NewHavenBIZ

8 n e w h a v e n B I Z | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m S t a r t u p s , T e c h n o l o g y & I n n o v a t i o n By Jordan Grice F inding the right senior living facility for a loved one can be tricky. Not only is it an emotional life change, but it doesn't help that the search process can get convoluted and intimidating for those new to the journey. Guilford-based LifestyleCX has been trying to mitigate confusion with its umbrella of branded platforms focused on matching customers with senior services. "It's Match.com meets senior living, plus some great tools added on," says co-founder and CEO Terri Sullivan. "We're trying to build something different and helpful here. Most people don't know where to begin when looking for senior living and care." LifestyleCX offers subscription-based soware designed to capture, convert, and acquire qualified prospective customers for providers who service the aging, including Maplewood Senior Living, LCB Senior Living, Vitality Living, and Juniper Communities. Since launching the company five years ago with fellow co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Brenda Limone, Sullivan notes that they've had some wind behind their sails in recent years as they've focused on helping senior living and care providers rebound from the pandemic. e company operates with a five-person crew across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. Sullivan indicated that LifestyleCX saw its revenue surge by 190% from 2020 to 2021. "Our goals are projecting $720,000 in annual recurring revenue by the end of the year, and we strive to double our revenue next year," Sullivan says. While the pandemic forced Sullivan and Limone's team to scale back some of their efforts, the duo says they are in growth mode. ey are currently revamping and relaunching their consumer-facing platform that Sullivan dubbed "AgingChoices 2.0." "We want to become more useful to the consumers," she says, adding that the relaunch is slated in the next four to six months. e company is also looking to raise additional capital to fuel the relaunch and make new hires in its marketing and tech development team. "It's not our first rodeo as far as raising capital," Limone said. Since launching in 2017, the company has raised roughly $1.7 million, thanks mainly to early investors like CT Innovations and Massachusetts- based investor group Link Ventures. Bridging communications ere are many misconceptions about senior living communities. From the amenities and services offered to the quality of life that a particular community can provide to an older individual, it can be a lot to unpack. "Most people think that independent living, assisted living, and memory care means nursing homes, and they are not," Sullivan says. Aside from touting nearly 16 years of experience in the senior living industry, Limone and Sullivan have both navigated the process of looking for senior care for loved ones as well. At its core, LifestyleCX and its platforms try to dispel much of the confusion surrounding senior living by educating and connecting older adults and their loved ones with the aging services they need. e company offers a variety of platforms toward that end, starting with its AgingChoicesPro program. e soware is designed to help providers engage with prospects through a series of surveys and widget tools on their web pages. Providers can then leverage the survey data collected through the tools to help them interact and convert prospects into residents. "We wanted to deliver a soware platform that helped senior living providers with customer acquisition but provided value for consumers," Sullivan says. LifestyleCX also launched its consumer-facing platform AgingChoices.com in 2020 to help consumers connect and match with the senior care option that best fits their needs. e website offers an array of features that allow visitors to connect, engage and learn about the vast — and admittedly overwhelming — senior care landscape. As users navigate through the website, there are multiple opportunities to share information about themselves and their journey in the search process, which subsequently helps personalize their experience, according to Limone. "ey want help, but they want to drive their own experience, which is one thing that we've realized," she says. "People don't want to be steered or tricked, and the transparency is not really there with some of our competitors." For instance, Limone says the start of the online search process typically leads people to placement agencies that only send prospects to senior living communities with whom they have contracts. e webpage features thousands of senior care communities nationwide that users can explore, engage and learn about. "We wanted to be that agnostic company that gives you all the options and tries to change the model," Limone says. Securing the rebound Like most industries, the senior living and care sector took its share of blows during the pandemic, leading many to pivot and adapt to dwindling business. According to Limone, LifestyleCX wasn't exempt from the impacts, as the company shied its focus to supporting its clients and navigating them through lean times. "When the pandemic hit, we actually sat down as a team and said, 'How do we get through this and how do we build something that is truly going to help this industry come out of something that could have wiped them out?'" Limone says. "It was tough," she continued. "We helped some of our long-term customers by making price reductions to help them get through, and I think that's probably why they are still our customers." e Guilford-based company's flexibility secured one of its prime clients. "e fact that they were willing to listen and make modifications and make that investment in working with us was all I needed to say, 'Hey, let's partner up,' " said Heather Freemont, vice president of marketing at Maplewood Senior Living, which has been partnering with LifestyleCX since 2021. With locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, the upscale senior living company was approached by Sullivan when she and Limone first launched their company. At the time, Maplewood was working with a different vendor, but Freemont said Sullivan's persistence and willingness to adapt the company's soware to meet Maplewood's needs ultimately won them over. "Most of the time vendors are set on what they are trying to do, and they don't want to hear the feedback, but Teri [Sullivan] was like, 'What can I do to gain your business?' " Freemont said. It paid off immediately, she continued, noting that Maplewood saw a 373% increase in prospect conversions in the first month of using LifestyleCX's widget tools. "It immediately proved to me that with their flexibility allowing us to be able to change up the options that were on it and test out different things, we saw immediate results that were very beneficial to us," Freemont said. n Health tech company bridges interactions between prospects and senior living communities A t A G l a n c e Company: LifestyleCX Industry: Healthcare technology Top Executive: Terri Sullivan, CEO & Co-Founder HQ: Guilford Website: www.lifestylecx.com Contact: (833) 229-6757 LifestyleCX co-founders Brenda Limone, at left, and Terri Sullivan. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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