Show Customers You Care 3 // Spotlight on Coalville and Kamas Health Centers 4
Tradition is Not a Business Model 6 // Internet Predictions for 2016 6
DECEMBER 2014 • VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1
BUSINESS
CONNECTIONS
www.allwest.com
Coalville and Kamas
Health Centers
Serve All Ages
Business Connections is a publication of All West Communications, 50 W 100 N, Kamas, UT 84036.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, electronic, photocopying, recording, mechanical or otherwise without the prior written permission of All West Communications. All rights are reserved. Editorial and circulation contact: Bobbi Whitehead
[email protected] 435-783-4910
All brand names and product names used in this publication are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Extra copies of this issue are available to our business customers on a limited basis while supplies last.
Contact Bobbi Whitehead at [email protected] or 435-783-4910 to make a request. Copyright© 2014
by All West Communications and Cornerstone Publishing Group, Inc. Postmaster send changes to: Bobbi Whitehead All West Communications 50 W 100 N
Kamas, UT 84036
Are you investing in the future?
If not, you may be holding your business back. But it’s never too late to start cultivating customer relationships, updating technology or making innovation part of your regular routine. This issue of Business Connections explores how you can make these methods work for your company. On page 3, you’ll discover how to Show Customers You Care. There are many ways to let customers know how much you appreciate them. Customers that feel valued are more likely to return and refer others, so these efforts can really pay off.Then, on pages 4 and 5, the Business Spotlight features Coalville and Kamas Health Centers. These two clinics serve patients of all ages and provide additional medical support in the community. The clinics’ new hosted PBX phone system has improved efficiency for the staff and convenience for patients.
You’ll find more information about looking to the future on page 6. Tradition is Not a Business Model, so don’t get stuck doing something a particular way just because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” The more you know about the future, the better you can plan for it, so be sure to check out Internet Predictions for 2016.
Finally, on page 7, learn all about hosted PBX, the new and future standard for business phone services.
Please let us know how All West Communications can help with your communications changes, big or small. Contact Phil Marchant, Corporate Sales Executive, at 435-783-4990, Bobbi Whitehead, Corporate Sales Executive at 435-783-4910 or Mary Young, Business Customer Coordinator at 435-783-4955.
Sincerely,
Matthew Weller
President
All West Communications
CONNECTIONS
L to R: Phil Marchant, Mary Young, Bobbi Whitehead and Matthew Weller
BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
Offer your expertise.
Be helpful by sharing your knowledge in regular newsletters, on your website or through social media. Address customers’ changing needs in the information you provide. For example, a landscaping company might provide tips for planting bulbs in the fall and how to nurture the flowers they become in the spring.
Hold a customer appreciation event.
Whether it’s a party, a presale or an educational seminar, customers will feel valued when you invite them to a special gathering.
Create customer categories.
Categorize customers who spend a certain dollar amount, visit a certain number of times or refer your business to others. Then give them category-specific rewards.
Give a true gift.
Honor long-time customers with a free gift every year or so. Select items that convey thoughtfulness and personal attention (such as unique, locally made items or a gift card to your store) rather than items that seem more like marketing ploys (such as mass-produced pens with your logo or a gift card that only works if the customer refers a friend).
Offer discounts.
Reward customers who sign up for your email list with frequent discount codes that can be redeemed at your store or website.
Partner with other businesses.
If you’re a dry cleaner, partner with a tailor; if you’re a bookstore, partner with a card store. Ask your partner business to give you coupons, discounts or freebies to include with your own.
Create a “wall of fame.”
Either at your physical location or on your website, recognize and feature your best customers with a photo and a brief description. If your customers are other businesses, this is a welcome promotional benefit.
Send a card.
There are many opportunities to recognize customers by sending cards — including birthdays and holidays or following a major purchase. The best cards include a handwritten note about your specific experience with each customer.
Pick up the phone.
Take the time to check in with customers and ask if there’s anything additional you can do to improve your products or services.
Remember, customer loyalty is good for business; when you show customers you appreciate them, they are more likely to refer you to others. And with so many social media sites available to share information, spreading the word is easier, and more impactful, than ever.
You probably know that retaining existing customers is less costly than attracting new ones.
But what are you doing to encourage them to stick around? Excellent customer service is a
good start, but you can gain even greater loyalty by adding tangible expressions of customer
appreciation. Here are a few ideas to consider:
Show Customers
You Care
Customer appreciation builds
loyalty and grows businesses
Providing comprehensive medical
services for North Summit and
South Summit
For Coalville and Kamas Health
Centers, there’s no “typical” patient.
The two clinics serve newborns to
centenarians, offering everything
from wellness exams to testing to
treatment for chronic diseases,
acute illnesses and injuries.
Dr. Greg Iverson is a family physician and the manag-ing member at the clinics. His favorite part of the job is being able to help people with something they can’t do themselves. He says, “I like the relationships I’ve been able to build, practicing family medicine, as well as the variety of patients and the opportunity to work in a less populated area.” Iverson shares that he’s always been fascinated by the human body and how it works. He joined the practice in 2010 and purchased it in 2011.
A Full Spectrum of Medical Services
While the clinics focus on preventive care for patients of all ages, some of the staff members focus on specific areas of expertise. Iverson says, “One of our physician’s assistants specializes in head injury evaluations, such as concussions; another offers Botox injections and other cosmetic procedures. Dr. Allen, our other physician, specializes in pain management. We also perform commercial driver’s license exams.” The clinics can handle a wide range of medical situations but can call on specialists in Park City, Salt Lake City, Provo or Ogden if needed.
Patients have the choice to travel to some of those loca-tions for primary medical care as well. But, comments Iverson, “People choose us because of the personal factor. We go out of our way to give ‘Cadillac care.’ For example, we make it a point to call as soon as we can regarding lab results and prescription requests.” He adds that the clinics, which cover the North Summit and South Summit areas, are always happy to welcome new patients.
Providing Care in the Office and Community
The clinics employ about 30 people, many of whom work part time. The staff includes two physicians, three physician assistants, medical assistants, nurses, billing professionals, an administrative assistant and front desk personnel.
On a typical day, the clinics will see 20 to 40 patients for both planned appointments — such as physicals — and acute appointments for injuries and short-term illnesses. Iverson says, “It’s unpredictable and usually very busy.” Each location also has evening hours two nights per week, and Saturday morning sessions for those who
COALVILLE
AND KAMAS
HEALTH CENTERS
BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
need care outside of regular business hours. The clinics have a medical pro-fessional on call at all times.
In addition to seeing patients, staff mem-bers work in the community with school nurses, athletic coaches and physical therapists to provide as much medical support as possible.
Dependable Technology Support
Coalville and Kamas Health Centers have been a customer of All West for many years. Both locations have a 50 Mbps Internet connection, a hosted PBX phone system and analog fax line service, which all contribute to the efficient functioning of the business. Iverson says, “The hosted PBX system has greatly improved our ability to communicate between clinics. We just dial an extension to reach the person we want to talk to, whether they’re in the same office or in the other one.”
The phone system also supports easier communication with patients. Phil Marchant, Corporate Sales Executive at All West explains, “The hosted PBX system allows patients to call either the Kamas or Coalville main line and connect to that location or the other one. The auto attendant comes on immediately so callers don’t have to wait for someone to answer. Then, they can dial an extension to connect to billing, prescription refill, hours and loca-tion informaloca-tion or to a live person.” Fast Internet service is critical for main- taining electronic patient records. Iverson notes, “All patient information is stored on a server, which we back up regularly. We also use the Internet for our billing software and to access medi-cal database information.”
Iverson appreciates that All West has been good about responding to prob-lems and has made staff more available after hours. He says, “We’re completely dependent on our services to ensure the best patient care. Being unable to access certain information can be stressful, or even dangerous, so it’s important that any problems with our technology are resolved as quickly as possible. The local folks making themselves more available goes above and beyond.”
The hosted PBX system
has greatly improved our
ability to communicate
between clinics.”
— DR. GREG IVERSON, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND MANAGING MEMBER, COALVILLE AND KAMAS HEALTH CENTERS
HEALTH RESOURCES
FOR PATIENTS AND
THE COMMUNITY
Coalville and Kamas Health Centers strive to be not just healthcare pro-viders, but also resources for patients and community members. Here are some helpful links recommended by the clinics:
U.S. Fire Administration: Home Fire Prevention and Safety Tips
usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev
American Academy of Pediatrics – Healthy Children
healthychildren.org/English/Pages/ default.aspx
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
hhs.gov
Parents Central: How to Find the Right Car Seat
safercar.gov/parents/Car-Seat-Safety.htm
About.com – Pediatrics: Carbon Monoxide Detectors
usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Vaccines & Immunizations
cdc.gov/vaccines
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers
iamat.org/index.cfm
USDA - ChooseMyPlate.gov
choosemyplate.gov
FamilyDoctor.org
familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en.html
National Institutes of Health
health.nih.gov
WebMD
webmd.com
HealthCare.gov: Insurance Coverage under the Affordable Care Act
healthcare.gov/index.html
The Cisco® Visual Networking
Index (VNI) Forecast (2011-2016) is an ongoing initiative to forecast and analyze Internet Protocol (IP) networking growth and trends worldwide. It reports significant growth in Internet traffic and service penetration, driven by factors including:
• An increasing number of devices: The proliferation of tablets, mobile phones and other devices is driving up the demand for connectivity. By 2016, the forecast projects there will be nearly 18.9 billion network connections — almost 2.5 connections for each person on earth — compared with 10.3 billion in 2011.
• More Internet users: By 2016, the forecast projects there will be 3.4 billion Internet users, which represents about 45 percent of the world’s expected population according to United Nations estimates.
• Faster broadband speeds:
The average fixed broadband speed is expected to increase from 9 Mbps in 2011 to 34 Mbps in 2016.
• More Wi-Fi: By 2016, over half of the world’s Internet traffic is expected to come from Wi-Fi connections.
It’s an exciting time of growth and All West is working diligently to meet our customers’ Internet needs.
a Business Model
Sticking to traditions from the past may
be hurting your business in the present
T
raditions are beloved parts of family life — the first-day-of-school photo, a recurring Thanksgiving menu, when and where you open holiday gifts. Doing the same thing year after year is comforting. But what works well at home doesn’t work as well in the business world. Why? Because blindly following tradition can cause you to turn off your brain and can get in the way of critical thinking, imagination and innovation.Unless your business is brand new, it has traditions. To identify them, think about these questions: Do you handle tasks a certain way simply because that’s the way you’ve always done them? Do you hold regular meetings more out of habit than necessity? Do you still have the same mar-keting materials, merchandising displays or products that you had five years ago? The problem with holding on too tightly to traditions is that it prevents your busi-ness from moving forward. Instead, stay open to fresh ideas and encourage your
employees to look for better, faster and more efficient ways to do their jobs and serve your customers.
Many resources are available to help your business develop fresh approaches to replace those tired traditions. For example, consider the following:
• Join a business or community group to hear inspiring speakers and network with new people.
• Expand your knowledge by studying the success stories of businesses outside your community or field of business.
• Stay updated on trends by reading books, taking classes and traveling.
• Check out Pinterest for images that may spark a more creative tactic for things like your office interior, product packag-ing or advertispackag-ing.
While the past should be respected, great business leaders are advocates for change. Make sure you stay curious and have the courage to challenge the status quo.
BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
What is Hosted PBX?
Hosted PBX (also known as Hosted Voice, Virtual Voice, PBX in the Cloud or Remote PBX) is a service provided by a telecommunications provider and hosted in the cloud. With hosted PBX, the service provider hosts, manages and updates the handsets and system equipment in their network. This means a hosted PBX subscriber doesn’t have to purchase, set up and maintain an on-site PBX. Hosted PBX makes all the features and capabilities of a best-in-class unified communications system available without the need for a big upfront purchase. Hosted PBX service gives smaller busi-nesses easy and affordable access to phone capabilities previously only available to larger businesses. These advanced features include simultaneous ring, auto attendant, hunt groups and music-on-hold.
Configure as Needed
The flexible, scalable infrastructure of All West hosted PBX service can easily grow as your business grows. Because it’s a cloud-based system, you can add new users without any capital charges. If you have a mobile workforce, the ser-vice allows you all the functionality of a full service phone from any remote Internet connected location. In addition, web portals enable end users and administrators to configure the service as needed — including call forward, transfer, music and announce- ments on hold and auto attendant — right from their computers.
Maintain Calls After an Outage
Like every hosted PBX, the service from All West has superior disaster recovery
attributes compared to a premises-based system and can play an important role in business continuity planning. Since the PBX and other equipment resides in our secure facility with safeguards like back-up power, events at the business location — such as a power outage, fire or other interruption — would not prevent incoming calls. Users can quickly route their calls to an alternate location or mobile device, enabling business to proceed. A phone is a lifeline for business. Strengthen this lifeline with unified voice and data communications from All West.
To discuss how hosted PBX could benefit your business, call All West at 877-584-1581.
What kind of a phone system does your business currently use? Perhaps you have a few phone lines that
connect to a key system or private branch exchange (PBX). And, perhaps this on-site equipment was
installed years ago and is starting to become a challenge to maintain. If so, you may want to reevaluate
your unified communications needs and consider making the switch to hosted PBX.
Make Your
Next Phone
System
a Hosted PBX
It offers the flexibility to
accommodate staff fluctuations
and aid in business continuity
All West’s Hosted PBX offers the same kind of
sophisticated features that big business PBX
phone systems have including voicemail, auto
attendant, conference calling, three-way calling,
interoffice dialing, music on hold, call forwarding,
call hold, simultaneous ring with mobile phone
and web-based CommPortal for on-site or off-site
management. Yet Hosted PBX is affordable enough
for businesses of any size to enjoy.
•
No capital outlay for on-site PBX equipment
-
You’ll save money by not having to purchase, set
up and maintain your own equipment.
•
Grows with your business
- Hosted PBX is easily
expandable when you need additional services/
capacity.
•
Redundancy of backbone segments
- All West
currently has two points of backbone access into
our serving areas to ensure your connections will
be uninterrupted.
Hosted PBX
Features of a big business
phone system, priced to fit
small businesses
