Are you on a Quest for Excellence? Would you like to know how you can qualify this year? CKFI has now released the new 2014 Quest for Excellence criteria, with changes that offer more franchisees opportunities to qualify based on growth. This year CKFI will invite 24 franchisees and their guests to attend the Quest for Excellence trip. That is five more franchisees plus their guests than in previous years. 

The categories for selection are the Top Five Revenue Generators in the network; the Top 18 Revenue Range Performers, those franchises having the greatest percentage revenue growth year-over-year within six revenue categories (three winners in EACH category); and the Rookie of the Year.

Be sure to read the criteria to learn about the changes and understand what it takes to be in the running for the 2014 incentive trip. We will be sending a list of the Q1 2014 Quest for Excellence contenders in an upcoming Friday Flash, so watch for it in your inbox. 

Right now we are reviewing the options for the 2014 Quest for Excellence trip destination, but rest assured that sunshine, beaches, fun, and relaxation are in store. We will announce the locale very soon, and we will publish second quarter results in July. Keep up the great work!

The National Brand Fund (NBF) committee is dedicated to continually improving the NBF campaign not only in terms of media and advertising but also operationally to help all franchisees benefit and grow. With this in mind, the committee meets weekly to review data and key performance indicators that help them determine the best strategy for optimizing media buys and performance.

The NBF committee has recently completed an analytical review of the website call routing program, and the call data gleaned from the past six months indicate that there is opportunity to improve franchisee call volume if a live person is available to direct callers in their quests for information. To this end, the committee has elected to institute a live-answer pilot program in June to help calls coming in from the website phone numbers get transferred to your franchise locations.

Through this program, website calls that are not directed to franchise locations through the current method will be picked up by a live-answer agent who will assist the caller and connect him or her with the appropriate location. The agent will stay on the line until the call is connected and will introduce the caller by name to the person answering the phone at the franchise location so the transfer will be as seamless and warm as possible. The committee will collect data from this pilot program, which will run for approximately one month, to determine its effectiveness before officially launching the live-answer program.

It is the goal that through this solution, more potential clients will connect with the appropriate franchise locations so that everyone in the system can benefit.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jack Warren, Chairman of the NBF Committee, at JackWarren@ComfortKeepers.com.

CKFI is pleased to announce that due to recent changes in the way we map open territories, some zip codes that were previously only offered as part of entire territories for sale may now be available as open zip codes for purchase. If you are considering expanding your territory through zip code purchases, you may now have more options available to you.

As an added incentive, CKFI offers financing for qualifying franchisees through its zip code purchase program. Below are the purchase program guidelines:

• The purchase price is $300 per 1,000 in population.
• The zip codes must be contiguous with your existing territory or territories.
• The unassigned zip codes must be part of an open area of zip codes that, when viewed collectively, are not sufficient to form a new territory.

The financing details are as follows:

*6% simple interest  

To find out if a zip code you are interested in is available for purchase, or if you have any questions or would like to move forward with zip code purchases, please contact Larry France, Manager of Franchise Development, at LarryFrance@ComfortKeepers.com or (888) 329-1368.

Comfort Keepers' franchisees have numerous business opportunities available as healthcare organizations seek solutions to reduce hospital re-admittance rates, and CKFI has provided many tools to help you in your endeavors. Before you reach out to form strategic relationships with organizations in your area, check out the Sales Tools section of CK Brand.  

You will find the transitions wheel, brochures, plans of care options and much more. To access these tools go to Members > CK Brand > Sales > Sales Tools.

Join us for an engaging MasterMind webinar focused on developing your time management skills. This session will provide you with best practices for planning your day, week, month, and year, as well as tips and techniques for understanding what is a priority and what can wait and why.  

Thursday, June 5, 2014 at 11 a.m. EDT  (10 a.m. CDT, 9 a.m. MTN, 8 a.m. PDT)

Click here to join the MasterMind webinar.

For audio, enter your phone number when prompted after you log into the webinar, or you can dial...   

Phone:                         (800) 591-2259
Participant Code:         886411