Welcome To The GHCFA, A Chapter of the AAFD
" To OPT in or NOT to OPT In - that is the question!"
By Stephen Rymels
Many of us would rather forget about high school Shakespeare at this point in our careers. But I always loved this particular soliloquy and even memorized several lines starting with Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be ...."Funny how some things come full circle. The same lines now echo in my mind as we deliberate over the request by Yvonne at Corporate to publish our revenue and case counts to all the franchisees. To OPT in or NOT to OPT in?
This brief article is intended to discuss both the pros and cons on this issue. Anyone having another point of view is more than welcome to step up to the bar, meaning the rail before the court of common sense and best practices, of course.
On the one hand we have the pros for which I quote at length from Leslie Mills from Connecticut. For those of you who are new to the business Leslie's franchise has been very successful for many years and she always has an insightful perspective on all things business related.
I am a data addict. Decisions without data have random results. As such, I've always wanted comparative data. If my data can be helpful, I'm willing to share so I'll opt in.
The problem with anonymity is that we can't learn from each other. For example, what if you saw that a different office had half the cost of (their) your own case management staff per client. Wouldn't you like to find out why to see what you could learn? I tend to see the sharing of these data to be more expense than revenue oriented. But certainly, how people use their marketing budgets may affect income.
Maybe a partial answer to satisfy people's privacy concerns would be for corporate to develop parameters for each metric (e.g. that covered 75% of the values) and plot an individual office against them. That would allow each owner to select measurements of interest. Even without the ID's of the offices, that would still be of some value. At least we'd be pointed to fewer haystacks in the field.
Leslie's view is the glass half full. Leslie wants to participate in a program to help all of us achieve success. I applaud her optimism and her success. I agree with Leslie that there are ways in which this data can be helpful to both old and new franchisees - Hamlet's "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."
But there are always those "to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them." Meg Mairn summarized the glass half empty and the cons point of view in her e-mail as follows:
1.There are no written guidelines or safeguards for the collection, the accuracy, the use, and the distribution for this data.
2.This data is personal, private and confidential.
3.This data is subject to interpretation/misinterpretation and abuse for business valuation purposes as it is subject to disclosure to others including staff/others interested in purchasing your territory or competitors.
4.This data is subject to interpretation/misinterpretation and abuse for tax liabilities for both business and personal taxes as it is subject to anonymous disclosure to the IRS, and other state and local taxing authorities.
5.This data constitutes confidential business records.
Obviously, these concerns weigh heavily on some simply out of fear of the data being misused by the wrong person. We live in a world filled with privacy protections for our clients from HIPAA to HITECH. The news reports privacy breaches by financial institutions on a regular basis. There is reason for concern.
Perhaps the best way to approach an issue as potentially explosive as this for everyone to take a step back, breathe, and talk more about solutions than obstructions. How can we protect and still participate?
Perhaps an anonymous data list or a pro rata 75% solution? I'm not sure myself. Maybe Yvonne can demonstrate how the data is to be collected and published by using the Corporate owned territories first so that our fears are allayed.
I selfishly confess fear of the thought of being compared to the more successful offices in my own state. But perhaps I should accept the benefits of gaining insight to help my business grow instead of fearing judgment at the hands of my peers.
That reminds me, I vaguely remember a certain conference in Boston where one of my peers openly said that a neighboring territory (that would be me, of course) simply sucks. As Hamlet opined, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio;; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy..." (Hamlet never said "I knew him well.") So I guess I should get past that fear since my skull was held high for all to see and tragically lament, that day. Sigh!
By the way, that was also the day that the 2% marketing fund was rolled out. Boston - I love that town. Good times! Good times But I digress....
My suggestion is that we continue to brainstorm the issue to see if we can find a mutually satisfactory solution. Or do I "sleep perchance to dream, Aye there's the rub!" - Indeed!
Any and all points of view are welcome and will be given equal time and billing in the next newsletter. So stayed tuned and get your Shakespeare on!!
Godspeed!!
Stephen
