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The
Legendary Sales Leadership Letter |
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Mike's Top Picks
CLICK HERE
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Under the heading of doing as I say, you may notice some minor changes in the way that we communicate with you over the next couple of months. That is because we are implementing a whole new CRM system and customer service program. My goal is to provide you with the best, most personal and relevant service and information possible. I want to offer my apologies in advance for any unforeseen problems that may pop up. As well know, nothing ever goes quite as smoothly as planned!
Another new service that you can watch for is our new weekly sales tip e-mail. We will be piloting it to you, our customers and subscribers, in the next few weeks. It will deliver a short sales tip each week conveniently to your e-mail inbox.
Finally, I want to thank Lisa Englert for all of her help in keeping Home Care and Hospice Marketing Solutions' clients and students happy and their needs taken care of. No particular reason, other than there is never a bad time to say thanks!
Happy Selling! Best,
Mike Ferris |
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Ask Open-ended Questions to Catapult Your Referrals to New Heights
Asking the right open-ended questions is the quickest way to achieve increased referrals from existing and new accounts. You must really focus on asking good questions of your best accounts. Things change, competitive situations change and you cannot afford to get caught off guard. Not only are you protecting the relationship but you are also helping them find new ways to use your services and give you more business. Plus, as an added bonus, the less you say during sales calls, the smarter you'll sound!
Talking people to death is a strategy that will not win you more friends, accounts or referrals! Can you win referrals by talking too much? Sure, but you will win more referrals in a shorter time by asking the right open-ended questions and listening.
You should ask question that ask:
Keep probing with questions or statements like:
Get them talking, uncover their problems and present your services as the logical solution for their greatest challenges, frustrations, problems and needs.
It sounds easy, and it all starts with getting your accounts and prospects talking. Note: This is easy to say and hard to do unless you are prepared to ask the right questions.
To make this process easier for you and so you don't have to spend time figuring out which questions to ask, we have a whole list of them in the Field Guide to Selling Home Care Services or the Field Guide to Selling Hospice Services (click on book cover on the left for more information or to order). You can use them as guides to formulating yours and watch your referrals stream in!
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Our groundbreaking and highly-acclaimed 52 Week eSales Training Course is available for one to one hundred students. It provides a weekly lesson (takes about 30 minutes to complete) that will keep your sales team members' skills sharp. Students have said that the course supported them in becoming better at their profession, increased their referrals and forced them to review the basics. On average, our 52 Week eLearning participants have increased their referrals by over 31%! Special offer for Sales Leadership Letter subscribers: Enroll up to 10 students for one low price of $599 (does not include audio CDs)! Click here to take advantage of this offer. Last Square One Bootcamp Before Summer Break The last Bootcamp before we break for the summer will be May 5 - 7 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There are a few seats still available for this session. |
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Private Duty Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
Think like a real estate agent! Start by looking at what is on the front of your refrigerator. Then make it a point to see what is on your clients' refrigerators. Watch your mail and pay attention to what the real estate agents are mailing out. Get people who live in the area that you have the most clients and best prospects to save you all of their mail from all types of services -- especially competitors. I point to real estate agents as an example, but you can get good ideas from carpet cleaners, chiropractors, dentists, maid services, etc. Real estate agents are constantly looking for ways to keep their name in front of the prospective client through items that have information of perceived value. The true test is what people stick on their refrigerator door.
Just like real estate agents, you are contacting people normally when they don't have a need and then making it easy for them to contact you when they do. You are building a long-term relationship with your potential private pay clients to gain the opportunity to get their call when they have a need for your services.
Some ideas:
You are only limited by your creativity and the knowledge gained from your clients and potential clients. I often hear from private pay agencies stories about the valuable cases that came from something that the agency sent our more than a year ago!
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Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
Conducting quality ride along coaching and evaluations is an art. You will have your own distinctive style that is consistent with your personality, company culture and sales team. This is okay, but you have to be consistent and should practice to perfect the art to gain maximum benefit.
Here are some tips:
I believe that a good sales manager should be spending 80% of their time in the field with the sales people. You must protect that time because you will have many other things that are pulling on you and can easily become an office sales manager! Keep meetings brief and make sure that they have a purpose -- don't have meetings for meetings sake!
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Karl, thanks for your time today. We get lots of questions about CRM and its use in home care and hospice. As you know, I have been a proponent of its use for a long time, but I thought you could answer some basic questions. Perhaps in a future issue, we can answer some subscriber questions and some more advanced ones. For starters, what is CRM? CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM is a business philosophy that puts the customer first rather than an agency's services. It's about actively deepening the knowledge you have of your customers to meet their needs and is at the core of any customer-centric business strategy and culture. It is a strategic approach to customer acquisition, service, satisfaction, loyalty and retention. So CRM is not about software? No, it's about buying technology. However, some technology is required to enable and support a CRM strategy. Think of CRM as the tool to deliver consistently and predictably great customer service and to enable the management of sales teams and accounts. This will allow a systematic approach to account management and can enable sales management to know just what the sales team is doing. What do you mean by customers? Aren't patients/clients our customers? Yes, patients/clients are customers -- but don't stop there! When it comes to marketing your agency, customers are everywhere and can include everyone! Physicians, discharge planners, case managers, attorneys and trust officers can be important referral sources. Referral opportunities exist with many types of organizations -- hospitals, clinics, nursing/rehab facilities and insurance companies. Your most important customers are the individuals and organizations who currently refer business to your agency. Next, consider all potential referral sources who have not yet provided your agency with referrals -- wouldn't you like to make them valued customers? Let's not forget that many prospective patients/clients from your community may be choosing homecare services -- will they choose to be a customer of your agency? HomecareCRM supports your efforts to build and maintain relationships with all of these customers. What is HomecareCRM? HomecareCRM is software specifically designed for home care and hospice providers to enable and support a CRM business strategy. Other solutions are either integrated within information systems (yours either has it or it doesn't) or a stand-alone generic product. We have found that the generic products require substantial customization to manage home care- and hospice-specific issues. Why choose HomecareCRM instead of a generic CRM program? HomecareCRM is a ready-to-use CRM solution that addresses your needs as a home care provider. Generic CRM software programs don't address those needs without customization --which requires a significant additional investment in time, people resources and money. Your HomecareCRM Market Specialist knows homecare -- and has the experience and knowledge to deliver the results you need. How do I get started? First, you should look at your current account management processes and make sure they can be translated to an electronic version. This is an excellent way to step back and analyze how you are doing your business and if CRM will make it run better. Mike's Note: I believe that it is easier for someone to transition to an electronic CRM system if they are currently doing it on paper. This is because it guarantees that the processes and philosophies are already established. You are teaching a sales person a new software application rather than a whole new way to conduct their business AND a new software application.
Karl Dumas, President, can be reached at
karldumas@contactivation.com. Information about HomecareCRM is
available at www.homecareCRM.com. |
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Home Care and Hospice Marketing Solutions is the leading industry-specific resource for home care professionals. Founded by Michael Ferris, we specialize in Sales, Marketing and Customer Service Coaching, Training, and Consulting for home health and hospice agencies.
We have expertise in Private Pay Home Care, Medicare Home Health, and Hospice including not-for-profit and for profit organizations. Our services enable home care agencies to understand and capitalize on the opportunities in their market.
The strategic and tactical services offered by Home Care and Hospice Marketing Solutions include:
Call (800) 293-5471 or
write us and see how
we can improve your home care and hospice sales skills! |
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PPS Changes and Home Care Sales
Recently I have had some questions about what sales people need to know about changes to the PPS payment system for home health. I really don't think they need to know anything other than the fact that there are refinements designed to make the payments better match patient acuity. The Medicare coverage criteria did not change, just the way the payment is calculated. It does not impact the referral partner, so I would spend my training dollars on topics that are going to help make referrals go up!
If your agency wants the sales people to change their targets and types of patients targeted, that is a strategic decision that can be translated into a tactical solution for the sales team.
Since I'm on the subject of Medicare information for home health, I would highly recommend contacting Beacon Health and Diane Ohmdahl. I have known Diane for 12 years and used her expertise to train our nurses ten years ago. She always has great information and to the extent you need materials to give the sales people, I would look to Diane for printed information. If you are not receiving their free eNewsletter, Homecare Insider, you can get information and sign up here: http://www.beaconhealth.org/insider.php.
Each week in Homecare Insider, you'll receive an important article on a timely home health topic. You'll also receive a weekly Q&A, in which they answer an interesting question from a homecare provider. Homecare Insider is a quick read yet brings you valuable analysis and guidance on clinical management topics. Best of all, it's totally FR*EE!
Until next issue, Good Luck and Happy Selling! |
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