Have you experienced errors with the Call Routing? Now that our National Advertising is live, it's imperative that calls flow through properly to your office. CKFI tested at least two zip codes from every territory last week. If you are not sure if your office received those test calls, and you have not seen an increase in phone calls to your office in the past week, we encourage you to test.

Simply call (800) 477-3145, enter the zip codes that you own, and confirm that the call ran through to your office. If not, please fill out this form to report any discrepancies. Please limit your testing and reported errors to the zip codes that you own with your respective territory(ies).

Help us connect people looking for local, loving care to YOUR office!

Did you claim an open or unprotected zip code during the initial open registration period? For those who either missed the first round or want to extend the zip codes they have submitted, a second round of submissions for claiming open zip codes starts Friday, September 6th and runs through Friday September 20th at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

If you have questions, contact Kimberly Epple, Sr. Director of Marketing and Advertising at KimberlyEpple@ComfortKeepers.com.

Learn how to login, view, manage and listen to your inbound calls that have been routed from the national advertising. Our call routing partner - CallSource - is offering a training session to show you just that.

During this session, you will learn how to:

• See inbound call activity including call answering percentages and missed calls
• Identify how many revenue related inquiries are coming to your office
• Pinpoint peak call times, providing you useful information for call handling staff planning purposes
• Review and listen to calls to identify training opportunities
• Find out how many calls are missed/received in real time

If you attended the branding and advertising webinars, you are automatically registered for the Call Routing session on September 10 at 2 p.m. EDT. You should have received a confirmation for this event.

If you are not registered for the webinar and are interested in attending, click here.

The success of a party is often times in the preparation. Think of the national advertising campaign for a moment as an invitation to an open house that potentially millions can attend. Is your franchise ready for these invited guests in the form of phone calls? This is your chance to differentiate yourself from the competition and grow your business by answering every phone call with a purpose. Make your guests feel welcomed by doing the following:

• Make a connection and showing empathy to the caller
• Gather information
• Schedule an in home-visit.

Recent mystery shops have shown that maybe not everyone is fully ready for the guests to arrive. In other words, the majority of calls haven't shown empathy or made a connection, gathered enough information or asked for an in-home visit.
 
How do I get ready for these guests? Here are two consistent tips coming from the franchisees:

1. Coach anyone answering the phone to answer with the purpose in mind. Make a connection, gather information, and ask for an in-home visit.
2. Record and listen to your calls. There is no better reality check and coaching tool than listening to real calls.

The bonus to recording your calls is the Search for the "Greatest Call" contest! Send in your best recorded calls from 9-16 to 10-31. The winner of the "Greatest Call" will receive an all-expense paid trip to our Annual Conference in Denver for three; for the Franchisee, the franchisee's significant other and the employee that performed the greatest call. But there's more! The winner and their business coach will be recognized during the awards banquet at the conference. The group will receive a private dining experience with CEO Sarosh Mistry and $1,000 spending cash for each person during their time in Denver.

As part of the brand refresh, all materials currently available on Holmes and ThinkPatent will be updated to reflect the new brand logo, colors, type and photography. Due to the number of materials that will need to be modified, these upgrades will be rolled out in a "phased" approach.

 

The first phase will focus on the most popular materials, based on order history. This phase will include the Private Duty Nursing, Senior Care Overview and 20 Questions To Ask brochures, as well as the pocket folders. Once these materials are finalized, they will available for order through our current print vendor, ThinkPatented (formerly Prime). We anticipate that this will take place by mid-October and a communication will be sent out alerting you when the new pieces are available. After phase one is complete, pieces that have been identified as part of phase two modifications will take place. We anticipate the phased roll out schedule to continue through the next few months. As each phase is completed, a communication will go out explaining what is now available in the new brand look.

 

Many franchisees are already requesting updates to their existing local ads. A communication will be delivered in the next edition of Friday Flash that will outline detailed instructions on when and how to submit requests for any modifications to local ads. Any NEW ad requests can be submitted through the standard process. All new ads from this point forward will be created in the new brand look and feel.

 

Review of Print Vendor Services

 

In an effort to ensure our Franchisee's receive the best service and best pricing when ordering print marketing materials, the NAC has initiated a thorough print vendor review. Working with the marketing department, this process included reviewing approximately 20 printing vendors for the capabilities. From there, 10 were selected to submit a pricing proposal. The top four were then chosen, based on initial pricing and capabilities, and they will be presenting full presentations during the week of September 9th. Our goal is to have the final vendor selected by mid-October. The timing for the transition to the new vendor will then be further detailed and communicated in on-going updates to the franchisees.

 

Get yourself to Dallas, TX on September 17th and 18th for a chance to gain powerful insights from human resource experts. Join Robert Johnson, VP of Human Resources and Leslie Waddell, Manager of Learning and Development for the Human Resources Road Show. Gain insight into difficult human resource issues by attending all of these sessions:

Speaker	Topic
John Harrison Employment Law Attorney	Changing Employment Laws
Tom Welz Accord Mangement	Recruiting and Retention
Steve Million CareerBuilder	Reach Potential Employment Candidates

You will also have the opportunity to meet Robert Johnson, CK Franchising, Inc.'s Vice President of Human Resources. The second day of the roadshow will be practical application of the tools presented and an update from CKFI's Manager of Learning and Development, Leslie Waddell.

For more information, please visit Members > Training. Registration for this road show ends September 8th. Click here to register now! This session is open to owners and any HR employees. Be sure to register each attendee separately and we'll see you in Dallas!

The Phone Skills 101 course has been removed from Silverchair so that we may update and revise it to better serve your franchise. The training course will be revised to ensure the call helps build a relationship with the caller, gathers information from the caller and secures an in-home visit.

We will let you know when the course becomes available again.

Changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) directly affect your franchise. That's why a second informative Mastermind call has been scheduled to discuss the new regulations. The Department of Health and Human Services has released an omnibus rule making changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") regulations related to privacy and security. These changes represent some of the most significant changes to the rule since it was first implemented fifteen years ago. This mega rule seeks to finalize privacy and security regulations, and will affect Comfort Keepers' privacy and security practices. The final rule became effective on March 26, 2013; covered entities and business associates must comply with the rules by September 23, 2013.

Please join Kym Clark, RN, Director of Home Care Services, for an informative Mastermind call on Monday, September 9th at 11:00 AM EDT. You will learn about the HIPAA rule changes, revisions to the HIPAA manual, and new sample forms available to you to adhere to the new regulations.

To join the meeting click here.
Conference Number(s):
Toll Free: (866) 579-8110; Passcode 603200

Did you miss a previous edition of the Friday Flash?
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