright to malign customers as long as it’s kept in-house?
• If treating customers with the respect you would want to have as a customer causes your company to lose business, do you make that decision to sacrifice profit for service?
• How do you develop a pervasive attitude of customer-centric helpfulness in your company?
• How do you teach/encourage compassion in your company? Is that even a consideration?

You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town. (Luke 12:3, The Message)