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Private Duty Today
Welcome to Private Duty Today,
the bi-weekly electronic newsletter for Private Duty Home Care Leaders
from Leading Home Care ...a Tweed Jeffries company. In this issue, we
bring you ideas, information, and insights to help you grow your Private
Duty Home Care business.
Private Duty Today is a permission-based
newsletter. It is only sent to our recent customers and those individuals
who have requested it, or who have given permission for their address to
be included on our list of subscribers.
I'm Jason Tweed, Director of Business Development for
Leading Home Care, and Editor of Private
Duty Today.
Private Duty Today is published every
other Wednesday, and currently goes to over 6000 subscribers.
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Over the last three issues we've been discussing your
limiting factors, the elements of a successful business that slows or
prevent growth.
In our most recent issue we debunk some of the myths about promoting
your company in the marketplace. Many successful companies
experience a plateau in client revenue, and blame it on outside forces.
What we know is that this plateau is the natural course, even among
successful companies.
When to Stimulate Your Private Duty Client Revenue
You're saying "Okay, but how do I fix it?"
The good news is there are lots of ways to fix problems in the
Promotion Pillar. The bad news is, you have to keep doing them
over and over again. Improving your marketing is a process more
than an event. You will experience periods of growth and plateau
frequently throughout the history of your company. The key is to
track your growth curve and make adjustments early when you start to
see flattening revenues.
I'm going to borrow the term "stimulus package" from the
Republicans. Here's how to identify when to stimulate your
marketing, and some ideas about how to do it.
First... let's take a look at this graph. For the sake of this
illustration we will assume that your overall revenue is directly tied
to total clients. This isn't always the case.
Let's assume your marketing engine generates 10 new clients per
quarter. Additionally, 20% of your clients from last quarter will
disappear through natural attrition. (These numbers are for
illustration purposes, not based on actual benchmarks.)
Your client base will continue to grow until the natural attrition
balances growth. As this curve starts to flatten, you need to
implement a stimulus package. In this graph you can see two
opportunities for stimulus, each time increasing new clients.
After approximately 10 years, the graph indicates it's probably time
for another stimulus.
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Five Ways to Stimulate Your
Client Revenue
Your goal is to dramatically increase client revenue and
jumpstart your business.
First,
a word of warning: These five techniques only work with successful
companies. If your revenues are solid, and you're profitable,
these five techniques could be for you. Also, they aren't for the
faint of heart... all five require substantial investment of time
and/or money. These techniques are for the entrepreneurs among
you!
If revenue has decreased, or if you aren't profitable, look at other
areas to boost your business. These stimulus packages should be
seen as a way to grow your business by reinvesting profits.
Increase Advertising Budgets -- If you rely on advertising to
generate most of your new clients, you may be able to boost client
revenues by boosting advertising or trying something new. The
critical factor with advertising is Return on Investment.
Tracking advertising ROI is essential.
Add New Salespeople -- Most small private duty firms have one
solid salesperson in the field. Recruiting and training a new
salesperson can be one of the most effective ways to dramatically
increase new clientele. This strategy can be expensive, so focus
on building a sales process and sales team.
Expand Geographically -- Organic growth can be achieved by expanding
service areas. Start offering services in a neighboring county or
community. Carefully identify new markets that are
underserved. Remember that you'll be the new kid in town, and
it's always tougher to create reputation than to build on an old reputation.
When expanding organically, take care not to spread yourself too thin.
Merger and Acquisition -- One of the fastest ways to capture new
clients is to buy them. Purchase a competitor in your market, or
purchase an established company in a neighboring market.
Increase Sales per Client -- Perhaps the least expensive, and
possibly most effective way to increase revenues is to increase sales
dollars per client. Raising rates or encouraging clients to
purchase more units of service are two ways to achieve this. You
can also add new product lines. While it's always easier to sell
to a current customer than to capture a new customer, this is a
short-term solution. Use these strategies as a way of funding new
marketing strategies, not replacing marketing efforts.
Our firm can help identify the best ways to dramatically increase
client revenues.
When you're ready to take your $2 million company to $5 million, give
us a call.
For more information contact Julie Raque at 1-888-668-9333 and ask her
for a "Private Duty CEO Consulting and Coaching" evaluation
with Stephen Tweed.
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Generations® Home Care
Management Software
 Yesterday I spoke with Lisa
Ferden. She and her husband, Lance, founded Integrated Database
Systems, makers of the Generations® home care management software.
PDT: Lisa, what makes Generations more than basic
scheduling software?
Ferden: I would have to
say Generations is more of a management system which encompasses all
aspects of providing home care - including scheduling. There are
many other robust components to the program including Client intake,
authorizations and Care Plans to Caregiver management, Skills and
Credentials. The reporting is a major aspect to Generations along
with a built in report writer suitable for larger agencies with unique
reporting needs. Scheduling, though, remains an important piece
of the puzzle.
PDT: Can you tell me some of the key features in
Generations?
Ferden: Certainly the
Scheduling component is a valuable tool with built in alerts for double
bookings, and open shifts. The Shift Search in Generations allows
agencies to quickly fill shifts and place their staff on assignments
which are best suited for their skill set. The mapping interface
with Microsoft MapPoint® plots available caregivers on a map and finds
caregivers within a specified proximity to a client's home. This
allows you to schedule the nearest caregiver for each job and calculate
the mileage incurred if that happens to be a reimbursable expense. The
QuickBooks® interface is also very helpful for automated billing and
payroll.
PDT: How do you see technology changing the way
private duty agencies offer their service?
Ferden: First, telephony - it's
already being used in many agencies across the country and the benefits
are very clear. From both a marketing and management perspective,
telephony gives agencies a clear advantage. No longer do they
have to wait on timesheets to arrive to do their billing and payroll
and even more importantly, no shows are a thing of the past since
Generations sends alerts via text message and email to on-call staff
allowing them to send in a backup caregiver quickly. The cost for
telephony is minimal and the return is huge. I predict telephony
to become an industry standard within 5 years. Timesheets
will become obsolete and caregivers will be held accountable for their
very important duties.
Secondly, as more and more people come to understand the
importance of an enterprise software system, you'll see a balance
between a comprehensive product with an easy 'usability' that
non-techies can quickly grasp and appreciate. And the end-users
will begin to understand the importance of the service a software
company provides - from software development and updates to training
and peer to peer support. We are there to support our clients and
take great pride in contributing to their success.
I'd like to thank IDB Systems for sponsoring this issue of
Private Duty Today. To learn more about Generations
software, visit the Generations Homecare System
sponsored page on our website.
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Private Duty Insider, inside
the June issue
The June issue of Stephen Tweed's Private Duty
Insider will be arriving in mail boxes next week
Subsrcibers will read about:
- The 2008
Caregiver Recuiting Survey Results
- Implementing
Your Marketing Plan
- Developing
an Exit Strategy
- Creating
Great Speeches
- Innovative
Brochures
If
you aren't yet a subscriber you can still get the June issue by
subscribing before June 1st to Stephen Tweed's Private Duty
Insider by calling Decision Health at 1-877-602-3835.
Tell them you saw them in Private Duty Today!
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Join Stephen Tweed in
Maryland
What's the best way to market your Private Duty Home Care
business? How can you find the caregivers you need to grow your
business? How can you increase your income and keep more of what
you make?
When: June 4, 2008
Where: Columbia, Maryland
The
Academy for Private Duty Home Care
presented
by the
Maryland
National Capital Homecare Association
This one day program will change your perception about
growing your home care now and in the future.
Learn to :
- Focus your
sales and marketing efforts
- Create action
plans for immediate growth
- Avoid common
mistakes companies make when faced with competition
- Develop your
personal Private Duty Scorecard
and
much more...
A
full day of learning for CEO's, owners, sales and marketing directors
and other senior staff for only $259. (MNCHA members get a $50
discount.)
Register for The Academy,
or get more information.
Can't attend??
Call your state home care association and ask them to call
Julie at 502-339-0653 and sponsor an Academy in your state.
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