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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