A Note From Jim Greatorex: July 2020
Published in
Home Modifications
on June 19, 2020
July is here. The year is half over, and what a year it’s been! 2020 will be a year we will remember for the rest of our lives. The way we do business will be different, the way we gather as groups will be different, and we will need to form new habits. It’s been great to hear how many of you have figured out how to continue to serve your markets safely.
Many members have told me that the toughest part about the pandemic was that they, along with the Live at Home team, felt like this year would be a turning point where their business would take that next step and make significant progress. Don’t despair! We believe that this bump in the road will lead to greater awareness of the need for our services and that the future holds even more opportunities. Continue to refine your protocols for safe in-home service and market your customers and referrals. There is still business out there, and it’s going to come back as markets open up.
New Education Course
Live at Home will be adding a new educational module to our CEAC program. The HSS, Home Safety Specialist, will be added to our CEAC program moving forward in early August. This covers a subject that we have been wanting to cover in depth for some time, which is how to perform a home safety assessment. For those that are currently CEAC certified, this course will be mandatory for your next renewal. For those who are new to taking the CEAC, it will be part of the course moving forward. It will also be available as a stand-alone course for people who want to do home assessments, but do not provide the remodeling services. Stay tuned for more details.
Select Member Program
First, let us thank all the members who have signed onto this program. When we work with great members it makes for a successful program!
If you aren’t familiar with the program, we are working on contracts with national companies who work with seniors where we promote certified, vetted, full-service home access companies to their clients. All leads collected are forwarded on to our contracted, full-service members. If you have interest in this program, please connect with either Jessica Barber or myself to learn more. We have many contracts out that we are waiting to get back, as well as members that we feel would qualify for the program that we haven’t spoken to yet. We have some new referral contracts close to closing and many that have been held up by our current business climate. We do expect referrals to start in the third quarter, so get in touch with us to join or get your contract in.
Heartland At Home
Believe me when we say that we very much missed seeing our Live at Home members in person at the Heartland Conference. My sincere thanks go out to Rob Horkheimer and Rick Lair for sharing their expertise and some best practices with our members in our Heartland At Home virtual sessions. Still available on June 29th at 2 p.m. CT is a panel discussion on employee recruitment and retention with Chuck Williams from Williams Bros, Nathan Colburn from Accessible Systems, and Jared Chevraux from JTEK Solutions. We also have our Heartland Accessibility Hangout on July 6th, which contains virtual round table discussions hosted by some excellent manufacturers, including Scott Crosswhite from EZ Access, James Philpot from Savaria, Todd Bick from Harmar, and Bill Kahler from OK Technologies.
All the sessions for the accessibility track will be on Monday at 2 p.m. CT through July 10, and as of now, there are still a limited number of seats available. Also, remember that all sessions will be recorded and available to download for a limited time after the conference.
Future 2020 Events
I also wanted to pass along a note about future events. For the rest of 2020, in-person events will only occur if they are safe and accessible to all members. We would really like to hold an installer training this year and possibly an executive event. The best-case scenario would be September–October for training and November-December for an executive event. If any events are going to held, we will decide by the end of August or sooner.
Quick Hits
Don’t forget to take a look at our newest manufacture partner, evekare. They have some excellent and unique bathroom products that would enhance any home.
If you missed it, check out our latest podcast where we talk with Nina Creech from People Working Cooperatively about her two-year study on scalable aging in place models. It has great content that will help our industry prove our value!
We have extended introductory pricing on the Master CEAC course to July 31st. Get credentialed by the program that is specifically designed for home access companies!
We want to highlight you! Connect with me if you have a great story to share about a home access project that made a big difference in your customer’s life. We will highlight you with a story that you can then use for your own website and social media.
Thanks so much for membership and friendship. We very much want to see your company succeed in helping your community provide great home environments for all!
- Jim Greatorex