About this episode
Bruce Troll, owner of Gentle Heart Transportation in Gainesville, Florida, started running trips on June 1, 2024 with one van and now targets $800 to $1,000 a day per truck. He invested in a website and SEO, landed in Google's top three within two weeks, and took private pay wheelchair calls almost immediately, then won hospital and hospice work by accepting a 9 PM Friday stretcher transfer nobody else would. Trips average about $95 on a $55 base plus mileage, facility stretcher runs go for $105, and a 65 mile transport becomes a $400 ride because he builds dead miles into the price.
Key takeaways
- A website with real SEO put Gentle Heart in Google's top three within a week or two, and Troll says the phone rang with private pay wheelchair rides a day or two later.
- His first stretcher job was a 9 PM Friday hospital transfer over an hour away that nobody else wanted, and it turned into a standing relationship with that hospital.
- Responsiveness closed a two month assisted living contract: Troll answered the emailed request from his couch at 10 PM while other providers never replied or took two weeks.
- Troll covers every stretcher and pillow with single use covers and bans shorts on the job, requiring khakis or jeans and a company polo, because hospital nurses notice.
- Ten broker ambulatory trips at $15 each is $150 for a full day, which is why Troll grades himself on daily revenue per truck rather than trip count.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction: The TRUTH About NEMT Metrics: Revenue is BETTER than Number of Rides
- 0:55 How Bruce Started His NEMT Business by Accident
- 4:10 SECRET #1: Getting Your First Private Pay Trips with a Good Website & SEO
- 7:05 How to Get Your First Stretcher Transport Contracts with Hospitals
- 7:55 SECRET #2: The Right Way to Market to Facilities, Hospices & Hospitals
- 9:30 SECRET #3: The "Just Say Yes" Philosophy to Win More Business
- 13:10 SECRET #4: Using Professionalism to Stand Out from the Competition
- 15:45 The Power of Responsiveness: Answering the Phone Wins Contracts
- 19:50 The Most Important Metric for NEMT Success (It's NOT Total Trips!)
- 22:12 NEMT Pricing Strategy: How Much to Charge for Wheelchair vs. Stretcher
