How to Keep Your Competitors Out of Your Best Referral Sources

This week I got a call from Scott, who was VP at a Regional Home Care Company. Their agency has been growing over the past few years. They were feeling good about their position in the community, but recently things were taking a downturn.

They’d lost several big accounts to smaller agencies who ‘didn’t offer the breadth and depth of services that ‘Scott’s agency could provide. The “stealing” of his referral sources “had to stop!”

Scott was upset ? he had reps who worked for him for 10+ years. They had deep relationships with these accounts. They consistently received referrals and there was no reason to think things were going south… until they did.

They were “notified” the referral source was switching agencies.

Scott was stunned. Even some of the people in the accounts were surprised since they thought things were going “well.”

When I heard ‘Scott’s story ? I wasn’t surprised.

Long term relationships can breed complacency. It is just a matter of time until the shoe drops.

I asked Scott, “why do you think you lost your accounts?”

He said: “There was no way the competitor could beat us in a head-to-head competition. So she CHANGED THE GAME.”

Instead of working with each ‘building’s Resident Life Director, she went up a level to the Regional Corporate Nurse and out of the hands of the traditional referral sources.

She showed why different criteria were needed to evaluate their current provider.

(Surprise) Her suggested criteria fit her agency like a GLOVE! It highlighted all the things they did well. Her agency was the only one who checked all the boxes.

She quickly became the provider of choice. She just “rinsed and repeated” her way through the entire territory.

Scott said to me “How could I have prevented this agency from taking 30% of my business?”

The best way to prevent this from happening is to play a little game I like to call:

SALES PARANOIA

Yes ? it is dark ? really dark ? and as you know I usually am the rainbows and butterflies girl ?but today ? it is dark.

SALES PARANOIA IS GOOD FOR GROWTH!

ASSUME YOUR COMPETITORS ARE OUT TO GET YOUR BEST ACCOUNTS (THEY ARE)

How to play SALES PARANOIA

Step 1: Evaluation

Take on the mindset of your competitor and look at your agency honestly- How would you “attack your best accounts from a service point of view.”

  • What are your weaknesses?
  • Where or who is your “”weak link””?
  • How would you get into your accounts under the radar ? which contacts at the account is most likely to “go to the dark side”
  • List all the staff members and rank their influence ? do you have a relationship with all of them?

Step 2: Group FUN

Do it as a group ? often other departments can see things you ‘don’t.

  • Referrals on the weekend?
  • Return calls?
  • Fax machine not always working and referral sources calling to confirm you “”got it””
  • Caregivers missed 2 shifts last week
  • Sales reps who take 2 hrs to call back intake

Step 3: Plan & Action

Now you know the areas where you are open to an “attack” time to assign and implement action!

Save yourself the pain of losing your best accounts by planning your “comeback” BEFORE the score changes.

As??George Washington?wrote in 1799: “?make them believe, that offensive operations, oftentimes, is the surest, if not the only (in some cases) means of defense.”

P.S. This works too when thinking about how to convert another agency?s Best Referral Sources! Just apply the Steps to their agency.

 

Keep Serving Seniors!

 

Melanie Stover, OT

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

 

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday Woah-tivational: Answering The Call

On Wednesdays we usually send out an email from Cheryl Peltekis. However, today she is delivering?a Pre-Keynote Presentation?at the Texas Association of Home?Care and Hospice Conference, which is followed by another presentation with John Griscavage, CEO of PlayMaker CRM.

So, I decided to “steal” her blog post. While I am not Cheryl, I would like to share a few things about Cheryl. To do that, I have to go back three years ago…

I’ve know Cheryl Peltekis and Melanie Stover for several years. When they told me they were going to be doing a joint venture together, I knew that was where I belonged. My focus, at the time, was driven by helping agencies grow, gain more referrals, and become…well…successful. While those are passions of mine even now, Cheryl and Melanie had a slightly different passion.

See…they deeply believe that every patient that receives service at home is a massive victory. It’s not the numbers or income. Those are a requirement and byproduct of changing lives for the better. The center of all of what we do is the lives we can touch. Those who get to live out their lives safely at home.

For the first few years of working with Cheryl and Melanie, I tried to capture that passion. If I’m being honest, it’s not until I experienced Home Care with my mother that I had my lightbulb moment.

My mother passed last year of small cell cancer in the lungs, brain, and bone. She was in the care of hospice and they were outstanding. Before she went into hospice, she was receiving home health. She had complained of several aches and pains, but seemed to really be struggling with her hip. When we went to her physician, they claimed it was a bi-product of her cancer treatment. So we tried our best to make her comfortable.

Her home health nurse came to evaluate and knew her hip pain was something more. So she called the physician several times and fought for my mother. The Doc finally relented and within two days she was having an emergency hip replacement. During that procedure, the surgeon found several “mounds” (his word) of cancer on the good part of her bones and was able to scrape it off. This extended my mothers life and eased her suffering greatly.

My mother’s life (as short as it was) was improved in such a big way. She was able to see my daughter’s solo performance in the Christmas play and paint sun catchers with the grandkids after that. She was able to forge new, lasting memories for all of us.

When I came to understand what we teach and who we are at Home Care Sales, I never looked at home health, hospice, home care, DME, and home infusion the same way again. I see what you do as a walking talking miracle. Because you are that miracle. I know it. I have experienced it.

Next time your are focused on the numbers or the idea of “high-pressure sales,” remember this story. Even better yet, remember the way home care has touched your life.

Cheryl Peltekis will be bringing her “home care story” to the table this year at the Growth Summit. She’ll be directly connecting it to the key focus points of running a successful agency. You can still sign up, but not for long.

Go here to sign up NOW and become one of the key agencies that is ready for 2020!

Have a great week!

– Jason

About the Author:

Jason Lewallen is Vice President of Business Development

for Home Care Sales

He can be reached at:

Email: jason@homecaresales.com

Phone: 615.815.7907

 

PS: Might want to consider…

If you are a home health, hospice, or private duty agency who struggles with:

educating your referral sources

not having professional handouts with the correct clinical/treatment info

not knowing what to say to drive referrals

not having time to train your sales team about diagnosis specific info

…then the 52 Wk Roadmap to Referrals program is the answer you have been looking for. Agencies are using this methodology to gain more referrals and position their entire sales team as experts.

It’s a plan for every week of the year and can lead to double and triple the referrals you are currently getting. The investment is a mere $500 per month. That’s less than a fraction of a referral!
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Motivational Monday: Your Message From a Place of Passion

Today I was on a call with a gentleman who wanted to know what I could do to help his salesperson to gain referrals. This salesperson hadn’t be able to hit the number for some time. He actually wasn’t pulling any referrals at all! They have the rep on GPS tracking through a phone app and his company car. They know he’s making the visits.

He was adamant that I help him understand how we can help. I told him:

“the problem isn’t a work problem but a message problem.”

He had all the pieces there, right? If you know your team is working and that they are targeting qualified accounts, but your not hitting the number…It’s almost always a messaging problem.

We’ve all hit that wall with a salesperson. Even sales reps have hit that wall themselves. My first few months in home health, I found myself using no message and then later using the wrong message. That’s one of the reasons I am so passionate. Back then?I?just wanted to?win.?Your sales team wants to win.

If your team is working but the referrals aren’t coming in, it’s almost always one of the same two problems.

1. Your accounts aren’t qualified.
2. You are not saying the right thing to the right person

The good news is that messaging problems are often easy to fix as far as words are concerned. Here at HCS, we spend most of our days working with the right words. Passion, however, is the challenge. If you tell a referral source that you cannot stand the thought of a patient who needs help going without, but wont go the extra mile or can’t share a personal story of how your service line has impacted you…it’s going to be hard to win over your referral source. What you say doesn’t line up with who you are. Your actions and your words are not in harmony.

Passion is born by coming in contact with the results of your care. A patient gets service at home and avoids the hospital. That same patient receives physical therapy and gets to make it to her grand daughters dance recital.

How about this: Your care over the span of a weekend makes it possible for a discharge planner to sleep better at night because they know their at-risk patient is in good hands. That peace of mind ensures that more patients get better care from that discharge planner.

You get the idea. Your passion is born from an experience that touches your life. I love home health and hospice because of the impact it had on my mothers life before her passing. If you haven’t felt it as a consumer, then go through your staff. Make a point to come in contact with your successes.

This week:

I would ask you to reflect on your passion this week. Do you feel connected to the service your provide? Do you feel like what you do matters? If you don’t, you’ll never be as successful as you would if you managed to connect intimately with the care you provide. You’re more than a service. You represent a bonafide life change.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi

– Jason

About the Author:

Jason Lewallen is Vice President of Business Development

for Home Care Sales

He can be reached at:

Email: jason@homecaresales.com

Phone: 615.815.7907

 

PS: Might want to consider…

If you are a home health, hospice, or private duty agency who struggles with:

educating your referral sources

not having professional handouts with the correct clinical/treatment info

not knowing what to say to drive referrals

not having time to train your sales team about diagnosis specific info

…then the 52 Wk Roadmap to Referrals program is the answer you have been looking for. Agencies are using this methodology to gain more referrals and position their entire sales team as experts.

It’s a plan for every week of the year and can lead to double and triple the referrals you are currently getting. The investment is a mere $500 per month. That’s less than a fraction of a referral!
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Are you open-minded enough to hear this advice for gaining more patients/clients?

I was recently on a coaching call with an owner and his team. One of his team members is a senior rep who believes he knows everything there is to know about their service line. When I question him about his message…well, I’ll just come out and say it. His message is tired. He asks the same questions and shares the same information. The challenge: HE thinks he is “good,” and his owner THINKS he is doing “good” because his numbers are “good.”

However, I know he could be great. That 23 Medicare a month could be 50, or 60 a month. How do I know? Because we coach and train reps who are well beyond those numbers.

The sad thing is ? this guy will never get there because he is not open to hearing anyone else speak except for himself. He is just waiting for someone to take a breath, so he can jump in and tell you how much he knows.

Which got me to thinking… How many reps or members of your team are asking for patients the same way, sharing the same message just waiting for the referral source to stop talking so they can start talking about how great they are or your agency is without asking the right questions?

One of the exercises we do in our High-Performance Sales Coaching program is to ask the sales reps to create a list of 10 ways to ask for a patient that will deliver you the patients or clients you want ? your ideal referral.

Right now, if you are a rep reading this article ? start a list.

I will give you a minute ? I will be right here when you get back.

 

…Welcome back!

 

How did you do?

Did you get 10? If you didn’t ? its ok keep working on it! Try taking? it to your staff meeting and enlist the help of your team.

If you are a manager or owner ? try it yourself. Then ask your team to create a list.

Compile it ? share it ? improve it.

That is a great exercise and will challenge you ? but NOT AS MUCH AS THIS NEXT ONE:

Now ? Role Play ? ask your first question and when you get to the ? at the end ? COUNT TO 5 IN YOUR HEAD ? AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

DO NOT SAY ONE WORD UNTIL YOUR PARTNER ANSWERS THE QUESTION!!!

How was that?

Every time we role play in the 52 wk training call each month, people struggle not to pile on questions. In an effort to “cover” all patient possibilities, they inadvertently exclude them all. Neuroscience has proven this:

When I ask for a patient with COPD who has SOB or is a fall risk or struggles to maintain their caloric intake…

The referral source hears it as an “AND” question.

Like this: “A COPD patient who is SOB AND a fall risk AND struggles to maintain caloric intake.”

Their brain thinks about their caseload and if they do not have someone who fits all of those ? They simply say “NOPE, I don’t have anyone like that. But I will keep you in mind if I see someone.” The sad story is that it’s true they didn’t have someone with all of those symptom’s, but maybe they had someone with one of them.

Let’s unpack all the goodies in this article as an owner or sales rep for reflection

  1. Be coachable ? even if you are in the business 20+ years. I learn something new every day!
  2. Ask good questions. You learn more than doing all the talking (you get to “stay” longer on a sales call with your referral source if they are talking more then you AND you get invited back!)
  3. If you don’t have 10 SOLID ways to ask for a patient ? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR- your referrals sources can’t do it on their own ? EXPAND their definition of HH, HC or Hospice (lord knows they have more patients who deserve your care! Educate them!)
  4. Count to 5 in your head when you ask a question ? it feels like forever, but your referral sources are still thinking!
  5. Ask ONE question at a time and then move onto the next after it has been answered

Sales looks easy from the outside. It is an art and science. I love every day I get to wake up and have 26 letters to play with that ? when put in the right order ??generate a result of a referral.

I know you love it too! Your care is amazing. The passion you bring to the industry is is palatable. We love what you do!

Thank you for caring the way you do. ?Follow the formula. Do the work. Commit to the process. Succeed like you were meant to with your agency!

Giving you the FREEDOM TO GROW!

 

Keep Serving Seniors!

 

Melanie Stover, OT

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

 

 

 

 

 

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I want more ACTION! Jump start your results!

Are you looking to launch your results? Not just start a long process of success, but actually jumpstarting your results. If that is you, then below I will tell you exactly what you need to do in just two steps to get results and get them fast.

Set Goals and Not Limits

Set Goals and not limits. Obstacles will come your way, but there?s no need to anticipate them. Focus instead on setting small business growth goals that you know you can accomplish! Make a decision to chase your goal by taking actionable steps to getting new business in the door. What steps could you take?

Here is where I would start:

? Call past patients
? Complete Sales Calls to referral sources and personally thank them for past referrals
? Complete 10 Qualifying Sales calls to brand new accounts as quickly as possible
? Visit any current patients that are in an in-patient facility
? Visit referral sources with a 6-month snapshot of their referral pattern
? Take 3 ?A? accounts out to breakfast and survey them on how your organization is doing at providing services to their patients

Focus on setting goals and then tackle any challenge only when it comes up. Don?t waste precious time contemplating what could go wrong, just go grab life by the horns and go for it!

Reward Yourself

Now, what will be your reward for completing your task? You need to have some positive reinforcement for doing something to grow your company so that it increases your behavior. This will help increase the likelihood that you?ll repeat this behavior and it?s how new habits are made.

Choose a reward to keep you motivated to keep working on business development tasks. However, there is a warning about reward. Rewards can decrease those desired behaviors, when we become less motivated by the same rewards over time. Have you ever been acknowledged by your boss for killing a presentation? Felt pretty good, right? If your boss sings your glory for every email you write, every meeting you attend, every hour you spend working overtime… his/her praise no longer means anything. It?s no longer rewarding. That?s what we?re talking about. So don?t rely on rewards too much to change of your habits. Just put some rewards in place for hitting your goals.

Rewards come in many shapes. Rewards can be things, showing yourself a little love, doing something social, or investing in your health. Rewards can also come in many sizes. They can be big, small, costly, free, celebrate small wins or milestone goals? you get the point.

Here are some examples of rewards:

? Clothes
? Book or Audiobook
? Music Subscription
? App Subscription for Meditation
? Bubble Bath
? Nap
? Massage
? Movie Tickets
? Dinner out at new restaurant
? Reusable water bottle
? Cooking Classes

Now is the time to set your goals and choose your rewards. Action is the goal and I hope that this little motivational blog post helps you set yourself or your sales team into action!

Cheryl Peltekis, RN “The Solutionist”

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

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Motivational Monday: What do you have to lose?

Has anyone ever said to you, “What do you have to lose?”

I’ve heard it a million times. Usually in relevance to a risk I’m considering or in the face of a challenging piece of work that I don’t want to do.

As an example, my wife likes to remind me that we bought a 100 year old house. We can’t hire a handyman for every little thing. “Why not give it a try? What do you have to lose?” She often prompts me to give repairs a shot. As a result, I’ve become quite handy over the past two years.

Today, I want to talk about what you have to lose in regards to making sales calls. It may sound controversial, but I believe you have a great deal at risk when you step out of your comfort zone and begin to challenge your referral sources for patients they may not be referring. Let me explain.

I am of the mind that referral sources need help identifying patients. They see potential home care, home health, and hospice patients everyday that they don’t refer. It can be scary for you to challenge their inaction. Here is the thing: What you will find in most cases is that your referral sources don’t see it as an argument, but an educational moment.

Yes, you may be saying something like, “My doctors wont listen to me because the believe they know everything!” Well, that can be the case. However, you will also find physicians that have the clinical knowledge to see the value of your services.

They know the danger a CHF or COPD patient is in. They know which families are struggling to manage their mother or father in the home. They know which patients have a terminal condition that are trying to make the most of their remaining time. They know that part. What they don’t know is that you offer REAL solutions for those patients.

They see so many company reps for so many different things and have come to believe that many of them just want to take advantage of their patients’ medical benefits. They (just like you) often have the best interest of their patients in mind.

Back to the question:

“What, exactly, do you have to lose?”

If you challenge them you risk a great deal. I’ve listed some of the possible outcomes below for your reference.

  • What if your physicians create too many admissions on a Friday? How will you staff them?
  • What if your patients get better and don’t need your services anymore?
  • What if word gets around that you can do this for practically ANYONE who meets the criteria?
  • What if your patients get better and don’t need your services anymore?
  • What if word gets around that you can do this for practically ANYONE who meets the criteria?
  • What if your agency has to hire more staff? Imagine the work involved with hiring and training!
  • How will you process the thank you cards? There is only so much wall space in your office.
  • What if other agencies like DME or Home-Infusion Pharmacies try to partner with you due to the amount of good work they see you doing? Managing partnerships isn’t always a walk in the park.

By now you can see that I’m just being humorous. Above I outlined some of the challenges that successful agencies face. There is really only one minor risk. They might say no or not refer. At which point, you will move on. It’s really simple.

You have so much to gain. Seniors (or your patient population mix) have so much to gain. Even your referral sources have so much to gain. Healthy patients make many more billable visits than ones who can’t leave their home!

Don’t let fear of them saying “no” keep you from offering benefits to EVERYONE! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Have a great week!

– Jason

About the Author:

Jason Lewallen is Vice President of Business Development

for Home Care Sales

He can be reached at:

Email: jason@homecaresales.com

Phone: 615.815.7907

 

PS: Might want to consider…

If you are a home health, hospice, or private duty agency who struggles with:

educating your referral sources

not having professional handouts with the correct clinical/treatment info

not knowing what to say to drive referrals

not having time to train your sales team about diagnosis specific info

…then the 52 Wk Roadmap to Referrals program is the answer you have been looking for. Agencies are using this methodology to gain more referrals and position their entire sales team as experts.

It’s a plan for every week of the year and can lead to double and triple the referrals you are currently getting. The investment is a mere $500 per month. That’s less than a fraction of a referral!
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Do handouts drive referrals?

What is the value of a good handout?

I was recently onsite for one of my favorite clients. When I went back to the hotel on my nightstand was a handout. I had not seen it before, and I travel A LOT! It was an envelope. A money envelope.

On the front, ‘It was my pleasure to host you.” and it had a space for the housekeeper to write their name. On the back it said, “Thank you.”

Clearly, Marriott stepped up their game on their desire to gain housekeeping tips for their staff. I asked the front desk Manager on Duty about the envelopes.

How did they come about?

 

She reported that while it was usual and customary for the guest to tip the housekeeper for their rooms, many travelers did not and the housekeeping staff cited this as a concern.

So to prompt guests, they created a money envelope. I asked if they had any comments from the guests. She said a few called down and asked what they were supposed to do with them and when the front desk shared that some guests tipped the housekeeping staff she said the guests reported that they had never thought of that.

Which got me thinking:

How many of our referral sources have also NEVER thought about Home Health, Hospice, and In-Home Care??

– LOTS!

 

Without prompting, would they ever know about your care?

Of course, I believe historically, the most effective way to share your message is in person. I also think a great handout can support your message with a visual component and sell for you long after you leave.

However, I can report that sales teams that build a remote relationship can also send a PDF of their files. This gives you connection point a little “burst” of professionalism that can help you stand out from other agencies emailing/texting/calling.

An average sales call lasts about 7 mins with the unique selling point sales message being shared in 3 minutes the other 5 mins is rapport building and asking great open-ended questions.

What happens when you leave? In this analogy, do you have a money envelope like Marriott? Of course, not a real money envelope but an effective handout that is going to prompt referral sources to identify patients to refer to you?

Handouts are some of my favorite tools to extend the life of your diagnosis or unique selling point that week.

Handout Tip: Clarity is the key to your handouts

 

Your handouts need to be easy to read, as most are just glanced over. Use bullets and lots of white space to draw the eye to essential pieces. Here are the four main parts of a handout:

  • The Hook in the title to bring your referral source in
  • What is the type of patient that would be ideal for this topic or service
  • Benefits of the patient receiving your service
  • Call to action (CTA)

A great handout can be used all week at every referral source to detail while you are there in person and to sell for you long after you have left.

Handouts combined with your sales message of the week have a compounding effect of driving home your message, educating your referral sources, impacting more lives, and bringing home the money.

A specific home health, hospice, or home care handout each week is a TALL TASK. Many of you do not have Marketing departments or Advertising agencies that produce industry-specific handouts for your weekly sales visits.

Cheryl and I both experienced that too. We wished we had industry-specific handouts for our teams that supported our sales calls and helped us keep top-of-mind even after the sales call was over.

That is one of the reasons we created the Roadmap to Referrals. It is a sales system that not only provides you customized handouts (with your logo and contact information) but also LIVE monthly training to give your reps the words to say that have triggered 1000s of referrals for our personal teams.

Do you want in on a system that has produced referrals for our teams?

 

…And have the EASY WAY to gain customized handouts without the HUGE cost of a Marketing Communications firm?

 

Join other agencies like yours who became more successful on the map!

 

Keep Serving Seniors!

Melanie Stover, OT

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

 

 

 

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Motivational Monday: Creating Your Perfect Week

Have you ever had a perfect week? Not a vacation or a leisurely perfect week, but a perfect week at work. You know, where you get up Monday and you’ve already got several referrals going, the kids were giving hugs and kisses, and your teenage daughter wasn’t giving you the stink-eye because she missed her ride to school and wants you to make her lunch even though she’s the one that was late…deep breathes… (that was my morning BTW). I digress…

There is nothing like a perfect week. In our business, your perfect week is often crafted before the week even begins. In most sales it’s that way. Like a farmer, you have to plant seeds to harvest them later. Like a?traveler?you have to (in the proverbial sense) “make your reservations” to make sure you have adequate accommodations. Otherwise you are leaving quite a bit to chance. It’s all in the preparation.

If you are not prepared, it doesn’t mean that you will not be successful. It does reduce the odds that you will constantly achieve your goals. If you have been “good” without a plan here is your chance to be great. If you are not making the goals you want then the following few paragraphs are for you.

ACTION PLAN: Planning the perfect week

The first step to a perfect week is to lay out a plan. This part is only hard the first time you do it. Then it generally goes on cruise control. Look at how I do it.

1. Who are my top referral sources?

This should be at the top of your mind all the time. You should have your top 15-20 referral sources (at least) written down so you can keep track of how much and how often they are referring on any given week.

2. Where do I go?

Each one of your referral sources has some place that you meet them, right? So when you get that top 15-20 list, group them in similar locations and try to assemble your plan. Sure there are certain accounts you can only see at certain times, but try to plot your week around that. It will maximize your time.

3. What do I do?

Here is where growth can really take off. If you only make 15-20 stops, you’re not going to knock it out of the park. Let’s face it, that’s 2 hrs per stop in a 40 hr work week. Plan your core visits in your 15-20 list. Next you’ll want to be prospecting and qualifying your accounts. (this is Step: 1 of our 5 Step High Performance Sales Process). Make sure you should be spending your time at your accounts. If not, take them off the list and start prospecting. You should be spending about 10% of your week prospecting.

4. What do I say?

Okay, we have a solution for that (which I will get to in a moment) but first, I’d like to lay out the basics. Pay very close attention to these next words.

Most of your referral sources don’t know when to refer for your services

They may understand what you do and how you offer it. For our Medicare Home Health friends…they may even bill for the care you offer! However, until they know which patients need care from their office or facility and at what time, they are just relying on what they know.

Do you think they know more than you?

The trick here is to take a diagnosis specific patient type and help them to understand WHY that patient needs care and HOW to tell if they are right for your services. HOW and WHY. What does it actually look like when a patient needs your care? Can you give them some obvious signs?

For instance (and I’ll keep this super simple)…

Hello Office Manager Sally Smith at Dr. Refers-a-lot’s office!

Have you seen any patients this week that…

…have been missing their appointments?

This speaks do your Doctor’s revenue directly. For a physician or office manager that is motivated by money, this can be a great door opener.

…have vision issues and are on several medications?
How many potentially harmful pills (if taken incorrectly) look exactly like a medication that is relatively harmless to someone who cannot see well? This is a huge opportunity to help for both Medical and non-medical alike as these patients are at serious risk! With your help, they don’t need to be.

…are showing new bruises or have recently had a non-hospitalized fall?
This one is as simple as they come. If you have to ask, “What happened to your arm” or make a comment like “It looks like you are struggling to get around more than last week” then something could be amiss in the home or they could be an obvious candidate for physical therapy. No patient needs to experience a life altering fall when it could be prevented through the care our agency provide.

See how easy that is? Make it easy on yourself and plan one thing to talk about with your referral sources all week. That is (here it comes) exactly what our 52 Week Roadmap to Referrals?does for your agency. It’s this entire step only provided for you with a monthly training and specific handouts customized for your agency by our graphic design team. This program has created thousands of referral opportunities for agencies across the country. You should check it out by emailing me for a free demo at jason@homecaresales.com

Now – back to it…

5. Follow up!

One of the most common mistakes salespeople make is to not follow up. They get a referral and come back the next week asking for another, but not really offering meaningful feedback or sharing the successes of the referral they just received last week.

Think about it: If you were to refer a patient and the rep came back the following week to get another referral, you may not be as excited to refer to them. (get ready for your ah ha moment here…) If you follow up and share the good work and the basics of the services you will provide and how it’s going to impact their patients life…AND let them know that they – the referral source – is the reason that patient will get these benefits, then they will feel good. They should feel amazing!

They just referred to you for their patient and because of their selfless act, this patient’s life should get better. It should feel amazing because it is. It’s not a transaction or a signature/orders/a referral…it is a patient. That patient should have a better life now that they can get some help at home.

If that doesn’t feel good, I don’t know what does.

Now is your chance to use this week to set up the perfect week! Take the time to set up your plan and execute. Each week can be a perfect week if you simply take time to adhere to a structure that works. If you need help with this for your sales team, let’s hop on a call. I’m always glad to help.?
Have a great week!

– Jason

About the Author:

Jason Lewallen is Vice President of Business Development

for Home Care Sales

He can be reached at:

Email: jason@homecaresales.com

Phone: 615.815.7907

 

PS: Might want to consider…

If you are a home health, hospice, or private duty agency who struggles with:

educating your referral sources

not having professional handouts with the correct clinical/treatment info

not knowing what to say to drive referrals

not having time to train your sales team about diagnosis specific info

…then the 52 Wk Roadmap to Referrals program is the answer you have been looking for. Agencies are using this methodology to gain more referrals and position their entire sales team as experts.

It’s a plan for every week of the year and can lead to double and triple the referrals you are currently getting. The investment is a mere $500 per month. That’s less than a fraction of a referral!
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How do you help 7 seniors in NC in one weekend get HC, HH & Hospice?

Last week was our family reunion on my mother-in-law’s side. My mother-in- law has eight brothers and sisters. She grew up on a farm in TN and was the 3rd from the youngest.

All of her siblings are 70+, and since I am the resident “senior care expert,” I spent most of my time explaining the different levels of care and advocating for my aunt to get a caregiver for my uncle so that she can have a “break”.

I was suggesting a PERS pendant for my other aunt, speaking to another aunt about hospice, and being witness to a discussion between uncles about purchasing medication from Canada because his prescription costs were too high.

Because you are a senior care expert, you have these conversations every day. Helping guide seniors to care options is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle! I asked each of them had their doctors talked to them about home health or home care.

Only 2 out of 8 had received home health. No one had heard about private pay in-home care from any of the medical professionals they see. This is not uncommon. Sad… but not uncommon.

Here is my take away for you from the weekend in NC with some of my favorite seniors (although do not tell them I called them “seniors”):

You are the Answer.

Without you educating your referral sources on how we help seniors in the home manage their disease processes, many family caregivers become exhausted and find themselves on the edge of a breakdown. Even worse, the senior may be all alone.

Every day you get the opportunity to impact more families’ lives with your AWESOME services.

How can you “clone” yourself so you can reach more referral sources? The Answer will surprise you ? Structure and Systems.

When you have a structure like Sales Process or a Sales System, the structure does the heavy lifting for you. You get to add your unique personality and scale your business.

As a young sales rep ? I fought structure. I thought it was more art than science. Today I know its more science than art (don’t get me wrong there still is some art!).

When you are confident in the words you say to a referral source ? words that have been tested and delivered 1,000s of referrals for other reps ? you have the skills to get those referrals without having to go through the painful trial and error process.

You know I love a good open-ended question, and just today I was reminded of one of my favorites…

“Who is staying on your mind when you go home?”

This Home Care Sales Trigger Question? has delivered me more referrals then I can count.

It speaks to the heart of the referral source and quickly identifies a patient or resident.

This is what you do. Serve. Offer a hand. Give people peace of mind.

I am so grateful for the seniors in my life and my family.

Educate. Ask for the referral. Identify patients / clients. Serve more Deeply.

Sales = Profound Service.

Finish the week strong!

Melanie Stover, OT

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

 

 

PS: Want tested and proven words to say? 52 Wk Roadmap to Referrals has your phases, questions, and education to “trigger” the referrals who deserve your care!

Join us and get on the “Map”!

 

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Do you know why Dr. Jones Refers his patients?

One day I asked Dr. Jones:

Why do you refer patients to home care?

I was shocked by his answer.

He shared with me that, when he was a boy, his great aunt Cecelia lived with him. She was a widow. Her youngest nephew, Mark (Dr. Jones’ Dad) volunteered to let her move into his home when Cecelia’s Parkinson’s disease really took a toll on her ability to live alone.

Dr. Jones said, he remembered how much work it was for his mom to take care of his aunt’s needs. She needed quite a bit of care over the 15 years that she lived with his parents. They had to transfer her, toilet her, bathe her, feed her, and clean all of her clothing while managing just about everything (like medications and doctors appointments). All of it!

He shared that one day his aunt fell and ended up in the hospital for a few days. When she was discharged, they ordered home health. The nurse from the Home Health agency told them that she had a friend from a home care (private duty) agency and that someone would come over to see how they might be able to help make taking care of his aunt Cecelia a little easier on the family.

The next day Cecelia had a visit from the home care agency. They found out that she qualified for the VA Benefit because her husband was in the military. They were able to get a home care aide to assist with personal care for 4 hours a day on 5 days of the week. This changed the whole mood of the home. Now his mom had time to go to the hair salon and because she felt better about herself (and she had a break every day for a few hours) she improved her self-care. This allowed the whole family to benefit. Home-cooked meals were once again being made. Laundry was able to get completed.? The whole house felt better.

On the way out of Dr. Jones’s office, we ran into his partner, Dr. Kirkland. He introduced me and told Dr. Kirkland, “Tell Cheryl about your Aunt Cecilia.” I got a perplexed look on my face. I thought it was Dr. Jones’ aunt. Dr. Kirkland proceeded to tell me the exact story that Dr. Jones shared with me.

At the end, Dr. Jones said with a smile, “Aunt Cecelia is his great aunt, not mine.” He continued,”When I am trying to convince my patients to let home health or home care in, I always tell this story as if it’s my own because it becomes more believable.”

I was blown away! Not because he made it sound like it was his aunt Cecelia, but because he cared enough about his patients to share a true story they needed to hear to feel comfortable with the idea of home care. By sharing this story with his patients, he is able to improve their lives! I hope we can all find more Dr. Jones and Dr. Kirklands!

There are patients like Cecelia all over the country that are in need of help to stay in the comfort of their homes. There are families that take on this responsibility and just don’t realize how a patient could deteriorate over the years. It is hard to take care of a loved one for a few days, let alone 15 years!

Thank God for home care services. Thank God that the home health nurse had a friend who did home care. Too many patients already go without care.

Now imagine how easily you could help your doctors? offices to find their Cecelia?s? Well… we have your solution. Our Road Map of Referrals does just that.

Just watch the video below to find out what I mean!

Have an amazing day!

Cheryl Peltekis, RN “The Solutionist”

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

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