Creating Marketing Traditions
Posted by Mike Ferris on Friday, April 10, 2009 and posted in Home Health CareAfter having created successful promotions throughout the year, you may find that your agency wants to continue doing the same thing each successive year. You will find that after a couple of years that you will have referral sources looking forward to your promotion. This will maximize the effectiveness of your investment and create long-term relationships.
Caution: If you create a tradition, you also create an expectation with your customer. If you are going to remove names from the list of recipients, make sure that they are made aware of your decision and justification for their removal.
Make sure that your sales staff personally calls the accounts being eliminated from the promotion list. Make sure that the referral source understands that it was dropped due to a dramatic decrease in referrals. Use the opportunity to ask what, if anything, has changed and what the agency needs to do to regain the business.
When considering new sales or marketing tactics, don’t be too quick to make changes just for changes sake. Keep doing those things that have made your agency successful over the years. Many agencies have seen declines in referral volume because they got excited about a new idea and discarded an old practice. By the time they figure out that the old practice is what built the agency, it’s too late to replace the important referrals lost during that time.
If it’s working, keep doing it! Look for ways to improve and enhance tactics but keep in mind that those sales, marketing and customer service practices that built your agency are what you are known for.
Excerpted from 101 Home Care Promotional Strategies that Deliver Legendary Results Without Busting Your Budget! by Michael Ferris