Connecting The Dots of Healthcare

A few weeks ago I was in San Antonio for an unprecedented four nights. Typically I only stay one or two nights when speaking, but I was one of three faculty along with Steven Tweed, CSP, and Michael Giudicissi for the first ever Homecare Sales Professional Certification training course.

San Antonio is a beautiful conference city and staying at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio didn’t hurt either. I had the occasion to meet the Omni’s chief concierge, John Ruiz, a member of Les Clefs D’or USA, the U.S. association for gold key concierges. Other than answering a few questions for me, John was planning a regional concierge meeting… and was in the midst of selecting promotional items from Karen Stanush of The Original Image of San Antonio.

I had two great conversations. I’ll tell you what I chatted with Karen about in a later post, but here’s the conversation I had with John.

Having a hotel gathering of hotel concierges was akin to a busman’s holiday. How do you decide, with all your knowledge of hotels, where to have a meeting? If anybody should know, that would be a concierge!

Here’s what John told me.

First, Location, Location, Location. The best proximity for member access is most important. A centrally located venue will out-pull yearly moving of meetings from one corner of the coverage area to another. For everyone that has to go the farthest to a more central location, by putting the meeting in one distant location you produce someone who has to then go twice as far. Keep proximity to all attendees of paramount importance.

Second, the quality of the venue. As the meeting planner this year for concierges, he has intimate knowledge of what hotels offer with regard to quality based on inside information. But, he insisted, there are ways of gathering information that go beyond the “brochure,” but it may require a little advance work. Investing the time to ensure high enough quality goes a long way to creating a membership pleasing event.

Finally, value. Value is different than “cost.” Understanding “value” as perceived by attendees may result in some cases in lowered cost, or on the other hand, increased cost may result in far greater value than simply the price differential. Interpretation of value, as in all sales, can justify a higher cost that results in a memorable and successful meeting to any group.

So take it from a concierge; Proximity, quality, and value. In that order. And when you get straight A’s on all three, you’ve generally got a successful meeting.

Maybe is why, in addition to naturally outstanding faculty at this first ever CHCSP Certification course, co-sponsored by Decision Health, this venture was so successful.

For those of you who would like to enjoy the amenities of arguably the finest hotel on the beautiful Riverwalk in San Antonio, plan to attend next year in February.