Assembling a highly qualified team of professionals to collaboratively deliver the best services in the marketplace is how to establish a top aging in place services business
In the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters,” the catchphrase was “Who you gonna call?” Tagging onto that phrase, it leads into how we build a strategic marting and delivery team for our aging in place services businesses.
Through the marketing we do (websites, social media, advertising, promotion, and other means) as well as the personal connections we create, we build a network of professionals that we can call upon to help us deliver our services and create the home modifications that our clients are expecting and needing from us. This is the foundation of the who we are going to call.
The question of who someone is going to call here is not directed at the consumer but rather at us as the team leader and chief service provider. We are going to encounter many people from a broad cross-section of the marketplace – depending on how we market ourselves and how well-known we are in our marketplace – and we need to know how to put the right complement of people on the ground for any given situation.
In order to have a deep bench, borrowing a phrase from the sports world (meaning people who can come into the game and contribute effectively because they are as talented as the players already in the game), we need to do our homework and assemble a top-notch team of specialists.
We might expect that the consumer – with or without a specific physical need of theirs that they want addressed – would contact us or others as they searched for answers and for people to help them. They just need help. On the other hand, when they reach us, that is their last phone call. We take it from there.
There is no need for the client to contact anyone but us. Once that happens, we set everything else in motion. We have everyone and anyone they might need to come into their home and perform the services that they will need to assist them, It’s not even important that they even know in advance some of the disciplines and specialties of the people who will be aiding them. That is our job and a major reason it is so beneficial for them to have contacted us – providing that we have done the preliminary work and created the team necessary to deliver the type of work we advertise.
Depending on our professional area of expertise – construction, design, healthcare, assistive equipment, or some other important component of the overall delivery picture – we will begin assembling the other professionals to complement the skills that we don’t have so that we can present a complete picture to the client. No one can have expertise in all areas. This is why the team approach is so valid and powerful.
There are many ways that we can begin connecting with other professionals, but the first step is identifying who we want and need on our team – first by qualifications and then by name. We begin looking at people already in our network, people that we had in our CAPS classes with us, people we find on the CAPS directory. people we find through their social media profiles, and people we met or are meeting through professional organizations and events. Then we begin asking for referrals with people we know to round out any gaps that we have in potential strategic partners.
Remember, we are not looking to hire associates. We are creating and assembling a CAPS delivery team for aging in place solutions that corresponds to our business model and the type, price point and scope of services that we offer. Everyone remain independent, but we are going to collaborate from time-to-time for the mutual benefit of the team and the clients we serve. This is a fluid arrangement, and team members can be added or removed. We can bring someone into the game from off the bench as necessary for a special role.
We have to work at assembling our team. We have to know who we are going to call to fill a need or slot that we have on our team to perform the work we envision for our clients, whether it is design assistance, lighting, flooring, wall tile, showers, bath fixtures, cabinetry and countertops, general plumbing and drainage, sound systems and security, doors and windows, or any of several other components that might factor into a job that we are commissioned to do.
None of us needs to have the complete package – that would be a very tall order. However, in collaboration and teamwork with other like-minded qualified professionals, we can come together for one job or several, to deliver an outstanding finished design solution for our aging in place clients – one that they would not be able to get on their own or from a company not employing such a broad team concept as us.
Who is the client going to call? Us. Who are we going to call? Our trusted team members that we have assembled.