“I finally am coming out of the overwhelm and getting referrals again.”
One of our private mentoring clients recently shared with me.
Over the past two weeks, we have been working at neck break speed to arm our reps with the tools and messaging to get to their referral sources and keep the flow of referrals coming into the agencies.
While we are only two weeks in, it feels like two years. I know many of you feel this way too. Working 12-14hr days to help create a structure for our reps so they can navigate this unprecedented time.
I ask myself daily –
“What new problem are my referral sources facing right now, that they might not have had last week, and how is this agency uniquely qualified to help them?”
This is a GREAT question!
Because what worked last week – well, we are already onto 2.0. We test, we learn, we evolve and test again. It’s in the iteration that we tool the next generation of tactics and techniques.
Lessons from the field:
Set your team up for success from home
Most of your team has never been “caged” up and home, and some of them are not doing well. They are social creatures, and right about now, the wheels are coming off. You, as a leader, need to help them create structure. The structure will help with the overwhelm and get them back to business.
We created for our teams 5 Steps to set them up at home for success.
This started as a 3 step process, and we have irritated to 5 steps for your now “inside” sales team.
We put this structure in place for our teams last week.
One of the client’s reps confided in me:
“The first day, you told me to go home and start to pull together my list for the inside cadence. I was in shock and complete overwhelm. I just sat at my kitchen table all day and did nothing. My husband told me that I better get my act together, and so the next day, I started working on the steps. It took me two days to get the Focus 50 down in the tracking tool you gave us. I was very frustrated about that. I felt like I should be doing more. That I was “not working.” I was angry. Angry, I couldn’t go out. Upset, you were making me do this dumb spreadsheet. Scared I was going to be laid off because I was “at home” and not in the field. That was my week last week. Scared, overwhelmed, confused, looking for answers, and I felt unsupported.
But over the weekend, something changed…
I think it was the organization.
When you gave me the scripts and the email templates, and I read through them, I thought – OK, I have a map. I can do this. Now I had a plan. When I came back to my kitchen table on Monday and sent out the 1st email script you gave me – I feel instantly better. I emailed all of my Focus 50 in the first 2 hrs. Next, I did the voice mail script you gave us, and I could not believe how many people ANSWERED THE PHONE! They had TIME and TALKED to me! I got two referrals on Monday from the scripts and phone calls, and now I feel like I can do this! Thank you for making me do the preparation, or I would have been sitting here binge-watching Netflix because I didn’t know how to start.”
We heard a “version” from multiple clients last week.
I appreciate everyone is on edge. Chaos and uncertainty do that. It shows us we are human. We make mistakes during this time. We disappoint people. We are frustrated.
There is also good that happens during this time if we look for it. Neighbors helping each other (even if its just toilet paper – thank god I went to sams club 2 wks ago – who would have thought?) Sales reps taking leadership and helping their agencies find a way!
New tactics are refined. New skills are developed. Every day we get to choose to find the “good.” It’s not easy, and yes, we stumble. The important thing is you get up. And you try again.
You chose this “business,” but really, it’s a calling.
You are resilient.
For however long you have been in Home Health, Hospice, or Home Care – You have been told “NO” every day – at least once a day.
In some ways, that has prepared you.
You know how to tackle “uncertainty” – you did it when you first came into Home Care, and you will do it again.
Because if I know one thing, it is that if you know how to WIN – you can defeat uncertainty with a plan. Use our structure of the five steps inside sales process to create your own version of the program.
I’ll end with a personal message for you.
My entire life’s work has been helping home health, hospice, and in-home care grow. And I see that as being more critical today than probably at any point in my 24 years in this business.
I want to see you survive and thrive.
I invite you to take advantage of our free webinar next week.
And if you would like to connect with me, personally you are always welcome to email me at: Melanie@homecaresales.com
The world needs you right now.
Thanks for joining me.
Melanie
PS: The take-home tools from our last webinar:
We provided the infographic, sample scripts, a tracking tool and at the end of the webinar gifted all 10 of our email templates and 10 of our voice mail scripts (these tools and scripts took over 10 hrs to craft, and we have been using them with our private mentoring clients – the scripts are in word docs – all you have to do is click and customize to your agency)
If you paid for the webinar you will find them all in one place – the learning system at homecaresalespro.com. If you haven’t received access, check your spam (as notifications can sometimes land there) or reach out to Jason@homecaresales.com and we’ll get you set up.
Melanie
