Watch That Attitude

I get many calls from HomeCare magazine readers sharing ideas or incidents that have affected their HME companies.

One, which I have heard more than once, is about the “quiet customer” who appears to have disappeared. One provider told me he was not aware that he had lost a good client until they saw each other at Sunday services.

I will sum up the problem in the following fashion: A customer who is loud and has no hesitation about shouting at you that something was not to his or her pleasure can be calmed down and satisfied. The old adage “the squeaking wheel gets the oil” is true.

But the quiet customer, who has for any reason felt slighted, may simply disappear. The “nice” client who waits patiently for service or calmly tells you about his or her problem may find that you put that problem on a back burner.

Although this customer may feel that tomorrow never comes, he never raises his voice, never nags and never makes a scene — however, this is the customer who also never returns. How Do You Manage Your Time? Other things I hear about are ideas for the future. “We are planning to do this,” or “I am going to do that” are repeated in my frequent conversations with providers.

But that is too often followed by “when I find the time” or “I am so bogged down.”

Ideas come and go, so when you have one, stop and write it down. Once you have recorded it, prepare a brief business plan for the idea, and then gather the employees who can make it work.

The more often you do this, the more cooperation you will get from your staff. This is the kind of thing that makes their jobs fun. Then, when they do a good job, reward your employees. This could be a gift certificate, dinner for two at a popular restaurant or maybe even a small pay raise. Several providers who take this approach tell me that the competition among staff members has helped build both volume and profits.

What a nice way this is to build with, isn’t it? About Fear

“Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear.”
— Baruch Spinoza

Lately the calls and messages I receive from readers appear to have a common thread. HME providers are afraid of what might happen to their companies as a consequence of the changes emanating from Washington.

But — and this is key — they all hope that their companies will succeed in spite of these difficulties. To me, “hope” can be described very simply because these providers are prepared to make things happen.

One reader says that he considers “work” a four-letter word. Instead, when he opens the door to his company every day, he is not going to work, he is building a business. With that attitude, he has built a very large business indeed.

I remember some years ago when this particular provider opened his company and asked me for some advice. He told me about the competition he faced as a new entity but showed no fear of the future. He had high hopes. His hopes became his goals and, each year, he raised them to another level.

This successful provider also told me that his goal for 2007 is to get around any reimbursement changes, and he plans to do that by building new over-the-counter cash sales. His company has added two salespeople to service the community, local businesses, colleges and schools, and as many other places as they can find where people gather.

I applaud all DME/HME providers who are doing something similar in facing the future.

There is nothing to fear. Use these changes in legislation and regulation as a reason to look toward new directions and make your home care business even more profitable.

I spend a great deal of time on the phone with you, and I love every second. Please feel free to call me anytime you have a question, need an idea or wish to share your thoughts.

Sheldon “Shelly” Prial is based in Melbourne, Fla., with Prial Consulting and also serves as the director of government relations for Atlanta-based Graham-Field Health Products. In 1987, he founded the Homecare Providers Co-Op, now part of The VGM Group. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 877/553-5127.