Strategies For Franchise Success During The Pandemic

Nursing homes and long-term care facilities have been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus. A third of U.S. coronavirus deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. How then has Assisted Living Locators, a nationwide senior placement and referral business, prevailed during the pandemic and continued to grow? Embracing technology, collaboration and communication and flexibility were three vital strategies for us to keep up with the current changes in the business environment during COVID-19, and for dealing with whatever may come in the future. Combining a high tech, high touch approach, we were able to proactively adapt to our situation and move our business forward. Here’s how:

High Tech Helps You Connect – During this pandemic, it is precisely the time to boldly advance your digital agenda and embrace technology. At Assisted Living Locators, we revamped training and coaching tools to reflect the COVID-19 reality. We rapidly educated our franchisees on virtual technology opportunities — such as Zoom, FaceTime and social media — to support families during COVID-19. Virtual consultations and online tours of senior communities were a much-needed service as facilities closed their doors to most visitors. Our easy-to-use online Assessment Tool gave families quick insight to appropriate senior housing for their loved one. We supported our franchisees via expanded webinars on best practices and “roundtable” Zoom meetings to help them navigate business continuity.

High Touch Keeps You Visible in Your Community – A high touch approach has always and continues to play an integral part in our franchise success. At Assisted Living Locators, we foster a culture of social responsibility and service, investing in the community, and encouraging franchisee volunteerism and philanthropy. Whatever your industry, a company culture that thrives on high touch and giving back has many benefits and will ultimately generate a positive image and make you more visible in your community. Rising to the challenge of the pandemic, Assisted Living Locators franchisees collaborated with health care providers and community resource partners to provide crisis management to families. They created joint videos with community partners for safe virtual tours, Zoom meetings for in-take interviews and utilized state health department databases for the latest information on COVID-19 to protect older adults. In addition, our franchisees leveraged our nationwide and local partnerships with in-home care agencies to ensure a safe home environment for seniors during quarantine. To further help families assess the right care for their loved ones during the pandemic, all 140 Assisted Living Locators franchisees became dementia care certified, making us the first nationwide senior placement service to achieve system-certification. Using this knowledge, along with high tech tools, our franchisees came up with many solution-based alternatives for families.

To further help families assess the right care for their loved ones during the pandemic, all 140 Assisted Living Locators franchisees became dementia care certified, making us the first nationwide senior placement service to achieve system-certification. Using this knowledge, along with high tech tools, our franchisees came up with many solution-based alternatives for families.

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