10 Steps to Successfully Selling Home Care Services
Posted by Mike Ferris on Friday, January 04, 2008 and posted in Home Health CareIt is important to understand the difference between marketing and selling home care services. Marketing is the process of creating market awareness for an agency in the markets that they serve. Selling is the act of converting prospective customers into referring customers and the act of continuing to develop the relationship with the customer such that they utilize the agency’s services on an ongoing basis. This distinction is important when developing sales and marketing programs in home care so that results meet the agency’s goals. The balance between getting your name out in the community and getting the referrals is the key to a successful program.
Following is the first of Ten Steps to Selling Home Care Successfully. Be sure to check the blog each week for additional tips.
1) Develop strong relationships with your referral sources and then manage, nurture and protect these relationships. They should be based on service and providing the referral source what they desire from a home care agency. They should include knowing them well enough to know their birthday, favorite sports teams, hobbies, interests, family or other information to be able to add those personal touches that cement relationships. Remember that the strongest relationships are built on trust and confidence, so always under promise and over deliver. A strong relationship is built over years and can be destroyed in only moments. Protect these relationships as they are truly the most precious assets of each home care agency.