I started Benevolent Hearts Home Care in 2012 and experienced record growth over the first five years. Each year after that, we showed increased revenue, but the increases were small and different from where I had hoped. The business was consuming my time, and my family and team suffered. However, 2023 was different, and I want to share how our agency evolved over the past couple of years to achieve a record 41.6% growth rate and a solid team, freeing up my time with an improved work-life balance.
Revamping the Intake Process
Reporting revealed that our lead-to-admission conversion ratio needed to be improved. The referral numbers were there, but the admission was often lost somewhere in the process. With the assistance of our consultants at Home Care Evolution, we dissected the entire intake process and restructured it from who took the calls to who followed the referral and the closing. After retraining our entire staff on handling an intake call, we started an intake board, which we updated daily with the caller and client and details down to who was following the lead. We began to conduct weekly intake meetings to review pending admissions and staffing, which expedited decisions on accepting new referrals. The Agency Director was tasked to have daily calls with the business development team and took ownership of tracking each referral to admission. The Business Development Professional followed up with every intake and met with each family to close the sale, getting all consents signed. The Care Manager then coordinated the assessment immediately afterward or at another time suitable to the family to formulate the care plan. Utilizing the information we had prepared in advance in our intake meetings or by scheduling the Team Leads, we could start new clients more expeditiously. The new process immediately impacted the conversions, and numbers increased.
Hiring a Qualified Agency Director
Whether you call it an Agency Director or Executive Director, every agency needs a solid professional behind the owner directing operations. As most entrepreneurs find themselves, I have always struggled with a work-life balance. Personality has much to do with that, but I needed to identify and change my operations structure to get to where we are today. Years ago, I decided that an Agency Director was imperative to our operation, but I never fully invested in finding the right candidate until recommended by my peers in the Home Care Elite Academy. I then invested in and used a professional recruiter to find a more qualified and experienced director. This decision has proven the best approach and directly impacted my ability to have more freedom and a record revenue stream.
Handing over responsibilities to the Agency Director, involving them in mastermind sessions, and complete transparency is crucial to developing a successful Agency Director. This person must have strong leadership to not “replace” the owner but instead work together to achieve the overall goals. This person comes with a higher salary, but improved revenue and margins cover the expense, and the other benefits of shared roles and new freedoms are worth every penny.
Hiring the Right Business Development Professional
Early in my business, I identified that marketing was not my forte. I did not enjoy the day-in and day-out tasks essential to a successful marketing strategy. Sure, I could do it, which I did for several years with much success. However, I would need to be able to devote more time to marketing to take my business to the next level, making my role less enjoyable. I hired marketers through the years, some more successful than others. I subscribed to coaching calls to help oversee my marketing team for many years and feel that has been invaluable, but that couldn’t substitute the right person. After a lot of prayer, patience, and many interviews, we found someone who was driven and invested in their personal growth as much as the agency’s. I have finally learned to listen to my gut and peers, make those hard decisions, and stop accepting the status quo. Again, it takes a commitment to a higher salary to hire the right business development professionals. This commitment, paired with a strong marketing strategy, will pay dividends.
Office Harmony
Finding office harmony is often elusive. Letting staff stay onboard too long, poisoning the culture, can be the trigger to lose the “good” ones and suck time and energy from the owner. I would find my vacations interrupted by office drama and abrupt voluntary or forced separations. This last year and a half, I made many hard decisions to part ways with several long-term employees who were ok or even good at their jobs but came with disruptive personalities, causing constant riffs. I strengthened the team by separating from the toxic employees I had been keeping because I thought we couldn’t replace them. The additional responsibilities and new team members had the opposite effect of what I had feared. It provided existing team members the power to take on more responsibilities and fulfill personal goals. Since the changes, our culture, work-family, and work-life balance for the entire team have improved. I wish I had pulled the trigger years ago and realized that good job performance should not overrule behaviors or disruptive personalities.
Thriving Business
To thrive and find happiness in our work, what we all want can be achieved by committing to be willing to make changes in comfortable processes and tenured personnel. If I had to attribute the growth to one thing, the restructured intake process was by far the most significant change we made. This was not easily achieved, and it took some time to get the entire team’s buy-in, but it paid off. Hiring a more qualified “executive” for two core roles also proved invaluable, and although the cost was significant, it allowed my entire team to have additional support, contributing to record growth. Initially, I thought I couldn’t afford to do this, but afterward, I discovered it was needed to find the elusive growth we were working so hard to achieve. Finally, establishing and adhering to the company culture and core values and parting ways with team members who didn’t fit made for a more harmonious and productive team. After an employee has been given the expectation and opportunity to improve, if an employee shows they cannot meet those expectations or adhere to culture, make a change and don’t look back. These changes didn’t happen overnight, and we didn’t get everything perfect the first time, but with hard work, 2023 moved us forward.