Where’s Your Tipping Point?
Posted by Mike Ferris on Friday, August 03, 2007 and posted in SalesIn Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 business best selling book, “The Tipping Point,” he makes the case that change happens dramatically and ideas spread like an epidemic. His idea is simple, for every product or service there is a tipping point at which time the message takes hold and the results are powerful. In home care and hospice there is a tipping point that defines the change from reactive service provider to a proactive sales organization. The change is necessitated by many factors; from increased competition to mounting financial losses - and everything in between.
Gladwell cites three characteristics of change at the tipping point; first, contagiousness; second, little causes have big effects; and third that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment. To make use of this in a sales and marketing context for home care and hospice, we have to recognize when the train is leaving the station. And then, we have to make sure that we are on it!
Where is your tipping point? What will be your wake up call? Have you already missed it and will soon be playing catch up?
Once things start to tip, change happens in a hurry. There is a flywheel effect to the process. It takes a long time to get the wheel to move enough to make the first rotation but gets easier and quicker from that point forward. That is, of course, as long as we continue to exert the energy required to keep it moving.
I have found that there are still many agencies that have not yet felt compelled to focus on developing a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy. They are, however, fewer by the month. More agencies are planning their growth strategically with a sales mentality. The more advanced they become in this process the more effective they are and the momentum starts to build.
There is more competition every day and they aren’t getting less aggressive. This is a time of expansion for many organizations and they are not necessary moving into underserved areas. Your key accounts (the biggest referrers) are by definition your competition’s targets. Keep ahead of the game by keeping close to the key accounts with visibility and listening at all times for needs. Stay on top of your numbers to spot trends and changes quickly. Too many agencies have gotten caught on the wrong side of the tipping point and found themselves having to compete fiercely for business they assumed was always going to be theirs.
As an industry we have always provided a quality service. The change is that now quality is quantifiable and with benchmarked data and Home Health Compare data, agencies are able to “prove” that they provide better quality. They are making what has been intangible tangible. Know what you have available to prove your quality and start the conversation with the referral sources, you can bet that your competition will!
Now that marketing and sales are no longer new elements for home health (with the start of PPS) and hospice, there are more board of directors and CEOs that are initiating the dialogue about what the agency should do to sell itself in the community. Be prepared for this if you are showing any of the signs that might lead to a knee-jerk reaction to start a new sales and marketing program immediately. One thing about home care is that the sales cycle takes two - six months to really see results from new initiatives. Be proactive and you will head off those unpleasant discussions with your boss.
Keep building on success. When looking for ways to revitalize (or initiate) your sales and marketing program start with what got you there. Look for those things that worked in the past but got put aside because your agency grew and there was gradually less focus on getting new referrals. If it worked in the past, it should be considered. Conversely don’t make strategic decisions just because “that’s the way we have always done it.” Every initiative has to make sense as a part of the overall program and budget dollars are precious.
If you have invested in telehealth or a specialty program you have to make sure that one of your returns on investment is increased market share. To know this you must have a way to measure your return on investment. That starts with good tracking of where the business is coming from and why. Agencies are making big investments in technology to stay on top of this and more data - and stay ahead of the competition.
What will it take to push you over the edge? What will be your wake up call?
Will it be declining revenues, increased staff turnover, difficulty recruiting, lack of traction with specialty programs, or...? Maybe long-time good referral sources whose volume of referrals is declining? These are all symptoms present in agencies that have not started the process of building a sales oriented organization.
You have worked hard to get where you are, look for tipping points and seize the opportunity. Remember that Sales is not a bad word. If it carries any negative connotations in your organization - its time to get over it! Happy Selling!