Our Top Picks
(Click below image for more information or to order)

Order Here!
 

Sign-up Here!

Try a Class for Free!
 

 Order Here! (eBook)

CLICK HERE
to sign up for the Legendary Sales Leadership Letter to receive new products, helpful hints, speaking dates, and more!

Mike's Message

Dear Friend,

This week starts an exciting new chapter in the Home Care and Hospice Marketing Solutions evolution.  My goal has always been to bring our clients the very best in marketing, sales and customer service consulting, training and support.  The challenge was always to have enough time and resources to meet all of the demand.  Now as part of the Simione Consultants extensive service menu, we are in the best position to provide you with all of the services you need to make your home care or hospice program extremely successful.

My good friend, Polly Rehnwall, is joining with us to bring her exceptional talents to the mix.  She and her team have helped many organizations with referral center management, marketing and sales consulting and training that has produced dramatic increases in referrals.  I am proud to now be able to work together to bring you the best team available anywhere.  Together we stand ready to work with you to meet all of your needs.

Everything you have come to expect from us is still available and then some!  Watch for new services, books, eBooks, training programs and more coming soon. 

Thanks; let us know how we can help. 

Best,

Mike Ferris

Director

Marketing, Sales and Customer Service Consulting Division

mferris@simione.com

Feature Article

Marketing Through the Eyes of the Financial Manager

by Michael Ferris

An important home care best practice, for all types of home care agencies, is a strong marketing program.  The financial performance of the home care agency is impacted by the success and the efficiency of the agency's sales and marketing program.  The financial manager must understand the goals of the marketing program and work closely with the sales and marketing department to assure its success.  The marketing plan must be well constructed and include a detailed budget.  The marketing department must be accountable for both staying within the budget and producing the results.

As home care becomes increasingly competitive, the need to adopt best business practices intensifies.  One of those practices is being effective in sales and marketing program design, implementation and execution.  The need to increase the number of referrals coming in to the agency is one of the most important items on management's to do list.  Or, in the case of older and more established agencies, it may be to simply protect and maintain the level of referrals received.

There should be a direct relationship between the level of investment in sales and marketing to the volume of business generated.  If the program is properly designed, it should generate a positive return on investment.  The return on investment for a home care marketing program can only be measured if there are systems in place to track the source of referrals received by the agency.  It is imperative that there be an accurate system in place to track the source of the calls received by the agency.  Only then can an agency truly measure the cost effectiveness of any component of the overall marketing program.

Creating a tracking system begins with an accurate process to track the origin of the calls received by the agency.  In most agencies, this is accomplished by having those that have first contact with callers keep a log of the calls received and where the caller heard about the agency.  The design of the form used to track the inquiries -- and especially the ease of use -- will create better adoption.  The need to track should be a team effort with all in the agency interested in the success of the marketing initiatives.

An area of current interest is tracking the effectiveness of an agency's Web site.  Here are some tips:

• Track the number of unique visitors on a regular basis to see any spikes in traffic

• Have a call to action that makes it easy for the visitor to request information or inquire about services (the easier you make it the more responses you will receive)

• Track recruitment advertising responses

• Include the Web site as a source of phone inquiries on your tracking log

• In print advertising, include an e-mail address for responses or inquiries -- not just a Web address

Once the agency has the data to measure the effectiveness of a specific component of the marketing program, it is important to make sure that the particular element was executed in a fashion that would allow for success.  Proper execution cannot be assumed.  When an agency measures the results generated by a particular marketing effort it must also look at the execution and design.  A great example would be Yellow Pages advertising.  If the advertisement was not well designed, is it the medium or design that is ineffective?  This is where professional marketing help can really pay for itself.

The definition of success for the marketing program must also contain a measure of financial accountability.  Certainly those programs that are demonstrably successful are easiest to fund in the future.  Once the marketing department is able to quantify the return on investment, it is much easier to sell the financial manager on increasing the budget for a specific portion of the overall marketing program.  New ideas and initiatives need to be carefully tested before budgetary inclusion for significant future investment.

When analyzing your marketing program, make sure that you continue to do those things that have made your agency successful over the years.  Never abandon efforts that have been historically the cornerstones of your marketing program until you know how successful they are.  Don't stop doing one thing just because you want to try something new.  Keep doing what has made you successful, measure and test.  Sometimes an existing marketing effort just needs to be updated or improved upon to generate increased results.

When adding new ideas, do so cautiously and monitor the success of these new initiatives.  Try new ideas in small controlled tests.  Testing is crucial to the efficiency and effectiveness of your programs.  When making changes, you must make only one change at a time to be able to accurately test the impact of that change.  Many times the enforcement of the requirement to test new ideas will lie with the financial manager.

Marketing directors should keep their financial managers informed about the progress of any marketing initiatives and share with them any data that are collected to measure the success of individual initiatives.  The sales and marketing department should work very closely with the management team to ensure that there are no surprises.  Typically, financial management will always be supportive of marketing activities that are proven to increase referrals.  Both departments need to understand each other's issues and responsibilities.

Remember that the rules of home care marketing do not apply to those efforts that are targeted outside the organization.  Inside sales efforts designed to generate internal referrals and cross-selling of services must also be measured.  The investment in these marketing projects must also be measured and subjected to the financial tests.

The most financially successful agencies will be those that employ the best business practices.  The way that an agency manages its sales and marketing programs will be an important determinant in this financial success.  The working relationship between the finance department and the marketing department is one that should be carefully cultivated by both departments.  It is in both of their best interests.  Happy and financially successful marketing!

Sales Training Corner

Still a Few Seats Left for August Square One Bootcamp!

The next Square One Bootcamp will be held August 25 - 27 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Reserve your seat now as spaces are filling up quickly!

You have two registration options:

To lock in a seat with a $500 deposit, click here.

To lock in a seat with your full payment, click here.

"I am a veteran of healthcare sales and marketing with 20+ years of DME and Home Respiratory experience.  Simply stated, it's refreshing to participate in a thoughtfully developed sales and training program that offers new techniques while sharpening old skills.  I would highly recommend Square One Bootcamp for the novice as well as the seasoned sales professional." -- Anthony Succo, Healthkeeperz

52 Week eSales Training Course

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%! 

"With the help of the 52 Week eSales Training Course, I have been able to increase our accounts by approximately 20% and have increased referrals and admits by an even greater percent.  Thank you, and my company also thanks you!" -- Barbara Edmisten, Highland Hospice

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.
 

Sales Tip

Have you evaluated your referral process lately?  Periodically you should be reviewing your processes to make sure that you are performing at maximum effectiveness.  Once the phone rings (as a result of the excellent sales effort), it is important that the referral center be able to work with the referral partner to make their life easier.  They should be very good at probing for additional needs, likes and dislikes and listening carefully for new business opportunities.  The inside sales team should work closely with the outside sales team to manage these key account relationships to generate maximum benefit. 

As a sales person, you should be focused on making sure that you are available to make the referral center personnel's lives easier.  If they view you as a trusted part of their team and the natural go to person when there is a problem with an account, you will be best able to deliver seamless, high quality service.

Sales Leadership

Creating the Service Culture That Sells Itself

If our goal is a culture that is made up of staff that do the right things for the right reasons, and do so instinctively and culturally, then we must provide the support for the early shining stars.  You will have those employees who get it faster than others and it must be easy for them to shine and they must be recognized and rewarded.  If not, then you will never gain the momentum to achieve the complete transition.  Recognition needs to be immediate and visible.

Look at instituting a mentorship program so that your top customer service providers can mentor others to assist them in being great.  As with all mentorship programs, you will want to pair staff that are compatible and are in like positions.

Much of the work in building, preserving and spreading the culture will fall to the sales and marketing team.  They are uniquely situated to be able to provide feedback from the referral sources in the field.  Any praise must be passed on to the responsible party and to the rest of the organization immediately.  Negative comments should be handled in a manner that is dignified and consistent with an organization that is supportive and responsible as a team.  Obviously, problems cannot and should not be swept under the carpet but they must be handled in a manner that reflects the organization's culture that rejoices whenever there is a problem.  The agency rejoices because there is a tremendous opportunity in every problem that arises.  And, because the alternative is definitely not going to foment the spread of the customer service culture.

By being the best problem solvers we will, by definition, make more friends and build stronger relationships than our competition that is not good at it.  Our service culture has the opportunity to shine brightest when presented with a problem.  When we stand out in this area, we will really impress and win over our referral sources.  Studies have shown that the strongest relationships are those between a company and a customer where there has been a problem and it has been resolved to the customer's satisfaction. 
 

Ask Polly

Selling Private Duty Services
The myth of no money
By Polly Rehnwall

"But they could never afford it!"  How many times do we hear this when we ask if the admissions nurse discussed private pay with the family needing additional aide or caregiver services?  Without ever seeing a financial statement, we assume that just because someone lives in a modest home they could never pay for extra personal care.

Our solution?  We either tell them that they need to go to a nursing home (that's usually right after they told you that dad said he never wanted to go there) or we add excessive aide and volunteer hours, draining resources from other patients for families that really need them.  It's not a solution, it's a cop out.

It isn't that people don't have the funds.  It's that we don't have the savvy to talk about the value private care can add.  Because we've always been able to offer no cost care, talking about money is foreign and outside our comfort zone.

Fix #1:  Have your team read The Millionaire Next Door to help them understand how the guy driving the ten year old car in a less than stellar neighborhood is the one with all the dough.

Fix #2:  Talk about the fact that people buy things that are emotionally meaningful to them, whether it's a new Harley, a massage, or the security of someone caring for a loved one.

The "gotta do it all" barrier

Another barrier is that we feel we have to do it all if we take the patient on hospice care.  Most hospices have thankfully abandoned the "no caregiver, no admission" philosophy by figuring out a way to help the family identify a caregiver when there is no obvious candidate.  But we've done a terrible job of helping our teams understand that just because the benefit provides an aide and volunteers doesn't mean that it covers all extra care needs.

Step 1:  Get goal agreement

The first thing we need to do is get agreement on the desired goal of care for the patient.  If their goal is to never go to a nursing home, then you've got goal agreement.  Now it's time to come up with a plan to make it happen.  For example, if the patient lives with a son or daughter who works full-time and can't be there during the day, you can give them a variety of solutions (see the following examples).

Step 2:  Focus on needs

The key to selling private duty is to not sell it, but to offer it as the solution to an identified need or goal.  If the son or spouse expresses concern about not leaving the patient alone, then focus on their need to feel secure about their loved one's care.  Some examples:

Security needs:  "Bob, it sounds like you really want someone to be here with your mother while you're at work.  Many of our families feel the same way.  They use paid, professional caregivers to make sure that their loved one is well cared for, and it will make it a lot easier on you and your wife."

Stress reduction:  "What's important right now for you, Mary, is to take care of yourself too.  You can't help your dad if you're totally stressed out trying to juggle all of this.  Let's add some outside professional help for the next few days so that you can get some rest and get things settled down a bit.

Step 3:  Discuss the cost

When the family asks what it costs, don't go down the laundry list of dollars and hourly minimums.  Stating that, "It's only $18 an hour with a two-hour minimum and an extra $2 an hour on the weekend" is not helpful.  Instead say, "Mom can be cared for right here at home for the 8 hours you're working for under $150/day if you need the aide all day.  Many of our families tell us that that's the best investment they made, not only for their mom, but for themselves."

If there are multiple siblings, divide the cost into dollars per day:  "For the three of you, it's only $24/day each for your mom to have someone here from 10-2."

Endorse it:  As a trusted advisor, you're in a position to not just offer a service, but to actively advocate for it.  You know how insecure some families are about providing care at home, so tell them to try the service for the first few days and see how it helps.

Step 4:  Offer additional options

Lifelines:  Depending on the patient's condition, a lifeline may be just what's needed to meet the security needs of the patient and family.  Medication reminders and dispensers can also help for those living alone.

Friends:  Remind them that people want to help.  That's why friends and family offered it when dad got sick.  Giving them the chance to help is the best gift of all.  
 

Questions and Answers

Reader Questions and Answers

In each Legendary Sales Leadership Letter, we answer your questions.  Send them to us or call (800) 653-4043 and we'll make sure that yours are answered in a future issue. 

Here are this week's questions answered:

Question:

What are some good topics for community education when you have covered grief, loss, advanced directives, hospice coverage, stress relief and pain management?  Most of our referrals come from the community and we want to keep the topics fresh and interesting.

Answer:

Several things come to mind in response to your question:

1) Disease specific end of life programs can be very helpful to the community.  It also enables you to get the local chapter of that disease's association or organization involved.  This will enable you to expand the number of people that are attending.  You can also involve some of the specialists for this group of patients in your programs.

2) Ask the organizations, groups or facilities that you are delivering the programs to for topics they would like to see covered.

3) Some of the topics you listed are ones that should be delivered several times a year, so don't make your list too long or the cycle will be too long in between the topics.  Don't be afraid to repeat topics; people need to be reminded and new people will come to hear the topics.

Question:

We have a doctor that is a huge potential for one of our marketers but he cannot seem to get any face time with her.  Any ideas?

Answer:

My advice to your marketer:  First, you should establish this doctor as one of your project accounts.  Then you should create your plan of attack and find out as much as you can about him.  Find others of your referral sources that know him and ask them to set up an meeting together with you.  Work all possible angles.  Make sure that you know from the referral clerk what is important, how they select an agency, and who they are currently using.  Verify that it requires the doctor to make the selection of the agency.

Finally, try some things that are unusual.  You can send lumpy mail with something of interest in the envelope.  You can deliver personalized items that would only be useful to the doctor.  There is a story that Tom Hopkins tells about delivering a small wastebasket that has one of your brochures and letters crumpled up in it.  Put a note on it that asks for the opportunity to meet with them that addresses the fact that they seem to be throwing all of your information away without meeting with you.  Be sure that whatever you do, it is appropriate and consistent with your personality. 
 

About Us

Marketing, Sales and Customer Service Consulting Division

Supercharge Your Referrals, Revenues and Profits!

Headed by two industry powerhouses -- Michael Ferris and Polly Rehnwall -- Our Marketing, Sales and Customer Service Consulting Division is designed to give you the easiest experience possible by providing the most comprehensive solutions to supercharge your referrals, revenues and profits!

If it only took one phone call to deal with all your marketing and sales needs, would you make it?

In an environment of growing competition and shrinking margins, you have to increase volume and improve market share in order to be successful. That means having a skilled sales team, quality marketing strategies and a customer service model that improves your conversion of referrals to admissions.

With every type of solution we provide, you won’t just beat the competition -- you’ll establish your competitive advantage for years to come!

Our Proven Process:

• Evaluate and assess talent, model and process

• Design customized solutions

• Assist with implementation

• Coach your staff

• Train your sales people

• Support your organization's continued success

Delivering optimal results begins with an evaluation of your sales, marketing and customer service program in order to design solutions custom tailored to your agency and your area. Our experts know home health and hospice, bringing years of marketing and sales experience and best practices to you.

Customized Solutions:

Have one or a few specific needs?  We can guide you through creation and implementation quicker and with more success than anyone else.  Below is just a small sample of our capabilities:

• On-site Sales, Marketing, or Customer Service Consulting and Training

• Referral and Admission Management Consulting and Training

• Square One Sales Bootcamp

• Marketing Program Development

• Interview Sales Candidates Video training / Corporate Videos

• Collateral Materials, Sales Letters, and Advertising Consulting

• Mystery Shopping / Market Analysis

With just one phone call, you can tap into all the resources and knowledge of the home care industry’s touchstone consulting powerhouse -- Simione Consultants.

We have an ability no other company can offer -- the only one stop shop to handle all your marketing and sales needs.

Home Care Consulting Pioneers

Simione Consultants, LLC was the first organization of its kind dedicated entirely to home care -- a commitment we continue to maintain today.  For more than 40 years, we have demonstrated we understand and are responsive to the changing and diverse business needs of home care and hospice organizations.

Value Driven, Success Outcomes

More than 800 home care organizations have trusted the team of experts at Simione Consultants, LLC to get them through the challenges of yesterday and today, and to gain the leading edge for tomorrow.  We provide expert assistance to hospital-based and hospital-affiliated agencies, visiting nurse associations, hospices, small proprietary agencies, and large national chains.  The size, capabilities and commitment of our uniquely qualified consulting staff offer unparalleled industry insights and innovative yet practical solutions.  Our track record of engagements with successful client outcomes is unmatched.
 

Closing Thoughts

Thanks to all of my friends and clients for the opportunity to work with and learn from you.  I know that we will have even more fun and great success in the years ahead.  Just let me know how I can help.

Thanks for all that you do for your agency, its patients, your community and our industry.  Without sales,  the rest of the organization struggles to succeed.  Your work to provide a steady and predictable growth in referrals is greatly appreciated.  Stay in close touch with your passion for home care and/or hospice and keep up the great work!

Good luck and Happy Selling!

This newsletter and all content and information contained herein are the property of Simione Consultants and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.