Pam Warta-Female Citizen of the Year

Pam Warta, owner of the Comfort Keepers^® franchise in Tracy, California, has just been awarded with a very special recognition!

On Friday, December 14, Tracy Chamber of Commerce President Sofia Valenzuela announced Pam Warta as Female Citizen of the Year for her relentless efforts in making a difference in the community. Pam is among five people named as the Tracy Chamber of Commerce’s annual Community Recognition Award winners, whom which will be recognized during a February 16 gala at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts.

According to the Tracy Chamber of Commerce, the Female Citizen of the Year Award is given out to someone who has continuously demonstrated a leadership role in one or several community organizations and has shown a commitment to serve the well-being of others. This award is for the selfless acts of an individual committed to providing good-will within the city of Tracy and beyond.

In addition to making a difference in her community as a successful in-home care provider, Pam still finds the time to help plan, organize and lead a number of fundraisers and events within the community.

“I do it because I love this community and being a part of something,” Warta said.

The entire network of Comfort Keepers is proud of Pam’s recent accomplishments and wishes her the best of luck in 2013!

Click Here for more on Pam Warta.

Bursting out of everyone’s mailboxes come sparkly snowflakes, prancing deer, jolly elves and silver bells – it’s the holiday season, and everyone wants your money. Though the holidays are a marketer’s heyday, it’s important to remember some cardinal rules for relationship-based marketing that works better than pushy solicitations topped with a santa hat.

Keep it family-focused.
Many Comfort Keepers are intimately involved with their clients’ lives – so much so that they are considered not just a caregiver, but part of the family. While it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, remember that relationships with adult children and their parents end up generating word-of-mouth marketing and referrals. Make a special effort to continue a great level of communication with families of seniors during the holidays, and relieve a little of that end-of-year stress for all.

Give thanks.
If you do send out marketing materials at the end of the year, one of the best reasons is to give thanks to your customers. A real, sincere human sentiment is more motivating than any commercial note or promotion. Cards and letters should be personalized — tell a story, show photos of real people or be in first-person (“I’m so thankful this year for you.” not “The business is thankful for its clients.” A handwritten signature is a must.

Make it a gift of your time or experience.
The holidays are a time to give back to your community, and you can use your expertise in working with seniors to educate others. Maybe someone has a church group who would love to hear your perspective on aging gracefully, or a gym club who wants ideas for senior exercise techniques. Be generous with your time, even during the busy holiday season, when time is a hot commodity.

Recognize individuals.
Your staff can be the most important grassroots marketing tool in your toolbox. Paying attention to their ideas and needs can not only help you keep improving your services, they can spread the word about the great work you do. Make time to ask other franchisees or staff for 2010 ideas — you never know what will come up. Recognize outstanding 2009 employees. Validating their concerns, thanking them for their hard work and truly listening is the best gift you can give.

Don’t be afraid of the tough stuff.
Your positivity and optimism can be infectious. For seniors who may be a long ways from family, you play a crucial role in connecting them with good things of the season. It’s been a tough year for many across the country this year and travel may be especially difficult. Recognizing that and showing compassion and understanding are important. Expect extra requests from families and do your best to accommodate them.  They’ll remember your kindness long after the holiday season ends.

The most recent issue of TIME magazine caught our eye today, because of an article on China and U.S. relations, to accompany President Obama’s visits this week to the largest and most influential Asian nation.

In the article “Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China,” writer Bill Powell listed “Look After the Elderly” (pg. 3 online) as the third lesson to learn – which so many of us at Comfort Keepers know firsthand is vitally important to the future of our country.

Powell gave his own personal perspective on the difference between each country’s treatment of seniors, saying:

“It’s hard to imagine two societies that deal with their elderly as differently as the U.S. and China. And I can vouch for that firsthand. My wife Junling is a Shanghai native, and last month for the first time we visited my father at a nursing home in the U.S. She was shaken by the experience and later told me, ‘You know, in China, it’s a great shame to put a parent into a nursing home.’

In China the social contract has been straightforward for centuries: parents raise children; then the children care for the parents as they reach their dotage. When, for example, real estate developer Jiang Xiao Li and his wife recently bought a new, larger apartment in Shanghai, they did so in part because they know that in a few years, his parents will move in with them. Jiang’s parents will help take care of Jiang’s daughter, and as they age, Jiang and his wife will help take care of them.” 1

The writer goes on to examine some of the reasons for increased national need for in-home senior care, especially as the U.S. becomes what he characterizes as a “mobile and rootless society.” High costs for nursing home care and soaring numbers of elderly citizens are paired with many adult children’s desire to provide parents with the kind of love and support that many Chinese citizens consider a matter of duty.

The TIME article continues, speaking with Arnold Eppel, a leading researcher and expert on America’s aging population:

“Home care for the elderly will most likely make a comeback in the U.S. out of sheer economic necessity, however. The number of elderly Americans will soar from 38.6 million in 2007 to 71.5 million in 2030. But, says Arnold Eppel, who recently retired as head of the department of aging in Baltimore County, Maryland, ‘There won’t be enough spots for them’ in the country’s overwhelmed nursing-home system. Appreciating the magnitude of the coming crisis, the U.S. government has begun to respond. Two new initiatives — Nursing Home Diversion and Money Follows the Person — expand subsidies for home elder care, and the Veterans Health Administration has just put in effect its own similar initiative. ‘The whole trend will be into home care, because nursing homes are too expensive,’ Eppel says, noting that nursing-home care in the U.S. costs about $85,000 annually per resident.” 2

When thousands of American readers of TIME consider these statistics – both in the context of cultural background and as simply a matter of caring for one’s own –  it becomes clear that we’re on to something here at Comfort Keepers. Franchisees, employees and clients already know how important service to seniors is today.

Our challenge is to continue to study best senior care practices, publicize our role in this increasingly important societal change and truly serve our mission by providing excellent service to seniors.

Read the whole article from TIME here.

Reference:

Powell, Bill. ““Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China.” TIME Nov. 12, 2009. Time.com. 20 Nov. 2009. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1938671-3,00.html#ixzz0XE0k5INy>

Do you sometimes find that you’ve spent hours of your business day working hard yet seemingly accomplishing nothing? It may be that you need to restructure how you spend your work day hours. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your time.

1. E-mail on a schedule. Resist the temptation to check your e-mail incessantly. Instead, plan to check 3 or 4 times a day. Set aside a small chunk of time when you check to respond to urgent e-mails.
2. Take a break every hour. If you stare at your screen too long, you’ll start to get drowsy and work slower. Plan to get up and walk around the office or the building every one or two hours.
3. Don’t keep comfortable chairs in your office. Beware of having extra comfortable seating in your office because your co-workers will likely come in often to sit down to chat. Try keeping a small side chair or folding chair in your office. People will be much less likely to stay and shoot the breeze if they have to sit in an uncomfortable chair.
4. Keep cool. If your office is warm and stuffy, you’re more likely to feel tired and work more slowly. Keep the office temp cool or bring a fan if you need to.
5. Avoid the afternoon sugar crash. Around 3 p.m. when that morning coffee has finally worn off, most of us experience a sugar low. Bring an apple to work to stave off the afternoon slump.
6. Send calls to your voicemail when you’re working on a big project or when you’re working on a deadline.
7. Prioritize your tasks. Many times, we choose the easy & unimportant tasks first because we don’t want to deal with the bigger ones. Instead you should make a list in the morning of the most important things to get done and then work on them first.
8. Allot segments of time for each task. Allotting a specific amount of time will help you to stay on task and motivated. If you have a competitive nature, you may enjoy pushing yourself to accomplish your timed tasks.
9. Take a real lunch break. Don’t work through lunch. Get out of the office and take a break so that when you come back you are ready to make the most of the afternoon work hours.

We’ve all heard that social media is affecting the way we do business, but we’re not quite sure how. Here are some ways that social media is affecting or can affect the way you do business.

• There is a network of business professionals at your fingertips. Social media isn’t just for teenagers anymore. You’ll find that many if not most of your colleagues are using social media to connect with each other.

• Social media is opening up new marketing opportunities. Many social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow to you search and follow certain demographics to market a product or a service. Many companies are now creating social media marketing divisions and campaigns to focus on the marketing potential that the social media world offers.

• Social media makes it easier than ever to get customer or client input. People love to share their opinions – especially in the social media sphere.

• Social media is changing customer service. Many companies are now using Twitter and other social media sites to conduct customer service. For example, a Twitter user commented on the site that he was having problems with his Comcast service. Within five minutes, @ComcastBonnie replied and asked him to share the details of the problem.

• Social media is letting people talk. Like it or not, people are using social media to talk about your business in this constant ever-growing conversation.