Goal for the Month of June: 

The theme for the month of June needs to be to maximize referrals before the summer begins in earnest.  It is too easy to blame dips in referrals on seasonality—don’t let it happen.  Be proactive and maintain promotional efforts all summer long to keep your numbers up.

Monthly Reminders:

Lots of weddings and even more anniversaries to celebrate.  Keep a list of all of your referral sources’ anniversaries so that you can send them a card or take them a small gift.  Make sure to keep your ear to the ground so that you know when their children plan to marry.

Holidays and Important Dates in June:

Adopt-a-shelter-car Month
Cancer from the Sun Month
Child Vision Awareness Month
Children’s Awareness Month
Effective Communication Month
Entrepreneurs “Do It Yourself” Marketing Month
Dairy Month
Fireworks Eye Safety Month
International People Skills Month
National Aphasia Awareness Month
National Candy Month
National Iced Tea Month
National Rivers Month
National Rose Month
National Safety Month
Potty Training Awareness Month
Professional Wellness Month
Sports America Kids Month
Student Safety Month
Turkey Lovers’ Month
Vision Research Month
Rebuild Your Life Month

Excerpted from 101 Promotional Strategies That Deliver Legendary Results without Busting Your Budget! by Michael Ferris

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The mystery is over! Where has Mike been with the blog posts???

He has been at Trader Joe’s! We now have our own TJs in Chapel Hill. (see photos below for proof)

As most of you know, Mike is a HUGE Trader Joe’s fan. The family has many favorite items only available at TJs. He used to have to buy things for the family while traveling. Or we would drive to Alexandria, VA (closest TJs until earlier this year) and then to Cary, NC (when they opened earlier this year).

Trader Joe’s should be on your list of places to shop, ESPECIALLY if you are in the sales position and need different, interesting, delicious and inexpensive things to take to your accounts.

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October should be dedicated to prospect review. Time to be honest and cross off those that is not going to bear fruit. Then put in place a plan to close each of the remaining prospects on your list. Find out what it will take for them to do business with you and the agency that you represent. By mid-November people will be focused on the holidays and tough to close, putting the establishment of the new referral source off until next year. Be smart, be focused and ask the tough questions. Your ability to open these accounts now will add to your success this year and next. By really focusing on doing whatever it takes you will put yourself in position to start the next year running!

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In home care we sell a service, an intangible. How do you make it tangible? By establishing credibility. The key is in finding ways to present yourself to your prospect.

The more real you become, the higher your credibility is. Here are some ways to make your people a reality for the prospective customer:

Invite current and potential customers to visit your facility. Whether they come to visit or not isn’t the issue, it is the offer that makes your agency more tangible.

Use staff bio’s and pictures to introduce potential customers to your company. Especially key staff that have been in the community and/or medical community for many years and are well respected. If the nurse running your cardiac telemedicine program worked in the cardiac care units at a local hospital for several years, she will be well known to local cardiologists. Advertising that he or she is on your team makes your company more tangible to potential referral sources.

Use a personal welcoming letter from the CEO, President or Administrator that includes an invitation to contact them directly.

Use testimonials. A personal letter of recommendation from a past client makes your services more credible and therefore desirable to potential customers. Including photos adds to that image.

Make sure that your staff in the community are visible, dressed appropriately and consistently visiting your customers. Good looking uniforms embroidered polo shirts and clean well designed photo ID tags all add to the perceptions about your agency.

Make sure that your website has contact information, including your physical address, on every page. At the very least you should include an “About Us” section somewhere on your site because this gives you a chance to talk about your company and what makes it special.

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Summer is here! School is out! Time for family fun!

Post your summer plans or stories here and let other home care and hospice professionals share in your experiences.

Have fun!

Here’s my daughter Becca’s friend Buddy:

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One of the most important ways to benefit from the Medicaid waiver patient population is to make sure to capture the Medicare home health or hospice business at your agency. I have seen too many times where the two divisions are operated separately and are not using one another when their patients need other services. The relationship must be one of team work and the desire to work together. This team building takes time and commitment from management to make it happen.

Internal referrals are lost many times because it is easier to let them go elsewhere. Make sure you have analyzed your systems and processes to make sure that it is very easy to make an internal referral. If it is not, you will lose referrals that should be captured internally. For many, attention to this area will result in a big return on investment. Keep in mind that you must earn the business from these customers, just like any others. Treat them as customers and you will see predictable results show up.

Finally, the ability to market and sell your agency as a full service, one stop shop should also generate more business. Make sure that the referral source knows that they can use your agency for any type of home care including Medicaid. This can be a significant competitive advantage in many markets. Ask for all of their business. Studies have shown that the retention rate and loyalty of customers goes up with each additional service line referred to.

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