On October 21, Comfort Keepers^® will help elevate awareness and recognition of the value of family caregivers and at the same time, introduce the concept of "respite care" and what it can mean to preserving the family caregivers' wellbeing and preserving a relationship with the family member.

I have genuinely enjoyed these past two years on the NAC and look forward to the upcoming year. That is not to say these have been easy years - quite the contrary. As a council, we tackled the National Brand Fund vote and implementation, the Franchise Agreement Review Committee, a series of vendor evaluations and subsequent RFP processes, and frankly, a host of other things. We just completed the annual NAC strategy session where the topic was sustainable, profitable GROWTH for franchisees. What I have enjoyed most about my tenure on the NAC is making a difference for the network and knowing that I have somehow had an impact on the growth of Comfort Keepers^®. Being a member of the NAC has also afforded me the opportunity to meet franchisees from all over the U.S. These are some of the smartest people in the network who are doing some very ingenious things to capture growth in their markets, and I feel really privileged to have access to these amazing folks. I am also impressed with the spirit of cooperation within the CKFI members and how dedicated they are to support sustainable, profitable growth for franchisees. Already we are having discussions about aligning to tighter business goals so we are focused on one thing - franchisees' profitable growth.

Are you ready to incorporate the new logo and brand into your marketing? We have created a convenient "one stop shop" to share with you the items currently available. Please visit Members > CK Brand > NEW Branding when looking for materials.

Who doesn't love a good sale? In order to make room for the newly branded apparel and promotional items, we are conducting a clearance sale for a limited time on any remaining apparel and premiums inventory that have the older style logo. Keep in mind, there is no retirement date for these materials. These sale items will be offered at 50% off list price! This is a first come/first serve sale and once inventory is gone, it will not be replenished.
 
This sale starts October 11th and is ONLY available for items with the older logo. You will need a promotion code to get the discount. Use CK50% in the promotion box. It is extremely important that you remember to insert this promotion code during check out. The program does not have the functionality to add it in once you have hit the final sale button.
 
To review sale information and updates to premiums and apparel, please visit CK BRAND > New Brand Components > Apparel and Premiums.

Now in our 2nd year, we are happy to share the holiday outreach program, Comforting Cards™. This program is designed to bridge the generational gap between children and seniors by having local public and private kindergarten classes create holiday cards to be distributed to seniors in the area. It can be adapted to any holiday, including: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Grandparents Day.

A big thank you to Mike Painter; franchisee in Southeast Houston who created the concept. CKFI has created a set of materials to help you plan and implement this program. There is an event guide, letters to the principals and facilities, thank you messages, a press release, and a flyer to distribute throughout your community.

Check out this program on CK Brand > Marketing > Comforting Cards to see how you can get started and make a difference in the life of a senior!

Make your franchise known to Google! Part of the National Advertising initiative includes a FREE Google Places listing for all the local offices. Soon, we will submit our list to Google, and create a Google Place for each location across the country. This is a great way to help your customers find you, and it will help with the overall SEO of your website!
 
To create a new location in their system, an office has to have a unique physical address and phone number. For multi-unit owners that are covering multiple territories from one central office, you'll need to have a different phone number for each of the markets that you serve.

We have put together a listing of all the offices, in the proper format, and have posted it on Members for review. Please take a moment to review your office(s) information on this spreadsheet.

If you wish to change anything on that list, please communicate your requested changes in writing by sending an e-mail to ShaunWorcester@Comfortkeepers.com. Please communicate any necessary updates to Shaun by Thursday, 10/17. We'll be submitting the list on Friday, the 18th.

Congratulations to Neda McGuire of Fredericksburg, Virginia for having the Greatest Call this week. The call which was taken by Tina a member of Neda's staff, demonstrated or contained these elements:

• Excellent job building a relationship
• Gathered information from the caller by asking open-ended questions
• Used many connective phrases that made the call flow very smoothly

And lastly, they got the home visit! Great work!

Keep your submissions coming - we cannot wait to hear your greatest inquiry call! You can submit your call through email at CKFITraining@ComfortKeepers.com.

Don't forget the Grand Prize is a trip to the 2014 Leadership Conference in Denver, CO.

We want to hear from you! What sessions would you like to see at this year's conference? What topics do you want to learn about this year in Denver? Now's your chance to share your suggestions. We want you to have the best conference experience yet, so take a moment and fill out the survey on the sessions you'd like to have presented and we will do our best to offer the most requested topics at this year's conference. Click here to complete the survey.

Did you miss a previous edition of the Friday Flash?
October 4
September 27
September 20
September 13