Have you ever wondered what your plans are for the evening of your life? What will you do in your leisure time after your retirement? Everyone passes through the transitional phases of their lives, carrying some beautiful moments with counterbalancing bitter ones.
The loss of a loved one or to relocate can be a challenging phase to go through. Though there are unpleasant incidents in the journey of life, we still manage to overcome them with our close ones. The most delightful life transitions happen when they involve unconditional care and compassion.
To help senior individuals make these important transitions in their life smoothly, Caring Transitions rose to the occasion. From sorting through years of memories, Caring Transitions have witnessed the smiles on older faces.
In the following interview, Ray Fabik, the Brand President of Caring Transitions talks about the exemplary care services that the company has been providing since its inception and how it’s impacting the industry as a whole.
Please brief our audience about your company, its values, and the key aspects of its stronghold within the senior care services industry.
Caring Transitions is a nationally recognized franchise that specializes in senior relocation and transition services. Caring Transitions provides customers with helpful moves, estate sales, rightsizing, and transitions through its 231 locations across the United States, all of which are owned and run by Certified Relocation and Transition Specialists.
This includes expert assistance as well as a well-executed transition plan that starts with sorting personal possessions and continues through packing, unpacking, resettling, and selling items to the final clearing and cleaning of the property.
Tell us more about the services that make your company stand out from the competition?
There are a lot of companies that know how to move your ‘stuff’, but Caring Transitions knows how to move 50 years’ worth of memories with expert care. Our owners are committed to providing the highest level of service to senior clients and their families.
With CTBIDS (online auction platform), our owners can completely liquidate an estate without searching for a third party to handle the sale. This benefits both the Caring Transitions owner and their clients by eliminating the hassle of contracting with another company and by eliminating any extra fees paid to a third party.
As a nationally recognized brand, our Caring Transitions owners can build referral partnerships with their local senior care facilities, real estate agents, and attorneys to create repeatable revenue streams.
Ray, brief us about you and your journey in the transition care industry.
I have been the Brand President of Caring Transitions since February 2019. I started my career in retail leadership and moved into the senior care industry in 2014. During my training as VP of Operations for an in-home care company, I spent time in the field directly providing care for some of the clients.
I found that I truly had a passion for serving this part of the population and gained a greater appreciation for what families are going through as their loved one’s age. There is a large industry devoted to senior care, but there are very few companies within that industry that provide the vital transition management services that Caring Transitions provide.
I was drawn to lead this particular franchise because of the need for its services and the type of franchise owners it attracts – entrepreneurs who want a profitable business but who also want to support the seniors in their community.
What is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the global healthcare sector, and how has your company fared during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns?
Caring Transitions is a pandemic-resistant business, as our services are needed regardless of the state of the economy or pandemic-related business shut-downs. The population continues to age, and the need to move senior parents into an assisted living or long-term care facility has not gone away. Also, many families have chosen to move their loved ones out of these senior living facilities during this time, creating even more demand for senior relocation services.
The pandemic put Caring Transitions owners in the position to win market share away from traditional moving companies that don’t have a nationally recognized brand name or a reputation for strictly following health and safety protocols. Although all Caring Transitions territories are locally owned and operated, the power of national brand recognition has been a tremendous benefit during this time.
Additionally, the demand for senior relocation assistance, particularly getting a home ready to sell quickly, has increased due to the residential real estate boom. What could take families (especially those living several hours away) weeks to accomplish can be handled in a matter of days by the experienced local Caring Transitions teams.
What is your opinion on the necessity for healthcare service providers to align their offerings with modern technological developments, especially when it comes to catering to the changing patient preferences and needs?
Caring Transitions has embraced technological advances when it comes to safely serving its clients and their communities. Not only has the use of CTBIDS (online estate sale platform) increased dramatically but also the ability to use technology to hold remote consultations with prospective clients and touchless in-person estate sales has allowed seniors and their families to remain socially distanced and safe during the pandemic.
I expect this trend to continue even after the pandemic ends. Families living several hours from their aging loved ones will have the option to meet remotely to discuss the transition process, and hosting estate sales online has the potential to substantially increase revenue from each sale. Many seniors are counting on the income from the sale of their belongings to help fund their move into a senior care facility, so the increased online visibility and resulting selling prices of their items is a major benefit to hiring a Caring Transitions team.
In your opinion, what could be the future of the senior care services sector post the pandemic? And how are you strategizing your company’s operations for that future?
The senior care services industry will continue to thrive post-pandemic. Members of the Baby Boomer generation are hitting retirement age at the rate of over 10,000 people per day. As I described in my previous answer, our post-pandemic strategy, specifically when it comes to embracing technology, will not need to change much. Instead, we will continue to build on what we have learned about the benefits of leveraging technology to provide a variety of tools for our franchise owners and their clients.
Later this spring, CTBIDS Next Generation will launch. This is an enhanced version of the original platform that will be better able to handle the increased traffic to the site and provide a more seamless user experience.
As an established leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts aspiring to venture into the senior care services sector?
The senior service industry presents countless opportunities to successfully open and scale a business. There is great value in considering a franchise opportunity as opposed to starting your own service business from the ground up. When doing this, you can draw on the years of experience and the proven systems and processes that the franchisor provides. This will allow you to focus your time and energy toward running the business rather than designing the business.
Another important factor to consider is the difference between a senior services business that provides direct care versus a business that provides other vital but less regulated services. Caring Transitions falls into this category as it is far less regulated than an in-home care business.
Finally, find a business you are passionate about, and that provides a much-needed service. Many Caring Transitions franchise owners were drawn to this brand because they had experienced the stress of moving an aging loved one without assistance.
How do you envision scaling your company’s operations in 2021?
One of the most important initiatives in 2021 and beyond will be to grow the footprint of the Caring Transitions brand nationwide. Not only will this benefit the organization as a whole, but it will also benefit individual franchise owners and their clients by supporting end-to-end relocation services for long-distance moves.
Our Caring Transitions owners will be able to work together to provide all the sorting, packing, estate sale, and clean-up services at the first location and then provide trusted unpacking and resettlement services at the new home. This is a strong selling point when our franchise owners are speaking with potential clients and their families as it eliminates the hassle of looking for two different companies to help with the move.
