Interview with Adam Liebelt
Gary Barg: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, about 235,000 adults visit emergency rooms due to injuries suffered in the bathroom. More than a third of the injuries happened while bathing or showering. The researchers also found that people over 85 suffer more than half of their injuries near the toilet. Also, bathroom injuries are the major reason for Emergency Room visits for seniors and a major reason for long-term care placement.
Adam, these stats are truly horrifying to a family caregiver. Yet, I know this is something you've been working to help solve for many years. Tell me about your history and the core mission of H & H.
Adam Liebelt: Our core has always been the products, in fact we have the largest selection of grab bars and bath/shower seats in the country. We are the very first manufacturing brand to offer these important products direct to retail. We found that that there was too much getting lost in translation when other brands simply sell it through Home Depot. H & H, over time, has continued to develop new and innovative ways to address helping our loved ones stay at home with the safety and accessibility that you would want and need. We became the very first brand to offer in-home, telephone and e-mail consultations, as well as installation of our own products. As a result, we can guarantee the product from the moment it leaves our assembly line until the moment it's in your house; and for the rest of the time that you're going to use it.
Gary Barg: I really like your comprehensive, consultative, consumer centric approach, which is really a mouthful. What does all that mean?
Adam Liebelt: Every one of our consultations and every interaction we have with a client is about giving them the information they need to make a qualified decision about their situation. Whether it's purchasing products or having it installed by us or not. If they decide not to use us at all, which we find is typically not the case, they would be able to go to somebody else with all the knowledge they need for the best outcome. It's all about ensuring clients get the best access to the information, products, and services that they can have at a reasonable amount of money.
Gary Barg: You have an affiliate program that I wanted to talk about.
Adam Liebelt: H & H's mission has always been everyone should benefit. If you're working with a client, you can feel comfortable to say to them "You've got some safety and fall issues in your home. Would you mind having H & H give you a call?” It's not a mandatory program to get compensation, but we offer it because we believe that it's important. We're all in this together to fix the problem.
Gary Barg: What you've developed is what I would call a partnership program.
Adam Liebelt: We have two programs. The affiliate program really gives the individual, caregiver, nurse, or doctor the opportunity to work with us in a very streamlined, transparent way. We’ve also had a partnership program in place for a long time. With this program, we can customize a plan for your organization to deliver these services and products in a way that's effective for you and your clients. While also maintaining the industry gold standard H & H is known for. We are the first and only brand to offer installation of their products by their own employees. Nobody else does that. Others subcontract their work, because no one else is willing to take the liability that comes with standing behind, not only their product, but also the services, and guaranteeing the results. To us, that was the most important thing. We can't cut corners. Safety isn't safe, if it's not done right.
Gary Barg: The partnership program can be done with independent or national homecare agencies. It could be done with nursing agencies. Anybody who has professionals who come into the home, this is another service you can offer to keep us living in our homes longer, safer, better, stronger.
Adam Liebelt: Absolutely. And now you can have additional resources to change your client’s environment for the better. The partnership program has the same incentivization schedule, if they want to participate as the affiliate program.
Gary Barg: A lot of times we tend to check out the backgrounds of the folks who are painting our houses more than those who are coming in to help keep our homes safer places to be. I'm very intrigued by the fact that you're expanding nationwide. That certainly makes things a lot easier for family caregivers. Can you tell me about your plans?
Adam Liebelt: Absolutely. Going national gives us the ability to build these networks, work with caregivers, and get feedback in real-time. It gives you direct access to us. We can roll out these programs and services anywhere we find a need. For example, we are not presently in New York, but if several of you sign up and say, "I really need your services here in New York." We can launch our services and bring people out to you within a matter of weeks. That's the fastest that I've ever been able to see a company commit to really expanding and bringing what needs to be brought to everybody.
Gary Barg: I'm always intrigued by how an expert like you and your staff walk in the house and analyze the safety challenges. When you walk into a bathroom, per se, what are you looking at? What can you do?
Adam Liebelt: When we're looking at your bathroom or at your home in general, we know where certain things should be and why. For instance, you always want to have a grab bar along the long wall and under the short wall in a shower by the control area. If you are going to step over, you want to have something to hold on to while you're adjusting the valves. You want to be able to hold onto something, or grab something, if you slip while you're doing that. You also want a bar along the entire length. Understanding why that's there is the really big difference between someone that just follows ADA protocol versus someone that is a specialist for H & H. If you're transitioning into a shower with a tub; you will have to step over something, so you’ll want a vertical bar at the point where you pivot. That's not on any ADA code or in any commercial design. When we look at your situation, we also take into account your own unique physical needs. We can then modify what would be a traditional recommendation into something specific that works just for you.
Gary Barg: It's not just the product, it's individualization.
Adam Liebelt: Absolutely, this is a deep level understanding of what it is manufactured to do. We need to be able to assess weight ratings, backing needs and type of anchoring. That also enables us to best work with the client from a budget perspective.
Gary Barg: Talk to me about the partnership program and the affiliate program. How do people sign up? Who should sign up?
Adam Liebelt: Sure. They work a little bit different in how you sign up. For the affiliate program, extremely simple and streamlined, you can go right on our website, and click, "sign up now." The whole process takes about three minutes. You can be submitting referrals by the end of the day. The partnership program is slightly more in-depth. You can apply on the website, and there is a worksheet we go through with you to develop your individualized program. We also give you access to what we call our business development services which allows you to book time with our teams, including myself, to talk about anything you can think of that might help you do better. We understand how difficult the industry is right now and it is getting tougher and tougher for good in-home care companies to, not only survive, but thrive.
We're more than willing to help in any way we can to ensure people's continued success and good work. We stand by our products. We stand by our service. That way you know, if something happens, we're there to stand behind you.
Gary Barg: Adam, what is the one most important piece of advice you'd like to share with family caregivers?
Adam Liebelt: There is always going to be a situation that's hard to solve. Or, a solution that is hard to find. But, don't give up. Look around, do a little research. There are always people there to support. Whether it's a nonprofit. Whether it's a website. Whether it's a company like ours. There are a lot of people out there to help you. You just have to keep looking. We do exist.