Senior Concierge Blog

The purpose of this blog is to explain the Senior Concierge profession and to provide on-going assistance to senior concierge professionals with tips and tools for their business, and information from the field about the day and the life of a senior concierge. Enjoy! Rachel Laws Senior Concierge

Monday, January 19, 2015

The Senior Concierge and Driving our Clients



I hear this so often from my Senior concierge trainees. Senior Concierge professionals ask me how to justify our rates to their clients when all they need are rides.  

We are not a driving service!   Driving may be a part of our task but this is not something we should do on a regular basis at our rates.  If my clients need rides I immediately find them a lower cost option.  There are better things we can do with our time and their money.

Getting rides to shopping, restaurants, theater events, and errands can be a huge issue for seniors and there are options but it's up to us to provide those options (for a fee).

First of all you need to match their ride needs to their physical mobility.  If someone asks you for help with finding a driver and they are a serious fall risk you will not want to connect them with a local taxi company.  A trained caregiver with insurance would be more appropriate.

Senior Concierge professionals definitely drive but it's for more important things like visiting the doctor to take notes, helping your clients in tax or legal meetings remember their questions and take notes of the answers.  These are appropriate times to drive your client where your fee is understood.

There are many driving options.  First, please consider that sometimes errands can be handled faster if the client does not come along.  Picking up cleaning, going shopping, or going to the hardware store can be very tiring for some older people and they prefer that you go for them. 


But if they definitely want a ride, finding a local caregiver through a care giving agency (that you have vetted) is a good option.  Make sure to provide the agency with all of the requirements of this employee. They need to be able to drive their own car or the clients car and have insurance to do so.

There are on-line services where you can find drivers that live in the zip code of your client that have been background checked. www.care.com is a great listing of local private caregivers.  Make sure you verify their insurance and registration as well as making sure their have the skills needed to help your client and the personality type to match.

In some cities there are volunteer organizations where people will drive for free or a donation.  Make sure you have learned about all of these services.

There is a lot in the news about Uber.  Learn how to get them a ride through this service if they are very able to get around themselves.

There are often city run services.  Here in the Bay Area of California we call this Paratransit.

It's important to educate your clients about all their options and not fear that you will lose them as a client if you find them a less expensive and safe option.  If they find that you have done a great job solving this issue you will probably be invited back to do other types of things or to sort out other issues that may come up for them. This is how we add value.

We are problem solvers..and in a way educators about all the services in the local area.  We have to do our research to be able to offer solutions to our clients.

Just a reminder.  Check with your insurance company to make sure you are covered to drive your clients.  Most business liability insurance companies will not cover you for this. Check with your vehicle insurance company if they can provide additional insurance to you for this service of driving.

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