“Relationships drive your business just in case you had forgotten.”
~ Patricia Fripp

There are 18 more Selling Days in August and 39 remaining in the Quarter!!!

You don’t close a sale. You open a relationship.

And remember, the real sale comes AFTER the sale! Technology does not run an enterprise. Relationships do. Staying in touch is a very important part and just as important as getting in touch with customers in the first place.

Years ago, the first president of the National Speakers Association, Bill Gove, was sales manager of the 3M Company. He wrote his customers thank-you notes a trait I still do to this very day. One day a friend was teasing him: “Hey, Bill, all you do is write notes all day long.” He said , “No, seven minutes a day, and everyone who does business with me hears from me at least once every three months while my competition is calling on them, asking for their business.”

Now that we have technology it’s must easier to maximize your client relationships. Keep in touch and as I said just recently make that touch call.

Go out and have a Great Selling Day and make a difference in at least one person’s life today.

Medical Data Breaches Prompt Calls for Stronger Patient Privacy Rules.

Federal officials are working to ramp up enforcement of existing medical privacy rules, but some experts say stronger protections are necessary to ensure the security of health data, the New York Times reports. According to data on a federal website, at least 7.8 million people have experienced a breach of their medical data within the last two years. In addition, Health and Human Services reported that the agency had identified dozens of vulnerabilities in systems designed to protect patient data at seven large hospitals. The Obama administration already has imposed penalties for violations of HIPAA privacy and security rules. In addition, HHS’ Office for Civil Rights recently levied its first civil penalty under HIPAA. Despite these efforts, some experts are calling for tighter regulations on health data security. 

Wes Rishel, a health care analyst and adviser to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT said, “Your ability to control access to your health information is a horse that is already out of the stable. What is really needed is legislation that controls the use of such medical data” (New York Times, 5/30/11). 

You have convinced yourself about the importance of hiring the services of a professional document shredding company. This is an important decision but do you know what to look for, to get the best deal? Here are 10 pointers that many experts, that I have talked to over the years – but especially those at The File Room, to guide you in the right direction:

1. How often do you need the services of the document shredding company? While some need it once in a few weeks, some are happy with one service once in a few months. However you need to check whether they have call in service when you need them.
2. There is always a possibility that the need for document shredding comes up unexpectedly, as a huge volume of paper has been generated which need to be destroyed. Would the company be available for such call in service? If yes, how time prior notice do they need?
3. Would the company provide you with free containers, placed strategically, for ease of use? If needed, can they provide extra containers without charging anything extra? Check for the quality of such containers and whether they are lockable or not.
4. Check whether the shredding services follow the strict security standards as instituted by the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID). This is the highest authority in the shredding industry. You must know whether the shredding company is NAID-certified.
5. The company should provide you with a Certificate of Destruction which is an important legal document, immediately after they have undertaken a shredding assignment. This document should be duly signed by the Company representative, dated, stamped and the method of destruction should be mentioned with a reference number. Some shredding companies provide this certificate every time while some may give this along with their monthly invoice.
6. Ensure whether the actual shredding operation is done in the company of one of your representatives. This needs a viewing monitor which allows you to watch the shredding.
7. Are you obliged to sign a long-term contract with the shredding company? There are several companies which do not require any signing of any contract.
8. What about their payment terms? Do they want you to pay upfront before any services are rendered?
9. Check what kind of materials they destroy. For example CDs. DVDs, X-ray plates, etc may need to be destroyed – would they do these jobs too?
10. Finally check whether the shredding services is bonded and insured. This is because you would need insurance, especially if you are a large company.

Many years of experience tells me that there are many other questions out there to ask but this will give you a good start. A start that will lead you to the right company to assist you in your document destruction and certification. In today’s world, we all must be vigilant about privacy and protecting information that we are charged to protect which is why you go with the company that you can trust.