Saturday edition today. So I got a completely new insight from some coworkers at my nursing job. Yes, I still work that nursing job on the weekends. One day when Fix it Today works out well, I’ll be out of the nursing career. But the new insight was into the Indian community. There are lots of Indians in the healthcare industry and I work with some great ones. They gave me an insight and possible “in” into the Indian community here in DFW.
So they asked what I was up to and I showed them Fix it Today. They loved the idea and saw the potential in its growth. Heck, when we stopped talking, they were wandering around the website and checking on services in their area. Luckily for me, the demo had 2 providers available today. So the Indian community lives on Whatsapp. I found this interesting. They showed me different chat groups they were in. Small groups being in the small hundreds of users to large ones with over 1000 people in it. They said this is how they get recommendations and things done. There is a distrust of Google reviews because they know they can be fake. They like the word of mouth suggestions in the groups and there is some loyalty to their community. The Indian culture is very strong but their community is nothing like I have seen before. Get togethers every weekend. Neighborhoods that end up being predominantly Indian. Their culture groups them into certain areas around certain cities. Many surround their church. They can raise funds to help people out without any trouble due to the large community of people willing to help. Bennett showed me a group they needed to raise $3500 for the church to help feed people. The money was raised in a Whatsapp group on 4 hours. Im thankful they are going to try and suggest Fix it Today in the groups when people ask for a recommendation. What other cultural groups are out there I don’t know about.
Bennett was telling me about a HVAC company he uses because he has a maintenance contract with them. They service twice a year for $125/visit. He got setup with these guys because they offered simple value up front. Being in a new neighborhood, they go door to door and tell the new tenants that its likely they builder didnt register their HVAC for the warranty. If you signed up with their maintenance program, they would ensure your unit is registered to get the warranty as they could as a registered service provider, AND you get priority service. Bennett said that he sees the company trucks in their neighborhood EVERY WEEK because they have so many houses that have signed up. If there are HVAC companies not out doing this, they must not know about it. This is genius. How can Fix it Today bet to be part of this? Probably just mail new homeowners when there are title changes? What can we offer so they want to sign up with Fix it Today? Free giftcard?
On the drive home I was thinking about our home maintenance app. I really want a super clean look and feel. I thought and had to make a voice note while driving. We not only need to remind people of the task to do, but we need to offer a good reason why. For changing air filters, we need a sentence or to that says something like “Indoor air quality is very important to your health. By changing filters regularly, you can reduce allergens and have cleaner air for a healthier life”. Something like that. We need a reason for each one of these thats compelling enough to make you see the value. Have you ever seen inside of a tanked water heater thats 20 years old? Its filled with sediment and mineral deposits. This reduces the tank life and the amount of hot water the tank can hold. So, simple friendly reminders, nice pictures and a simple explanation. I really like this Kasa smart home app I have on my phone. There is a picture below. I’m also thinking we should try and team up with some DIY youtube channel like Home Renovision DIY. We show all of his videos and link people his way if we can use his content on our website…something like that.
