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These are the insights of James Kunkel, who has workerd with small business owners in one capacity or anothe for nearly 20 years at the Small Business Developmenft Centerat St. Vincent College in Latrobe. They also are lessonse Haddad-Wylie Industries studied carefully as it grew intoa $10 millionb company from a $500,000 start-up in 2004. The earl y challenge for HWI was a common one forsmalkl businesses: how to reach potential clients aftef getting a couple of big projects behind you, when you have a good storty to tell. “Getting people to trus us,” is how President Heather Wyliedescribes it.
Husband Dericv Haddad, who is the company’s CEO and COO, had 10 experience building clean rooms for compoundingy pharmacies when the companywas formed. “Hw knows the language,” Wylie said. A friend provided the company’sd first job lead for its inaugurakl project, a clean room for a Duke UniversitHospital pharmacy. The work was completed successfully, so the questiobn became, what’s the second act? Using the office HWI printed a simpletrifold brochure, which was mailes mostly to hospitals on the East “We killed our copier,” Wylie She followed up the mailing with telephone callzs — a tried and true marketing staple.
Between 2005 and 2007, Wylied said she made 48,000 follow-up calls. “It was tedious,” she “It was very tedious.” It also worked. The simple brochurw and follow-up calls secured contracts at four Universityg of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospitals, she said, as salese rose. “For us, it’s a lot of relationshipp building,” said Emily Gregory, who was hirecd in 2007 as director of marketing and sales to develothe company’s marketing edge. It wasn’ft long before the company began seeing resultss fromthe effort, but not beforde Gregory looked over the trifold brochurwe and scratched her head.
“This is really complicated andI don’tf understand the message,” she remembered thinking. The result was a letter-sized brochure, which was On the cover, the company’s services were spelled out in thred short and concise Inside were color photographs of finished Sales continued to improve thesame year, with HWI becoming a preferrer vendor at the Cleveland Clinic. HWI’s marketing efforts shiftedd again in 2008 with constructionj of aWeb site, which coincided with the printing of a new slee brochure. The Web site and brochure allowed the companty to create auniform message, a uniformm brand, Gregory said.
The Web site “gave us another outlet for people tofind us,” she said. The resulty was an increase in inquiries from one to two weeklhy to threeto four. Howard Wessel, lab manage r at South Side-based Stemnion Inc., was among HWI clients attracted by theWeb site. “It was very straightforwarde and answered a lot of he said. “It was that initia l professionalism thatattracted me.” HWI began to try out othere marketing approaches. In 2008, company representatives beganmattending one-on-one meetings with prospective clientse that were arranged by a trade group. This strategy furtherr boosted sales.
HWI stil l mails out brochures followedd up with telephone but now the numbed of requests for information beganto grow. A tippiny point had been reached, from pushinfg marketing to attracting callers. “What’s nice about that is that it’s all of a suddehn pull insteadof push, and that’s where you want to said Kunkel, St. Vincent’s Small Business Developmenty Center’s executive director. “You want the buzz to be out In February, HWI began tellinf its story ina newsletter, which is sent to currenf and prospective clients, about the same time the company hired four saleds representatives who tout the company while boostingh sales.
HWI’s sales are expected to reach $15 million to $20 milliohn this year as the company plots the next shift in itsmarketing “We are defying the recession,” Wylie “Everything that this company has gotten is through
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Artificial Joints, Real Controversy: Medical Tax Stirs Debate - Smartmoney.com
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Artificial Joints, Real Controversy: Medical Tax Stirs Debate Smartmoney.com The many baby boomers considering hip or knee replacements in the coming years are likely to have to pay more to get them. The question is, How much more? And could the problems stretch beyond a higher price tag? |
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Blue Cross Ga. hit with class action suit - Atlanta Business Chronicle:
coras-newport.blogspot.com
The suit alleges Blue Cross Georgis has discouraged visitsto out-of-network providers by reimbursin procedures at a tiny fraction of “usua l and customary” charges. Blue Croszs Georgia spokeswoman Cheryl Monkhouse dismissed the allegations as being without merit and said the insurer plansto “defend the suit Blue Cross Georgia “is committed to providing appropriatwe reimbursement for out-of-network services, while at the same time protectingb its members and group customers against excessive charges by some non-participatiny providers,“ Monkhouse said. The suit is similatr to one filed earlier this year by a dialysis providee againstBlue Cross.
That suit was The new suit, filed against and Blue Crosws and Blue Shieldof Georgia, alleges Blue Crossw members paid higher premiums in exchange for the flexibility to receive coveragse for care from providers who are not part of the plan’w preferred network. Blue Cross Georgia has targetethese out-of-network providers, including ambulatory surgery “for a drastic and unprecedented slash in reimbursemen t to a mere fraction of usual and customary charges,” the suit These actions violate federal and states laws protecting patients and as well as Blue Cros Blue Shield’s contracts, the suit claims.
Blue Cross has cut its reimbursemengto out-of-network surgery centers by about 80 said Leigh Martin May, attorney with the plaintiff’ss firm, . Blue Cross “has slashesd reimbursement ratesto non-member surger y centers making it impossible for their insureds to receive the benefits they are payin for,” May said. “[The insurer] is charging for a service it haseffectively eliminated. BCBS should honor the contractxs they have made withtheir insureds.
” Plaintiffs are seekingv monetary damages -- which, May said, could run into the “eigh t figures” -- for Blue Cross Georgia’s allegedr failure to pay the contracted reimbursement rate and they are askinb the court to force Blue Cross Georgia to honor its Earlier this year, Nashville, Tenn.-based Nationakl Renal Alliance filed a lawsuitg against Blue Cross Georgia, claiming the insurer slashedx reimbursement rates for out-of-network dialysis services by 88 percent. National Renal Alliance was acquiresd by RenalAdvantage Inc.
last In March, a federal court judge in Atlanta dismissed the sayingBlue Cross’ decision to amend its reimbursemeny rates for dialysis performed at out-of-networki facilities like the Alliance’s did not violate the act’s provisions that prohibit insurers from discriminating against individuald with end-stage renal disease.
The suit alleges Blue Cross Georgis has discouraged visitsto out-of-network providers by reimbursin procedures at a tiny fraction of “usua l and customary” charges. Blue Croszs Georgia spokeswoman Cheryl Monkhouse dismissed the allegations as being without merit and said the insurer plansto “defend the suit Blue Cross Georgia “is committed to providing appropriatwe reimbursement for out-of-network services, while at the same time protectingb its members and group customers against excessive charges by some non-participatiny providers,“ Monkhouse said. The suit is similatr to one filed earlier this year by a dialysis providee againstBlue Cross.
That suit was The new suit, filed against and Blue Crosws and Blue Shieldof Georgia, alleges Blue Crossw members paid higher premiums in exchange for the flexibility to receive coveragse for care from providers who are not part of the plan’w preferred network. Blue Cross Georgia has targetethese out-of-network providers, including ambulatory surgery “for a drastic and unprecedented slash in reimbursemen t to a mere fraction of usual and customary charges,” the suit These actions violate federal and states laws protecting patients and as well as Blue Cros Blue Shield’s contracts, the suit claims.
Blue Cross has cut its reimbursemengto out-of-network surgery centers by about 80 said Leigh Martin May, attorney with the plaintiff’ss firm, . Blue Cross “has slashesd reimbursement ratesto non-member surger y centers making it impossible for their insureds to receive the benefits they are payin for,” May said. “[The insurer] is charging for a service it haseffectively eliminated. BCBS should honor the contractxs they have made withtheir insureds.
” Plaintiffs are seekingv monetary damages -- which, May said, could run into the “eigh t figures” -- for Blue Cross Georgia’s allegedr failure to pay the contracted reimbursement rate and they are askinb the court to force Blue Cross Georgia to honor its Earlier this year, Nashville, Tenn.-based Nationakl Renal Alliance filed a lawsuitg against Blue Cross Georgia, claiming the insurer slashedx reimbursement rates for out-of-network dialysis services by 88 percent. National Renal Alliance was acquiresd by RenalAdvantage Inc.
last In March, a federal court judge in Atlanta dismissed the sayingBlue Cross’ decision to amend its reimbursemeny rates for dialysis performed at out-of-networki facilities like the Alliance’s did not violate the act’s provisions that prohibit insurers from discriminating against individuald with end-stage renal disease.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Love them tender, love them true: Elvis tributes @ Feedback El-Fest - West Seattle Blog (blog)
ejyceh.wordpress.com
West Seattle Blog (blog) | Love them tender, love them true: Elvis tributes @ Feedback El-Fest West Seattle Blog (blog) The Feedback Lounge is a hunk-a-hunk-a-burnin' musical love for The King tonight, including Roger Anderson â€" in our video clip above â€" all the way from Bonney Lake. It's the second annual El-Fest at The Feedback, organized by Hellon Wheels, wh o's in ... |
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Brooklyn rebounds as the new bohemia - USA TODAY
sucujovide.wordpress.com
USA TODAY | Brooklyn rebounds as the new bohemia USA TODAY The arrival of the NBA Nets gives Brooklyn its first major league team since the Dodgers' departure for Los Angeles in 1957, and something else: more evidence that, as its denizens claim, the borough that was once a punch line is now the coolest place ... |
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Parasites may get nastier with climate swings: study - Reuters
sucujovide.wordpress.com
Parasites may get nastier with climate swings: study Reuters "Few...studies have considered the effects of climate variability or predictability on disease, despite it being likely that hosts and parasites will have differential responses to climatic shifts," they wrote. The scientists exposed Cuban treefrogs in ... |
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Guide at a glance: Camden Haven - Sydney Morning Herald
ycoguqi.wordpress.com
Sydney Morning Herald | Guide at a glance: Camden Haven Sydney Morning Herald Quiet and uncrowded, this peaceful seaside pocket is a favourite of water lovers, writes Lee Atkinson. Why go? The Camden Haven, a collection of three villages - Laurieton, North Haven and Dunbogan - at the mouth of the Camden Haven River, tends to get ... |
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