Home health is a growing industry, but here is why you still need a salesperson to succeed
Even with the current staffing issues that many agencies are facing, home health care is a booming industry. In fact, it is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Despite this, many home health care agencies still struggle to make a profit. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of salespeople.
Salespeople are essential to the success of any business, and home health care is no exception. A good salesperson can help an agency attract new patients and develop relationships that are instrumental in reaching key revenue goals.
They provide the “connection” with your referral sources that your busy staff (especially now) simply doesn’t have the time to maintain or develop.
Another vital function of a great salesperson is their ability to communicate your staffing status. Yes, it is not fun when you have to turn away a patient, but what makes that even worse is when you finally have hours to fill and you don’t have a patient to occupy that time slot.
That can lead to a disappointed staff, a drop in revenue, and more.
Open and honest connection with your referral sources can make sure you are filling as many billable hours as you can, while ensuring that your physicians, facilities, and hospitals (who are very likely experiencing a similar shortage of staff) can plan accordingly and learn to rely on your agency to serve that key role of caring for their patients.
So what is vital to a health agency? A good salesperson.
There are many ways to do this, including recruiting them from other industries, asking your staff (especially ones that you find very reliable) if they know someone, or connecting with a recruiter that specializes in finding salespeople for the home health care industry. There are a few superstars hiring folks that a quick search on Linkedin can help you locate. (trust me…they want to hear from you!)
Salespeople are often the lifeblood of a company. They are the people who help a company capture new patients and referral sources and ultimately the decider of agency success.
So what are the qualities that make a salesperson great?
They need to be able to:
Build relationships with referral sources
Understand those referral sources’ needs
Get in a relationship where they can “identify” the underserved patient types for their referral sources
Provide outstanding customer service and follow up on admissions
If you don’t have a salesperson, (or perhaps you do), it seems like you could do what they do if you only had time. That may be true but there are two things you should consider:
You actually DON’T have enough time.
If they are a fantastic sales rep, then you probably CAN’T do what they do.
When it comes to home health, having a skilled salesperson on your side can make all the difference.
In order to be successful in this industry, you need to be able to represent your agency. This is especially true if your agency is in a market where there are many other competitors. If you don’t have someone who is out representing your services and your competitors do, how long do you think your agency and your established relationships will hold out?
With home health, a salesperson is essential for success.
Do you have a salesperson? Are they performing where you want them to? There is a good chance we have a tool you can access right away that can get them on the path to the number and type of patients you are looking for.
Simply email [email protected] or go here to set up a call: https://calendly.com/mike-home-care-sales
Keep Helping, Keep Serving,
Cheryl Pelekis, RN “The Solutionist”
