This episode of the Care CEO Success Stories podcast features Jac Owen, founder and managing director of Connect, which handles enquiries on behalf of care homes.

Jac discusses with host Adam James of Springup PR how Connect helps care homes increase their occupancy by managing enquiries effectively - emphasising the importance of handling inquiries with empathy and understanding, recognising the emotional journey of callers, and ensuring enquiries are followed up appropriately.

Jac highlights the need for care providers to be accessible and responsive across various contact methods, including phone calls, emails, and live chats.

She also shares her insights into training staff to handle inquiries with a personal touch, avoiding a tick-box approach, and ensuring clear communication about next steps for callers.

The discussion also touches on the importance of following up, the benefits of having transparent pricing, and the various ways to measure and improve conversion rates from enquiries including:

• The importance of "understanding the emotional journey,” of callers looking for care for their loved ones

• How care providers should be accessible via phone calls, emails, live chats, and even WhatsApp.

• Training should focus on listening skills, empathy, and avoiding a tick-box approach.

• Follow up calls are a courtesy and show care and interest and “should be done in a way that is helpful and not intrusive”.

• Having “transparent pricing,” on the website is important but should be “balanced with the opportunity to discuss the value of the services”.

• Measuring success by tracking enquiries and ensuring effective follow-up.

• Care providers should “continually review and improve,” their enquiry management processes with training and support for staff.

• Calls should start with “empathetic listening,” to understand the caller’s needs and concerns.

• Always provide clear next steps to the caller, ensuring they know what to expect.

• Handling enquiries with a “personal touch rather than a scripted response,” makes a significant difference.

• Ensuring enquiries from multiple channels are managed efficiently and effectively.

• Consistent engagement and follow-ups “build trust and demonstrate commitment”.

• How it's essential to discuss the “value of the services,” during initial enquiries, not just the price.

• Being adaptable to the needs of callers and “providing tailored responses," enhances the overall experience.

This episode of the Care Home PR And Marketing Podcast features Stephen Forster, founder of the Care Social Network.

Drawing from his background in care and recruitment, Stephen shares how to revolutionise care worker hiring for care homes.

Stephen used to work as domiciliary care assistant in Huddersfield, and it was here that he advanced to HR manager subsequently helping to double the size of the company within two years before founding recruitment and retention company Care Social Network.

In the episode Stephen focuses on:

• “Why you can recruit all your carers via Indeed”: Stephen believes care providers need only use Indeed for hiring care assistants – and he offers unique insights into optimising job adverts and budgets.

“Indeed is 100% a golden ticket. Learn how to use Indeed you can smash it! One provider I’ve been helping has at least 500% more applications while using the same budget as previous,” says Stephen.

He adds: “focusing your efforts on Indeed rather than spreading them thin across various channels,” is key.

• Why “it’s now a candidates’ market – so you must strip back your entire recruitment processes to make it work”

Stephen addresses how overuse of agency staff can lead to permanent staff being unhappy, which ultimately negatively impacts care.

• Why “time-to-hire: is vital:

“Often if someone applies for a care job on Indeed the care home will reply three days later, and it’s often a boring ad. And yet they expect candidates to get back to them!?” says Stephen.

“The truth is you must treat applicants with unbelievable respect, like gold dust - and get on the phone to them straight away”

“I use a VET (voicemail, email, text) system, and I do this twice per day, per applicant.

“Remember, candidates may be applying for 4 or 5 care jobs in one go on Indeed. So you have to be fast

“And you must sell the company ethos to candidates, and why your provider is the best place to work.”

Stephen gives the example of one Lancashire provider with three homes which cut agency usage from 60% to 5% saving over £10,000 a month in agency fees.

• Why face-to-face interviews are, in the present recruitment climate, more about “candidates interviewing the care provider.”
• Why lengthy screenings of applicants via the phone need to be reduced - and face to face interviews should be around one hour.

Why offering jobs on the spot should not be considered as “being desperate”.

Rather it’s about doing “whatever it takes,” to get the right person to work for you.

• No-shows: “Providers complain that potential applicants are not good enough and do not show up – but when I dig deeper it’s because processes are not good enough from the start,” says Stephen.
• Hiring registered managers: Stephen recommends “using Indeed and its CV search features to proactively reach out to potential candidates, potentially saving on recruitment fees…..You can hire a new manager for £250 – and that can be done by every care company…”

This episode of the Care Home PR And Marketing podcast features Saskia Binns, a communications, brand and marketing consultant who serves on Championing Social Care’s organising committee.

Saskia shares how, when starting a new care home or care provider, “it's important to understand your brand positioning, demographics, competitors, and determine your niche”.

Saskia also examines the importance of competitor analysis, defining your values and vision, adopting your own tone and matching images with words.

Drawing on her years of experience as former head of communications at Majestic Care and building the Championing Social Care brand, Saskia shares secrets to building a brand with unique insights including:

• How understanding your brand positioning is crucial, “it’s about recognising the unique essence of each care home and telling their story in a way that resonates with their community.”

• Analysing market demographics, competitors, and identifying a unique market niche by conducting thorough competitor analysis to gain insights, possibly through industry forums or conventions.

• The critical considerations when building your brand and how “it's not just about what you offer; it's about how you offer it”.

• The importance of strong values and vision aligned to staff and how emotional connection and values are key in care.

• Ensuring your website content connects emotionally through tone of voice and matches brand values and how “images and words must align”.

• The importance of brand USP and how “your people and team will be your unique selling point.” so promoting them well on social media sells the care.

• How brand colours have psychological impact, what colours associate with care and what colours to avoid in your branding.

• Why logos should reflect your company ethos, avoid overly simplistic designs and resonate with the consultancy's mission rather than focusing solely on initials or acronyms.

• Utilising Facebook is key for care marketing and ensuring a consistent brand and calls to action.

• Utilising platforms like Linkedin to build professional networks and aligning company branding across platforms.

• How “a care home's website should be more than information; it should take visitors on an emotional journey, giving them a feel for life within the home."

• How Championing Social Care started from small conversations in lockdown about care workers and has grown to huge national events led by volunteers passionate about care.