Welcome,

...to this edition of Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report. This special report is for CEOs and senior executives of America's leading home care companies. This report is published every other Wednesday by Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company for our clients, friends, and advocates who want to grow their home care businesses.

Leading Home Care Report is a permission-based newsletter. It is only sent to those individuals who have requested it, or who have given permission for their address to be added to the distribution list. If you have received this report by mistake and would like to be removed from the list, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please go to the bottom of this report for instructions on how to unsubscribe.

We're not doing those wishy washy wish lists this year. We're going for the gusto and getting ready for a year of exciting growth in home care. Never before in the history of our industry have we been positioned for such growth potential.

All of the demographics are still in place... the baby boomers are aging and their parents need home care. Reimbursement is still good, and technology is helping improve productivity. Quality of care is improving, and the promise of Pay 4 Performance is focusing attention on reducing patient hospitalization and emergency room visits.

With all of these factors in place, you can expect a year of exceptional growth.

Are you ready for it?

Here's a checklist of things you can do to grow your business and get ready for the future in 2007:

• Update your sales & marketing plan to make sure you are staying in touch with your key referral sources.
• Enhance your sales training to make sure your reps have the skills to bring in new business.
• Conduct a "messaging session" to update your marketing message.
• Conduct a review of customer service at every point of contact in your agency. Are your team members giving the highest level of service?
• Review your intake process to make sure it is productive, and that your agency is easy to do business with.
• Review your information technology plan and make sure your information systems are up to date.
• Check to make sure your team members are using all of the features of your IS system.
• Review your recruiting and retention plan to make sure you'll have the staff you need to handle a big influx of additional patients.
• Conduct an employee attitude survey to find out how your staff members are feeling about the agency.
• Take a close look at your billing systems and accounts receivable to make sure you're actually getting paid for the care you are providing.

The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time. It's time to get ready for the future... because the future is now.

2007 is shaping up to be a year of exceptional growth as we roll out these new products and services to support you in growing your business. As we conducted our own Strategic Planning session in November, we realized that we support you in growing your business through three specific types of products and services:

Engagements - our speaking, consulting, and coaching where a member of our team comes to your location to provide information and expertise.

Products - our e-manuals, e-tools, teleseminars, audio CDs, and other products that we have created to provide you with information and expertise.

Subscriptions - new for this year, we have introduced one new subscription service... Sales Manager Interactive... where you pay an annual fee to receive a regular flow of information and expertise to grow your home care sales team.

We also recognized that our source of competitive advantage is based on three focused strategies:

1. Product Innovation - We are constantly creating new products and services based on research in the industry. Our research comes from understanding the needs and concerns of home care agency executives like you, and then finding the answers to critical questions. We then turn our research into engagements, products, and subscription services.

2. Relationships - After 25 years in the business of speaking, training, consulting, and coaching in home care, I have developed personal relationships with thousands of leaders in this industry. Many of you have become close personal friends over these years. We have a saying: "All things being equal, people would rather do business with a friend. All things being unequal, people would still rather do business with a friend."

We're honored to have so many long time friends in the home care industry.

3. Product Packaging and Promotion - Over the years, we've learned that in our business one must take an intangible service and turn it into a tangible product. Whether we're talking about a keynote speech, a learning seminar, a planning & coaching process, or an audio CD program, we are always looking for new ways to take intangible ideas and information and turn them into a tangible product that you can understand and see the value of. Then we deliver that information in a package that makes the most sense to you.

We're excited about 2007. We have some exciting new products and services to introduce, and we'll be conducting new research to stay on the leading edge of growing your business.

By becoming a member of Home Care Sales Manager Interactive, your sales manager or marketing director will get:

• A bi-weekly electronic newsletter with new ideas on improving sales & marketing
• Access to a members-only web site with articles, sales tools, and a growing list of resources from industry sales & marketing professionals
• Monthly sales manager teleconferences to share ideas and ask questions of other sales managers
• Complimentary copies of CDs from our Leading Home Care teleseminars
• Downloadable audio files of previous sales manager teleconferences
• Members only discounts on Leading Home Care's latest products
• Preview copies of white papers and research reports on sales & marketing research

If you want your sales manager or marketing director to have regular access to the latest ideas and information on home care business development, click on the link below and have that person become a member of Home Care Sales Manager Interactive.

Click here right now to become a member!

The alternative is a brand new sales coaching process from Leading Home Care. For the very reasonable fee of $795.00, each sales person will receive a copy of the e-manual, "Making the Approach: Advanced Sales Training for Home Care Professionals," a set of three audio CDs on the same topic, and six one-hour personal telephone sales coaching calls with Michael Giudicissi.

Get that new sales rep off to a great start in 2007 by signing her or him up for Michael G.'s Sales Coaching Intensive. Call Diane West at 502-339-0653 to arrange a telephone conference with Michael. He'll take it from there!

You need to find a number of prospective applicants, and then select the ones that best fit the job and are most likely to be successful. For the past six months, Kathy Clater, our recruiting and selection specialist has been searching for a pre-employment selection tool that is validated for home care caregivers, that is reliable and easy to use, and that is affordable.

Well, we've found it. And now you can have your own online assessment tool to select the very best caregivers. Early research in the use of this tool shows that it will help you select more qualified caregivers, and that will result in

• Reduced turnover
• Improved reliability and continuity of care
• Higher client and patient satisfaction
• Reduced stress and frustration for your recruiters and your scheduling coordinators
• Reduced cost of recruiting and more profit on the bottom line.

To learn more about the new Leading Home Care Pre-employment Assessment for Private Duty Caregivers, click on the link below. Then call Kathy Clater at 502-339-0653 to discuss the details.

Learn more about the new Pre-employment Assessment

Stephen is a past-President of the National Speakers Association, a 3500 member international society of experts who speak professionally. He is also the father of a 37 year-old son who is physically disabled and uses the services of home care on a daily basis.

Meet the entire Leading Home Care Team