Always Best Care

Overview

Always Best Care Senior Services is a fast-growing senior care franchise in the US, currently operating in 30 states and expanding. When outdated purchasing processes began taking up too much valuable time, the organization turned to Amazon Business to help its 107 franchise owners win back lost hours.
 

Optimizing purchasing across franchises 

Since 1996, Always Best Care has helped thousands of families with in-home care and assisted living services. The company is a fast-growing franchise operation in the US, with 107 franchise owners and up to 25 more expected by the end of the year. With a huge to-do list for day-to-day operations and varied patient needs, every franchise owner needs all the hours they can get to focus on running their business. But, with outdated and time-consuming purchasing processes, time can be a limited resources.

A challenge with purchasing

For the franchise owners of Always Best Care, regular purchasing of both office and medical supplies is all part of running the business — but it can take up a lot of time. In bigger, institutional settings, buyers can order in bulk and easily make large purchase orders, but individual franchises frequently order everyday items such as latex gloves and other basics in smaller quantities.

“It was hard to meet the minimums needed for free shipping, and acquiring supplies often involved a trip to a warehouse store and filling a trunk with equipment,” says Sheila Davis, Senior Vice President of Area Operations at Always Best Care. “When we did have items shipped, it was slower than we needed, or we faced astronomical shipping costs.”

Knowing there must be a better way, the company started looking at options that fit with its level of ambition and would give valuable time back to franchise managers.

Enter Amazon Business

In search of a faster, more convenient and cost effective purchasing solution, Always Best Care turned to Amazon Business, securing a Business Prime Essentials plan — and bringing a familiar retail experience to the company’s purchasing. “Amazon is one of the very first places I go anytime I need something, because it’s so easy to look up products and see what’s available,” says Davis.

And it wasn’t just Davis who saw the appeal of working with Amazon Business. “A few of our executives were amazed at the business purchasing options available, and wanted to bring the conveniences we have in our homes to our franchises,” says Davis.

Seamless adoption across franchises

Always Best Care communicated a three-month rollout process for the Amazon Business opportunity through its monthly franchise newsletter. Throughout the process, the news of Always Best Care’s partnership with Amazon Business was met with excitement. “Every single day over those 90 days, somebody within our system contacted corporate to ask when purchasing on Amazon Business would become official,” says Davis.

And when it did become official, it was worth the wait. “So far I’ve had nothing but positive feedback,” says Davis. “We’re getting items hand delivered, getting them cheaper, not having to pay shipping. It’s a win-win situation.”

Twice as simple, twice as fast

With Amazon Business, Always Best Care has seen increased convenience and decreased costs. “Not only is it easier to find and order items, but the convenience of having them shipped directly to the office can’t be overstated — most of the time without any shipping charges.”

The speed of delivery is critical in a business that needs items quickly for smooth operations and patient comfort. Before, Always Best Care received items in three to seven days. “We had to pay more for ‘overnight’ shipping to get items in three days. With Amazon Business we’re cutting delivery times in half,” says Davis.

More than just shopping

Simplified purchasing isn’t the only benefit for Always Best Care. Amazon  Business also provides an advantage when it comes to offering a tempting perk to new franchise partners.

“When they come to Always Best Care to look at our facility and understand operations, we’re competing against a selection of other agencies,” says Davis. “Using Amazon Business shows that we have a variety of ways to support our prospective franchisees.”

More improvements on the way

As Always Best Care continues to work with Amazon Business, it plans to use the full functionality to make further improvements across its existing franchises and add new franchises to its roster.

“We’re actively working with Amazon Business to help us gather statistics that will further improve our purchasing,” says Davis.  “If we can get the data to show what Always Best Care franchises have done or brands they are using, then we can unlock even more benefits.”

It’s small improvements like this that result in real efficiency gains. And for Always Best Care, every gain means more time to fulfill the organization’s mission to provide extraordinary, compassionate care.

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