Duration: 30m 14s
We hear it all the time from our franchisees. There is simply nothing out there that compares to the level of support you receive from Right at Home. One thing we can promise you is that you are never alone as a franchise owner, no matter where you are on your journey.
Our business coaches play a huge part in fulfilling that promise.
During a recent Tuesday Talk, VP of Franchise Development Jen Chaney caught up with Right at Home Business Performance Coach Kiley Drog to get the inside scoop on everything our business coaches bring to the table. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot!
“Sometimes we’re your therapist. Sometimes we’re your cheerleader. Sometimes we’re the enforcer of the rules,” says Kiley. “But really, we just try to walk alongside you and support you as you run your home care business.”
Our business coaches are a load-bearing pillar of Right at Home’s uniquely powerful support structure. So how exactly can business coaching help you on your ownership journey? And how, as a franchisee, can you get the most out of this support structure? Kiley helps us get to the bottom of these questions and much more.
Choosing Your Level of Engagement
In a lot of ways, explains Kiley, you get what you give. The best way to get the most out of Right at Home’s amazing support structure is to choose engagement. As Kiley points out, there’s no obligation to get involved. She notes that she works with both new franchise owners and seasoned veterans. Some choose engagement and some do not.
You certainly have that freedom as a franchisee. However, those who choose engagement enjoy access to some pretty amazing resources and opportunities.
“I would say engagement with the system, with their peers, with the corporate team, makes a big difference,” says Kiley. “Participating in a Performance Group is a big difference maker too, I believe, because you get in touch with other like-minded people that are very driven to grow.”
We’ll take a deeper look at Performance Groups below. But really, that’s just the tip of the engagement iceberg.
If you’re looking for other ways to get involved, Kiley highlights
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- Take-Off Tuesdays, where you can engage with, and hear from, other franchisee owners across the system
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- Sales Series, where you can collaborate with sales people and fellow owners
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- Strategic Leadership Council, where you can help shape strategic initiatives at the corporate level
Every one of these programs is an opportunity to connect, to share your experiences, and to learn from both your fellow owners and all kinds of thought leaders at corporate and in our broader field of home health.
Taking a Deeper Look at Performance Groups
Kiley highlights the particular value of Right at Home’s Performance Groups. Indeed, we hear it from owners all the time. It’s hard to overstate just how valuable Performance Groups are to those who choose participation. But there are a few thresholds you have to clear in order to become part of a Performance Group. Each Performance Group is made up of roughly 10 franchisees as well as a designated business coach like Kiley.
To become one of these franchisees, you must have at least one year of ownership under your belt. You must also complete some prerequisite financial education. Once you’ve cleared these hurdles, finding a Performance Group is a bit of a matchmaking process. Kiley explains that corporate will take a number of factors into consideration including your region, operational size, and even your personality as they attempt to place you in the right Performance Group.
“We try to assess what would be the best group for you, and have you interview with that prospective group,” says Kiley. “The group has to extend an invitation, and the owner has to say, ‘Yes, I want to join this group.’”
Performance Groups will get together twice a year in person to share performance numbers, provide status updates on current goals, outline new goals for the coming quarter, and more. The opportunity to share and receive insight from fellow owners is invaluable. But Kiley warns that your business should be on steady footing before you consider this level of participation.
“We do travel twice a year,” Kiley points out. “To be able to leave your office and know that your team can handle it for a few days is just as important as that one year mark. If you can’t stay in a meeting for eight hours a day without some breaks to check in, your team is not ready for you to leave to participate in a Performance Group.”
The Benefits of Engagement
That said, if you are ready for this level of engagement, the benefits are considerable. Performance Groups offer a setting where every owner gets the opportunity to take a deeper look at their own business with the support, attention, and insight of their fellow owners.
“We’re going to have time to talk about a bright idea,” says Kiley. ‘What’s something that I’ve implemented in my office that’s going really well?’’
But, she says, “we also take time for each owner to talk separately about what’s keeping you up at night, what’s a threat to your business or a burning issue. We take time during that meeting to problem-solve.”
This means that in order to be part of a Performance Group, you must be willing to open your own books and look at your numbers honestly. That’s where your peers come in. Each meeting is a chance to dissect your operation’s performance, highlight everything that’s working, and acknowledge everything that isn’t.
“It’s about really holding each other accountable to those action items,” says Kiley, “and really putting it all out there.”
Your operation’s strengths and flaws are laid bare by this process. But, Kiley notes, the transparency and accountability tend to pay off in a big way for most franchise owners. From their shared experiences, Jen and Kiley both acknowledge that franchisees who participate in Performance Groups almost uniformly see better results in their long-term business performance.
Keeping Your Flexibility
The best part about engaging and making the most of the resources offered by corporate is that it all comes with no strings attached. Your engagement will never come at the expense of your autonomy as a business. For instance, you can generally choose your own vendors and partners. While all franchise owners are required to use Right at Home’s primary operational system, everything else is up to you.
“You have a choice of who your bookkeeper is. You have a choice if you want to have a recruiter come help you hire. You have a choice if you want to have an offshore person come help do admin stuff,” says Kiley.
At the end of the day, it’s your business. You have the freedom to run it the way you see fit. Right at Home will still provide you with the full spectrum of resources, and access to all the awesome programs described above, but your business strategy is your own.
“We’ll lead you to the best practices and develop a lot of good tools,” confirms Kiley. “But really it’s up to you to take advantage and follow the plan, follow the model. We find that those that are most successful are following that model.”
Your Most Powerful Resource–Business Coaching
Perhaps the most valuable resource at your fingertips is your business coach. And that’s not just because of the insight, energy and support you can expect from your coach. You can also expect somebody who is accessible, available, and happy to help at any time.
As Kiley explains, business coaches are tasked with a minimum of 24 “personal touchpoints” with franchise owners throughout the course of a year. This means a lot of travel, “whether it’s at a Performance Group meeting or in their office or maybe at a state level meeting or regional meeting.”
Each touchpoint is another valuable opportunity to really dig deep on your business – to discuss what’s working, what needs improvement, and where you see things going from here. For instance, Kiley describes what a quarterly office visit to one of her assigned franchisees might look like:
“It would probably be a full day in an office where we have an agenda that basically goes from the caregiver side of the business, all the way down to your financials and marketing and everything in between.”
For new franchisees, who are automatically enrolled in our Right Start program, coaching support is even more concentrated.
“Newer owners, I’ll meet with every other week via Zoom,” says Kiley. “I’m always available via cell phone or text, but also as they grow in their journey with Right at Home, it might be a monthly call, or an every other month call where we set aside 45 minutes.”
During that time, says Kiley, she works closely with owners to address questions like:
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- How are things going in your business?
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- Where are the numbers trending?
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- How are we looking compared to the goals you’ve set for the year?
Building a Healthy Relationship
Before joining Right at Home, Kiley notes that she worked for another healthcare franchisor. It was a much different working environment than the one we enjoy here.
“I’ve seen a franchise where the franchisor–franchisee relationship isn’t that great,” Kiley recalls.
“Here we have a very healthy back and forth relationship. So I would say if you’re looking for somewhere where your thoughts and opinions are valued, we are a good partner for you.”