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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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The power of direct mail is greater today than it has been
in years simply because fewer businesses are using it. Beyond
that, many businesses aren't using it very well. The craft of
marketing by mail could someday be a lost art.
Direct
mail can be used successfully to promote your private duty home care
business. We strongly recommend that you use a relationship
selling campaign as your primary sales engine, however, direct mail can
be used to supplement that engine very effectively.
Here's
why direct mail works:
- Every household and
business has a mailbox
- Costs and return on
investment are easy to track
- Direct mail is less
regulated than e-mail or telemarketing
- Direct mail captures the
attention of consumers and businesses in a unique way
- Direct mail can be used
as a stand-alone campaign or as part of a larger marketing plan
Here's
why direct mail doesn't work:
- The company gives up
after one or two mailings
- The company isn't
creative with their pieces and offerings
- The envelope doesn't get
opened
- The list is outdated or
untargeted
- The company is focused on
sales rather than relationship building
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The Elements of a Great
Direct Mail Campaign
Here are some guidelines to help you get the most out of
direct mail marketing.
The List: Your mailing list is critical to success.
You can rely on purchased mailing lists, but the best strategy is to
build your list over time and maintain it. If you do purchase a
mailing list, get as specific as possible. Focus on specific zip
codes, income brackets, etc. A smaller, highly targeted mailing
list will get you better results.
The Rule of Three: Never send pieces to a list less than
three times. Like other advertising, repetition is
critical. If your budget doesn't warrant contacting a list three
times, divide the list in thirds. Mailing three times to
one-third of your list will yield greater results than contacting the
entire list just once.
The Envelope: Your piece won't work if it's never
opened. There are two strategies that are effective here.
You can either start advertising on the outside of your envelope, using
the envelope as part of your campaign. The other strategy is to
focus on personalization. Hand addressing your envelopes can be
very effective, but time-consuming.
Realistic Expectation: Response rates are typically low
for direct mail, only about 2%. You shouldn't mail out
thousands of pieces and expect 300 calls. Additionally, you
shouldn't mail 50 pieces and expect anything. Calculate exactly
how many calls and closes you need to make the campaign worthwhile,
then track these responses religiously.
Words Sell: Photos and illustrations are interesting,
however copy is what sells. Make sure that at least 50% of your
piece contains copy.
Call to Action: I've said it a hundred times, "Tell
your customers exactly what to do." Tell them to call.
Tell them to visit your website.
The Freebie: Give your customers and referral sources some
incentive to act on the call to action.
Focus on Relationships: The best direct mail campaigns
aren't focused on selling, they are focused on building relationships
with a particular group of people. Mailing several times a
year to referral sources as a way to keep yourself on top can be more
efficient than visiting each one of them. It doesn't replace
direct selling, but it can enhance it.
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Direct Mail Marketing with
Home Care Cards
 Greeting cards are a terrific way to build relationships
with referral sources, customers and their families, and even your own
employees. Unfortunately sending a personalized greeting card is
time-consuming, and sending them as part of a major marketing endeavor
would be expensive.
That's
about to change.
I'm
proud to announce our newest product, HomeCareCards.com.
- Imagine
choosing, writing, addressing, sealing and mailing a greeting card
with the speed of sending a single e-mail. If it were that
easy you would probably do it far more often.
- Imagine
sending a thank you gift to a referral source with the same ease.
- Imagine
sending hundreds of greeting cards to physicians offices or other
referral sources with a single click.
We've created an affiliation with SendOutCards and
customized the system to meet the needs of certified home health care
agencies and private duty home care companies.
I encourage you to check out our website at www.homecarecards.com and
give Jason Tweed a call at 1-888-668-9333 if you have any questions.
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Private
Care Association Annual Conference
The Private Care Association has prided itself over the
last 30 years in being the only national association representing and
providing for the needs of the private duty, in-home care referral
industry. This year is no exception and we have invested more than
ever in making this year's conference a must-attend for everyone who is
either operating or considering the caregiver registry model.
Where: Madison Hotel in Washington, DC.
When: September 23-26, 2008
PCA Members can register for the conference at the low rate of $297
each for the first two attendees and only $197 for each additional
attendee from the same company. Special opportunities are also
available for non-PCA members.
Register today by calling 850-222-6000
to register over the phone or by registering on-line.
Get more information and
download the conference brochure.
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Loss Control and Unobserved
Client Falls
By David Dickie of The Solutions Group
Unobserved
client falls present a bit of a conundrum for the non-medical home care
agency concerned with loss control and customer service. Should
documentation be encouraged given that it can be turned against you in
a lawsuit? If we document, how do we proceed so that information
is not used against us in the future?
The
Solutions Group recommends always to document, but in clear language
and not from a first person point of view. In other words, the
caregiver has to be crystal clear that she did not eyewitness the fall.
For
instance an incident note might look like this:
When
I arrived this morning, Mr. Jones told me that he fell last night while
going to the bathroom. He was here alone and said it took him a
little while to get up, but he is fine. He insists he is
fine. He showed me his elbow (where he hit), and when I
encouraged him to have his doctor check it out, he insisted that he did
not need a doctor. This morning at 9:35 a.m., I called his
daughter, Jane Smith at XXX-XXX-XXXX and informed her that her
father fell and refused to go to the doctor. She said (to call
the doctor) (she will take care of it) (he is fine if he says he is
fine.) [Document
the family member's instruction accurately and completely.]
We
are in favor of:
- Documenting as suggested
above
- Suggesting the client go
to the doctor or emergency room
- Telling the family member
and WRITING IT DOWN that the family member was informed.--include
phone number and name of person contacted
- Taking direction from the
family member
- Using this information to
create an agency protocol to train from and use in such an event
Keeping
your focus on customer service will reduce your likelihood of a
lawsuit, however if one does present itself, you'll have appropriate
documentation.
For
questions on this and other risk/loss management issues contact The Solutions Group.
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