How Home Care Providers Are Raising the Bar with Sales and Marketing Strategies

Higher billing rates for home care, lower reimbursement rates for home health care, and staffing issues in both sectors are raising the stakes for all other services for providers.

With these challenges come opportunities. During a recent Home Health Care News webinar, Impactful Sales & Marketing Strategies for Home Health and Home Care Providers, two companies discussed the challenges they face and how to solve them.

Linn Free, senior vice president of operations at Omaha, Neb.-based Home Instead, emphasized the importance of having the right home care consultants in the company and better understanding the partnership.

“We want to continue to build strong relationships with referral partners,” Free told Home Health Care News. “We really want to come in more holistically and be a resource earlier in the process, rather than just being there at a time of concern.”

Free emphasized that focusing on building relationships and leveraging technology is the greatest opportunity for growth in the face of staff shortages.

“We’re working to make it accessible for everyone,” Free said. “We’re making the application process easy for care professionals. We have a franchise network of over 460 owners. We’re focused on listening and understanding their needs. Care professionals are one of our greatest opportunities to continue to grow the company.”

Jeremy Collier, vice president of strategic initiatives and payments innovation at LTM Group in Dayton, Ohio, suggested that building relationships is about standing out from others in the industry.

“First, you get their attention,” he said. “We rely too much on e-mail these days. If we’re not going to send an e-mail, let’s write a handwritten note. Let’s coordinate so we can have unskilled services with skilled services. Take the time to do something different. That will set you apart from the competition.”

Both Free and Collier agreed that developing positive referral relationships takes time and effort. But when it comes to franchisees, a local approach is essential.

Free said Home Instead franchisees typically live in the communities they serve and understand those communities better than anyone else. They are responsible for building and nurturing relationships with their referral partners, but the company still provides support.

“Our operations team is there to support them with tools, processes and resources, removing friction to build more impactful relationships,” he said. “We believe in freedom within a framework. We understand that one size does not fit all. We are shifting our sales and marketing to a more personalized perspective. We try to understand the local environment so we can understand where (franchisees) should focus their time and energy.”

Free said the company is using a new tool that allows each franchisee to view all referral sources in their territory, which helps them better maintain relationships and connect with people they haven’t connected with recently.

“We’re using AI to help us empower owners and their teams to drive referrals and say ‘yes’ more effectively,” Free explained. “Some owners are tech-savvy, and some are reluctant. Our team needs to see where owners are in their journey and help them transition to new technology. It’s one thing to talk about technology, but you need to show them the ‘why’ by asking them to trust you.”

Sales-driven growth

The home care industry is known for its compassionate nature, which can make it difficult for those in the industry to prioritize sales. However, Free suggested that having dedicated sales professionals is ultimately better for customers.

“Having that sales mindset helps us expand our capacity to care,” he said. “We want to have that compassion and build strong relationships, but we want to help others experience what we can do on their behalf to make their lives easier and allow them to stay in their homes longer.”

Collier said his company closely monitors its sales process. They focus on comparing incoming sales to the number of available physicians in a given area. This approach helps the company make informed hiring decisions and get ahead of demand to prevent a sales process slowdown. But he also emphasized the importance of retention.

“Retention of staff, patients and referral sources is very important to us,” Collier said. “It’s important to follow up after care begins and let (referral sources) know how things are going. It allows you to thank them again and tell them what communities you serve. By explaining to the patient and family what our services are like and what we offer before the patient is discharged, it’s easier to retain them. A face-to-face visit is very important when care begins. Check in with the family and explain the services, how they’re paid for and what you’re expected to do.”

Collier and Free say there are untapped opportunities in the home care sector that can be exploited to increase sales.

Collier said his goal is to help more home care agencies across the country.

“Be more sophisticated in your partnerships,” he said. “Reach out and share your connections with those larger than yourself. We have a real opportunity to reach out and educate people about what home care really is.”

Free said franchisees must prioritize growth, leveraging the brand’s history, experience and technology to maintain and expand their presence in both the business and their communities.

“It’s important to take pride in what we do and invest in our owners, their teams and our care professionals,” he said. “One of the biggest barriers to growth is having enough staff and being able to say yes to more opportunities. It’s all about improving the level of care our clients receive and applying consistency.”