How to Win More Clients: Best Practices to be a Top SalesPerformer in a Competitive Home Care Market

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Increase your sales.Grow your home care agency.

Best practices to be a top sales performer in today’s competitive home care market

Meet Mike Price

20+ years of experience leading partnerships and strategic initiatives, most recently in healthcare.

• SVP Partnerships at Honor

• Led strategic partnerships at eHealth

• Early employee at Yahoo! and DoubleClick

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Agenda

• Market Trends

• Foundational Elements of Sales Best Practices

– Tell Your Story

– People & Process

– Growth Opportunities

• Q & A

Market Trends

• Rapidly growing aging population is dramatically increasing demand for home care services.

• Healthcare spend could grow to $5.7T by 2026 and home healthcare spend may outpace every other category (~6.7%) and reach $173B by 2026.

Percentage of the US population aged 65+

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary & Health Affairs Journal

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Competitive Landscape is Shifting

• Many new entrants and bigger players.

• 5% average increase every year in new agencies.

• Many new types of partnerships forming, un-leveling the playing field.

Next 5 YearsLast 5 Years

How do you get a bigger share of the expanding market?

Having a solid foundation based on sales best practicescan make all the difference in whether your agency is successful in 2019.

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Foundational Elements of Sales Best Practices

Build a foundation for sales success.

To thrive and grow in a much more competitive market, you’ll need a stronger foundation for your sales operations.

Your Story People & Process

Growth Opportunities

Tell your story

Messaging

Define your agency’s brand.

• What makes your agency

better or different?

• How is your background unique?

• What’s your agency’s big claim?

• Examples:

We never miss a care visit. Ever.

“

Our care managers are deeply committed and will check-in on a daily basis if you’d like. We’re like family, without the drama.

“

Our years of experience supporting people living with Alzheimer’s makes us smarter and better able to anticipate your loved one’s changing care needs.

“

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Know Your Audience

Customize your pitch to your audience.

• Client Scenario A: Social worker at a referral source

• Client Scenario B: Director of Case Management

• Client Scenario C: Adult child of client

Tell your story

Messaging

Craft an elevator pitch.

• Should be no longer than 30-seconds.

• Should include:

– Who you are: authentic + vulnerable

– Why you’re different

– Your big claim

– When able, tailored to the audience.

• Anyone who hears it should get it the first time.

• Incorporates stories.

• Should be vivid and memorable.

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Tell your story

Storytelling

✓Storytelling is showing not telling.

✓Tell stories that:

✓Good stories are more engaging and relatable, helping people see their solutions.

✓Spreadsheet!

Demonstrate your agency’s credibility and expertise

Illustrate your agency’s ability to deliver on your big claim

Explain how you solve problems

Tell your story

Messaging

Practice till it’s perfect.

• Write it down and memorize it.

• Share it with everyone, including your

sales team, your caregivers, your

receptionist; certification process

• Practice and role play with your sales

team until everyone gets it down.

• Periodically revisit your pitch and refine

as needed.

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Tell your story

Elements of a Successful Pitch

• Describes what you do.

• Creates an emotional tie (shows heart).

• Has one tangible differentiator.

• Demonstrates credibility (creates trust).

• Has a strong closing.

People & Process

Hiring

Hiring your dream sales team:

• It’s an extremely unique combination of people who have the heart and

stomach for home care sales.

• Look for candidates with some sales experience.

• Search out people who have worked in similar space (i.e. your referral

sources, home health, hospice, DME). Leverage your own trusted network.

• Conduct some behavioral interviews or shadow days to help you

identify the best candidates.

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People & Process

Training

Onboarding and training:

• Define your key criteria for success.

• Communicate and review expectations with your team in weekly review meetings.

– Just like your other employees, your salespeople need support, structure, and

process. They want accountability, want to win and want to make a difference.

• Most critically, spend at least 90 days onboarding new salespeople with the right

tools and processes.

People & Process

5 Key Steps

Pre-visit

Research

1st Drop-in

Discovery

1st Meeting

Pitch

Weekly Cadence

Follow-up

Monthly Cadence

Monthly Recap

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People & Process

1st Step: Research

Before you ever step foot in their office or make a call

• Do your homework. Being informed shows that you care, so know the basics:

– Who do they serve?

– What do they specialize in?

– What are their patients/clients/residents likely to need?

– Check out CMS, Yelp, Google

• Potential referral partners are very busy people so don’t waste your face-to-face

conversation with basic information you could have found on a website.

People & Process

2nd Step: Discovery

Your first opportunity to learn what you need to know

• This is the first conversation when you learn—quickly and efficiently.

• Start with these questions:

– Do you refer people to non-medical home care? If so, how frequently?

– Which agencies do you typically refer to?

– Why? What do you like most about working with them?

– What are your ongoing challenges and biggest pain points?

– If you could design the perfect home care partner, what would that look like?

• Then ask if they have time now to learn more about your services or if you can

schedule a meeting for another day.

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People & Process

3rd Step: Pitch

Tell your story

• Typically, this is your first sit-down meeting. Use this opportunity to tell your story, e.g.:

– Describe your services and what makes your agency better or different

– Highlight your key differentiator, framed in a way that addresses the facility’s needs and makes them feel understood

– Tell a story that shows how you deliver on your big claim

• But don’t do all the talking—ask good questions, listen carefully, and take the time to

understand their biggest pain points.

• At the end of this meeting, your goal is to get a referral or an invitation to follow up in

the near future.

People & Process

4th Step: Follow-up

Follow-up regularly—add real value to their day

• After your first meeting, you’ll want to follow up on a regular basis—every week or two—

as you build a real relationship and referral pipeline.

• Check-ins that add real value to their day include:

– A relevant healthcare article

– An invitation to an upcoming event or speaker series

– An update on a client they recently referred to you

• Your ongoing check-ins should be something they enjoy rather than dread

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People & Process

4th Step: Follow-up

Follow-up regularly—add real value to their day

• 1st visit – Deliver on Promises.

• 2nd visit – Add Value.

• 3rd visit – Use Client Stories.

• 4th visit – Reiterate Benefits.

• 5th visit – Ask for Business

• 6th visit – Have a Respectful Sales Conversation.

People & Process

5th Step: Monthly Recap

Ongoing progress reports

• Once you have referrals, agree to a monthly meeting for:

– Service checks

– Review of clients’ progress

– Sharing of agency updates or new programs

• You should also try to deliver educational resources, industry news,

or fun things related to their favorite hobby.

• These monthly recaps are about building a genuine relationship.

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People & Process

Common Mistakes

• No Elevator Pitch

• Not Listening

• Being too Pushy

• Not Being Pushy Enough

• Giving Up Too Soon

• Holding Out Hope Too Long

• Not Adding Value

• No Follow-Up

• Talking to the Wrong Person

• Talking to Only One Person

• Not Tracking Results

• Delivering a Laundry List of Services

Growth Opportunities

Examples

REFERRAL PARTNER A (HOSPITAL)

REFERRAL PARTNER B (SNF)

2018 Revenues $240k $300k

# Leads 35 120

# Consults 20 60

# Clients 12 35

Revenue/Client $20k $8.5k

Consult/Lead 57% 50%

Client/Consult 60% 58%

Client/Lead 34% 29%

Revenue/Lead $6,850 $2,500

Efficiency metrics

While the SNF drives

more revenue, it’s

significantly less efficient

than the hospital.

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Growth Opportunities

Reviewing your client mix

A healthy client mix is like a healthy investment portfolio—it should be diversified

to minimize risk while maximizing long-term gains (or in this case, revenues)

Short-TermClients

24/7 Clients Long-term

Clients

Growth Opportunities

Referral Marketing

WebsiteMapsReviewsSNFsHospitalsWord of Mouth

Digital Marketing

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Growth Opportunities

Reviews

• Respond to all reviews, especially negative ones

• Ask during positive inflection points & encourage

client to thank their caregiver

• Reviews are helpful for other families

• Don’t stop—recency and velocity help

Google Maps: Optimize everything

Cover image

Business name

Category

Address

Website

Phone number

Reviews

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Action item

• Moz Local

• Synup

• BrightLocal

• Whitespark

Summary

✓Embrace your agency’s uniqueness and tell your story.

✓Everyone at your agency is in sales, so make sure everyone knows

your vision and the elevator pitch.

✓Implement and follow a structured sales process.

✓Track all your data so you can build reports that highlight your growth opportunities.

✓Focus on reviews, maps and your website to ensure your online

presence is helping you grow.

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