By Jill Scott, Manager of Member Services
I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to believe that Summer has come to a close and Fall is upon us. As much as I love the fun and freedom that Summer brings, I also love getting back into a routine and ending the year strong. My 4-year old son, Alexander, started Pre-K today, sniff sniff. After having him and his younger brother, Julius, home with me all summer, I was just as excited for school to start. The new school year means new opportunities for him to learn and socialize with other kids and the opportunity for our family to get in better routines so that we can be the best we can be as a family and as individuals.
If you are looking for opportunities to learn and be the best you can be – as a company and as the Owner or CEO of a home care company – then we have the perfect opportunity for you. A few of them, actually! The Home Care Field Trip.
We have been doing Field Trips for the past 4 years and after each Field Trip we get incredibly positive feedback from the attendees. Some attendees have attended multiple Field Trips at different locations simply to have the chance to learn how other successful companies are doing it. One person in particular has attended a Field Trip at each location and now hosts his own Field Trip.
What is a Field Trip?
The Home Care Field Trip is hosted by different successful home care companies across the country. Although the owners and companies are different at each Field Trip, the agenda is the same. We have an opening dinner where all of the attendees can meet and get to know the host company’s owners/CEO. The next morning the group tours the office of the host company and then listens to the presentation by the hosts about how their company runs and their Five Phases of Flow (Attraction, Conversion, Staffing, Caregiving, and Collection). Then there’s lunch and the afternoon is spent answering any questions the attendees have for the host company.
During the Field Trip, you will also have the opportunity to network with the other attendees. No one at the Field Trip competes with each other, so past attendees have loved the opportunity to openly discuss the aches, pains and successes of their own company with other companies that are working through the same issues without fear that their “secrets” will be used to compete against them.
What Field Trips are coming up this Fall? I’m glad you asked.
On September 20-21, 2016, Seniorcorp in Virginia Beach will be opening their offices for the 6th time. Tom Knox, the Owner, and Andy Tysinger, the COO, enjoy hosting the Field Trips and the opportunity to talk with the attendees about what they are experiencing in their own companies. Not only has Seniorcorp been hosting the Field Trips since the beginning but they are also part of our $5 Million Mastermind Group. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about CareFamily, one of Seniorcorp’s sister companies that provides an independent caregiver service.
On October 13-14, 2016, A First Name Basis in New Orleans will be hosting their 1st Field Trip. However, the CEO, Jake Fackrell, has hosted two Field Trips at his other home care company, Alta Home Care, in Corona, California. The unique thing about A First Name Basis is that they have multiple offices around Louisiana and operate a multi-million dollar company using small offices and some telecommuting.
On November 9-10, 2016, Seniors Home Care in St. Louis, Missouri will be hosting their 1st Field Trip. Kit Whittington, Founder and CEO, and Ryan Whittington attended past Field Trips and are now members of one of our Mastermind Groups and are also now hosting Field Trips. Seniors Home Care was founded by Kit in 1983 and on top of providing top notch home care in the St. Louis area, they also have a free caregiver training program to family caregivers and also a caregiver training program with a local college.
See what others are saying about the Field Trip.
Here’s another testimonial I received last week when connecting a past attendee with a potential (now confirmed) attendee for Virginia Beach:
“My experience in the Alta field was truly invaluable. I was able to sit with other homecare agencies of similar size in non-competing markets and learn how one (Alta) runs. Jake Fackrell (Alta owner) was an open book and gave us every possible piece of information we could possibly want. From the software/telephony system they use, to payroll, to revenue, to marketing ($$ spent and where/how spent), to staffing (how many hours each staffer handles; even drilling down to staffer quality – are they booking ongoing shifts, and are clients happy with the match, etc.), to revenue growth, etc.
While we all run our businesses similarly, there are nonetheless many differences in how we’re structured, and those differences gave me a lot of great ideas. The ‘open book’ attitude was really helpful. We also discussed our individual challenges and brainstormed about solutions.
I found the whole experience to be invigorating, creative, and uplifting (we are not alone!! Our challenges aren’t unique!) I came back and reported to the President/CEO, and we moved forward with some of the ideas. We developed a new position in the Company, which has proven to be invaluable to our customer service efforts. We also added some processes which have positively affected our caregiver retention.
Since (and as a result of) that field trip, our President/CEO and I joined the $5MM Mastermind Group.”
Sandy Hoen, Wilson Care Group, Hawaii
We hope that you’ll take advantage of one or more of these opportunities to give yourself the chance to learn from others that are so willing to open their doors and their hearts and share their companies with you.
