By Stephen Tweed
It’s a gorgeous day in Scottsdale, Arizona as I write to you this morning. Elizabeth and I are out here speaking at two conferences, meeting with some clients, and enjoying time with friends. Yesterday afternoon, late, I received an inquiry email through our web site from a reporter from the Financial Times. The Financial Times is an international newspaper based in London. I frequently read it when traveling internationally. 
I called back right a way, and ended up having an hour long interview with David Crow, the Senior US Business Correspondent for the paper in the US. He is doing a story on Home Team, one of the “digital disruptors” what I’ve been writing about. He found me by searching for information on Home Team, and finding my earlier blog posts.
David has interviewed key people at Home Team, and wanted background information on our industry. I was able to give him the big picture overview, and then dig into the details by quoting facts and data from our own research, and from the 2016 Home Care Benchmarking Study from Home Care Pulse. He was very complimentary on the information and data I was able to provide, and I think he will write an very positive article about home care that will benefit us all.
(I’ll send a link to the article when it is published next week.)
Why It’s Important to Have Data
As leaders, it’s important that we are also students of our industry. That means taking time to study the facts, data, information, and knowledge that is available about the business we are in.
It’s also important as a leader to have metrics by which to measure the performance of your business. You’ve heard me say, …
“What gets measured get managed, what gets rewarded gets repeated.“
It’s critical that you capture data in your business, and use that data to measure performance. Having you own data is very valuable.
But having data in a vacuum is not so helpful. You want to know how you are doing compared to something else. Compared to someone else. Compared to other companies in our industry.
That’s where benchmarking comes in. Having a valid sample of industry data that you can use to compare your performance to other companies is huge. The CEOs in our Home Care CEO Forum capture important data, and use industry benchmaarks for comparison. The members of our Home Care Mastermind Groups frequently use the benchmarking data in their conversations about how to grow their businesses.
How to Get Comparative Data 
I’ve found that the best source of comparative data is the annual Home Care Benchmarking Study from Home Care Pulse. We have worked closely with Aaron Marcum and his team to refine the questions, encourage participation, and distribute the report each year.
Now is the time to prepare for this annual study. The preparation worksheet for the 2017 Home Care Benchmarking Study is now available from benchmarking.homecarepulse.com. Go there now and download the worksheet.
If you have not participated in the study in previous years, you will learn a lot about your own company just by working through the worksheet. By digging into your own data and answering the questions, you’ll get a snapshot of your own business for 2016.
By submitting your data along with 700 other companies, you’ll contribute to the information and knowledge available about our industry. Any by ordering a copy of the final report, you’ll have access to this information and knowledge to do your own comparison.
AND, there’s a special bonus
This year, when you order a copy of the benchmarking study report, you’ll also get to download a brand new eBook on
“7 Key Strategies Leaders Use to Decrease Caregiver Turnover and Fuel Growth”.
If you are like most owners and CEOs in home care, the Caregiver 
Recruiting and Retention Crisis is real. Finding and keeping caregivers is critical. Aaron and his team have capture huge amounts of data about caregiver satisfaction, and they give you great insights into how to keep them.
The special eBook makes your time and effort to participate in the benchmarking study worthwhile.
Take Action. Download the Preparation Worksheet today. When the study data collection begins on February 1, 2017, go to the website and upload your data. Then reserve your copy of the report.
I’ve got my copy on order. And I have my copy of the 2016 study right here in my briefcase. I never go anywhere without the best source of data on the home care industry.
