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Hometown Advantage
A interview with Dr. McAdoo from Costco Wholesale Insights, 2nd quarter, 2012
Hometown Advantage
After 18 years in Tigard, Oregon, Theresa McAdoo, OD, has seen her circle of patients expand. “People ask me how I stay so long in one place, but it’s been a pleasure to see that consistency and be a part of the community,” she says. She’s watched her pediatric patients become adults, and as those families expanded, so has her practice. “It’s been an important part of my professional journey seeing my patients every year and seeing how they have grown up or what’s changed,” she says.
When Dr. McAdoo first associated with Costco almost 20 years ago, the company “was rather young but had an excellent business profile that showed high employee satisfaction,” Dr. McAdoo explains. For two years before her warehouse opened, she worked in another corporate-affiliated setting, but she was eager to affiliate with Costco, believing that the company would be a good professional match. “It has exceeded my expectations.”
Dr. McAdoo has enjoyed a great relationship with the optical manager and his staff in her warehouse over the last two decades. “We talk on a regular basis, and our entire staff supports the optical’s goals. We talk about where we stand every week and have excellent rapport.” Within her practice, each staff member has been with the practice 5-14 years. Dr. McAdoo has affectionately dubbed them the best staff in the world. While Dr. McAdoo takes copious notes about her patients and their careers, families, and hobbies, her office staff can often recall names and details at the drop of a hat.
Dr. McAdoo encourages her staff to interact with patients and Costco members as much as possible to initiate and grow relationships. Dr. McAdoo never wants anyone left unattended, so she encourages staff members to talk to waiting patients if they need assistance. “Our customers need to know that they are important enough that someone will spend some time to help them,” she says. It’s just one way to help foster a personal bond. “By practicing affiliated with Costco, I have had many opportunities and great experiences to serve my community that I don’t think I would have had otherwise.”
