With this being the day before Thanksgiving I can’t help but get those feelings that can only be had by sharing time with my family and enjoying that wonderful food that I grew up with. We go to my brother’s house where there will be around twenty-five people in attendance. There will be immediate family, extended family and an occasional person or two who gets invited because they were not able to make it back to their home. Man it feels so good.

In the last year and a half I have been doing more traveling than ever before. As I fly around this great country of ours I look around and I am reminded of what comforts me. What I am about to reveal may seem odd to you but I don’t care. As I look out the window of those planes and I see baseball fields I get this crazy feeling that all is right with the world. It’s not those giant mega stadiums that the pros play in, it’s the little fields in the cities and towns all across the US. Not sure I can put into words why, it just does.

Take a little time and give some thought to what gives you that feeling of comfort. A lot of times you just know it when it happens. All of us have something that does it for us. I know I am getting old but I have been thinking a lot about this lately.

You are probably thinking to yourself, while you are getting all melancholy on us what does this have to do with marketing or the skilled nursing business? I am going to attempt to pull it all together for you.

You have all heard that the best marketing is a happy customer.  Who are your customers? The residents of course but their family members are also your customers and other families will ask their opinion when the time comes to put their loved one in the care of others.

Now that we have established who some of your customers are what does all this feel good business have to do with anything? I’m glad you asked.

I am suggesting that you take the time to get to know who your residents are and what gives them comfort. This needs to be done by asking the residents themselves if that is an option but also by asking the family. One, they will be glad you are taking the time to find out, and secondly, they will most likely be able to supply you with ideas and pictures that will help you accomplish your mission.

By placing those pictures and mementos of things that bring comfort to your residents in their rooms you will be able to provide those feelings that make them comfortable.

There is nothing I appreciate more than when someone goes out of their way to make a person I love feel better. Do something for my kids or my Mom and you have in me, a friend for life.

I know that what I have just written is not ground breaking information but it just might be information that you need to be reminded of.