“Almost immediately with FranFunnel, we started getting answers to our automated texts. ‘Oh my gosh!’ we said, ‘these people are actually responding’”
In Home Care with a Focus on Experience
FirstLight Home Care, founded in 2009, sought to do business differently from day one. And rather than reinventing the wheel, co-founders Jeff and Devin Bevis looked to one of the world’s most impressive hospitality companies for inspiration, Ritz-Carlton.
The Ritz-Carlton credo speaks about the guest experience when they stay at one of their hotels. You’ll find concepts like, “a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission” and “enliven the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests” Jeanne Rader, franchise development coordinator, said that she boils down FirstLight’s emulation of the Ritz to two main principles, service excellence and doing the right thing at all times. This strategy has clearly paid dividends for FirstLight as they’re up to almost 200 opened and operating locations in 33 states.
Extending Service Excellence to Sales
Service excellence isn’t only about in-home caregivers treating their clients right. It starts from the second that someone makes an inquiry to learn more:
“People definitely love to text. They want a quick response to a question or inquiry, and they don’t have time to pick up their phone. They’re in many places throughout their day and a text is a quick, easy way to get information
to and from each other.”
Prior to switching to FranFunnel, FirstLight and Jeanne were using a combination of Twilio and their CRM to manage the messages. However, they weren’t getting many leads to respond: “Our original texting software was very affordable, but that was irrelevant, as it didn’t result in any noticeable or trackable change. It was simply no good.” Now, with FranFunnel, FirstLight is seeing an unbelievable uptick in number of appointments being set: “Almost immediately with FranFunnel, we started getting answers to our automated texts. ‘Oh my gosh!’ we said, ‘these people are actually responding.’ It’s just remarkable the engagement that we’re getting now. I’m setting appointments with people and scheduling it on the calendar in FranFunnel.”
