The opening keynote presentation for the 9th National Private Duty Conference was presented by Al Jensen, former Private Duty business owner, and currently working magician and home care consultant.

Al began his presentation with an elaborately prepared and well executed magic trick that the audience enjoyed. He then shared his thoughts and ideas about how to differentiate your Private Duty Home Care company from your competitors.

People buy personal services from a specific company because they want to feel good. Clients expect:

• Safety and security for their loved ones
• Nutritious meals cooked and served in a timely manner
• A clean environment
• Social interaction and emotional support
• Transportation to and from doctors appointments and other errands

Clients ( and family members) want to feel:

• Secure in knowing their loved one is safe
• Confidant their loved one is in the company and supervision of a nice person
• Certain that their loved one is surrounded by people with honesty and integrity
• Happy in knowing that their loved one is treated with dignity and respect
• Hopeful that their loved one can enjoy the best quality of life possible

Al shared examples of the core values he used to lead his Private Duty company, and how we can communicate these values to our staff and caregivers to create client experiences that deliver these feelings.

One of my favorite speakers in home care today is Dexter Braff, CEO and Founder of the Braff Group in Pittsurgh. They are a very effective Mergers & Acquisitions company, and Dexter and his team have great knowlege of how to add value to your home care company.

In this fun, funny, and important presentation, Dexter gave us the seven habits:

1. They are "People Centric"
2. They Focus
3. They Monitor
4. They Communicate
5. They Reward
6. They Sell
7. They Network

Here are some key quotes from Dexter that will help us manage our Private Duty businesses more effectively:

"The most profitable 20% of your customers contribute more than 100% of your profits. The least profitable 20% of your customers generage losses of equal or greater amount." from a Harvard Business Review article.

"You don't manage profits. You manage revenue, expenses, and cash collections. If you do that, you'll have profits."

"Every organization he has worked with that is growing more than 10 to 15% per year has a clearly developed, aggressive sales effort. Companies with a well developed sales staff are worth more than a company that does not."

Tuesday afternoon was devoted to three rounds of concurrent sessions with speakers on a variety of topics. Here are some insights I gained from some of there presentations:

Calculating Your Agency's Value - Don Cummins, Stoneridge Partners, Fort Myers, FL

The value of your company is a multiple of Adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA is Earnings Before Intereest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization.

Adjusted EBITDA (AEBITDA) is EBITDA plus owner's discretionary earning less the replacement salary of the owner ( a subjective number.) He showed that acutal selling prices were in the range of 3.5 to 4.5 AEBITDA, adjusted for a number of risk factors.

Attract the Best Caregivers - Rachel Cummings, Amistead Caregiver Services, Shelburne, VT

Some insights on recruiting:

• Use eye catching employement ads
• Look in out of the way places
• Communicate the culture and philosophy in ads and in person
• Generate internal leads
• - Set up an internal referral system
• - Encourage caregivers to look for prospects

Some insights on retention:

• Orientation and training is meaningful to caregivers
• Promote, give time off, and pay for any job related education
• Regular staff meetings develop a sense of community with peers, which is important
• Staff meetings provide a forum for discussing issues in an open and friendly enviornment
• Promoting from within shows some possibility of advancement
• On going education, training, and primary caregiver responsibilities provide an opportunity for growth
• Growing employees provide a resource for filling future job openings within management
• As an individual business and an industry, we will always struggle with a shortage of caregivers
• Take every opportunity to promote caregiving as a career choice

6 Ways to Increase Revenue from Every Client - Mike Nicholson, LivHome, Los Angeles, CA

1. Differentiate Your Services
2. Strategic Marketing
3. Disciplined Outside Sales
4. Committed Inside Sales
5. Structured Operations
6. Pricing for Profit

Stay tuned for our Final Report tomorrow.

Joins us in Indianapolis in November for a day of learning, listening, and laughing as a group of Private Duty Home Care owners and administrators come together to discuss how to grow their businesses and get ready for the future.

Leading Home Care along with Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care, Illinois Home Care Council, Michigan Home Health Association, The Ohio Council for Home Care, and The National Privated Duty Association are partnering to sponsor the Academy for Private Duty Home Care in Indianapolis on Thursday, November 30, 2006.

As the CEO of a successful Private Duty Home Care company, you're often alone in your decision making. There's no one in your organization who really understands your feelings, frustrations, and concerns.

Based on significant research, the Academy for Private Duty Home Care has been designed as a one day institute expressly for owners, administrators, and CEOs of Private Duty Home Care companies.

This is your opportunity to come together in an intimate, high-impact learning environment to share strategies, ideas, and insights on how to grow your business, multiply the performance of your team members, and increase your income.

Come Join us:

Thursday, November 30, 2007
8:00 - 4:00
Holiday Inn North at the Pyramid
3850 DePaw Ave.
Indianapolis, IN.

For more information, download the brochure, or call IAHHC at 317-575-8751.

Private Duty Today! is published every other Wednesday by Leading Home Care . . . a Tweed Jeffries company. We invite you to pass this newsletter along to your friends and colleagues in Private Duty Home Care by clicking on the link below.

• Publisher - Stephen Tweed, CSP
• Circulation Manager - Diane West
• Editor - Jason Tweed

Permission to Reproduce: Permission is granted to home care companies, home care associations, and home care related publications to reproduce articles from this newsletter as long as appropriate credit is given as follows: "Printed with permission from Private Duty Today! Copyright 2006 Leading Home Care ... To sign up for your FREE Subscription, log on to www.privatedutytoday.com."

You may also sign up for your FREE Subscription to Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report. This bi-weekly electronic newsletter is written for home care company CEOs and senior executives who want to grow their businesses and multiply their performance.

email: jason@leadinghomecare.com

phone: 1-888-668-9333

web: http://www.privatedutytoday.com