Posted by Bobby Robertson on Tue, Dec 15, 2009 @ 12:37 PM
Part Three: Creating differences for your agency will set you apart from competitors
In follow up to a post on marketing success a few weeks ago, I posted a very unique method that one of my customers used to find an incredible marketing rep that produced immediate results and grew an agency substantially in a relatively short amount of time. Per your requests for additional examples, another example of success comes to mind that was facilitated by a good friend, Robin Finkelstein. I asked Robin if she would mind writing about this and she kindly agreed. Here you go:
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Great sales people n
eed a message that allows them to communicate to their referral source why they should refer to your agency over another one. All homecare and hospice agencies provide similar services and have "great staff," so why refer to you? Physicians will refer to you because they believe you provide great care with excellent outcomes to their patients. Service and outcomes motivate patients and referral sources and give them a reason to prefer your agency...simple yes, but hard to accomplish.
Take a home health agency in Louisiana who was struggling to grow and give reasons to their referral sources why they should refer to them: Their marketing staff was making frequent sales calls to their referrals sources but was not able to convince the source to refer to them.
Research conducted with competitors and referral sources identified that the agency was not calling on the right target audience and their messages were not motivating to customers. Basically, the agency was perceived to be the same as all the others! A common problem with home health and hospice agencies.
A needs-analysis was conducted with referral sources and the agency's clinical and marketing teams to determine what made them different in the market. A clinical and communications plan was developed that included the following elements:
1. A clinical development plan that included specialized cardiac, pulmonary and low-vision disease management programs
2. New clinical technology was purchased to differentiate their agency with surgeons
3. A psych nurse was hired to develop a dementia program
4. A marketing and communications plan to re-launch their agency
The results were significant: admissions doubled for the agency within a year and the marketing staff was focused on working with the right referral sources, delivering messages that differentiate the agency and motivate them to refer to this agency.
If your agency finds itself in this position it is time to act!
• Review your strengths and weaknesses
• Learn about your competitors and customers
• Develop a plan to improve your services and communicate those differences to your customers
contributor: Robin Finkelstein, Marketing Consultant, Market Insight, Inc robin@marketinsite.org
Read Part One: Howdy Doody Visits
Read Part Two: Finding the Right Home Health Marketer
Posted by Bobby Robertson on Tue, Nov 03, 2009 @ 11:55 AM
Part one: Howdy Doody Visits
Over the years, I've worked with literally hundreds of home health agencies, and I'm very fortunate to call many of them my friends. I doubt most of them remember our first meeting, but in most every case, our initial conversations end up with me asking "How do you get (or plan to get) patient referrals?"
Shockingly, the answer I get most often is "We have a marketing person and we make sure that she/he visits all of the physicians in our area and leaves them our brochure so that they think of us when they have a patient that needs home care." I cringe when I hear this and immediately think.....another "Howdy Doody" marketing program.
I refer to these marketing efforts as "Howdy Doody" because these agencies typically have hired someone to drive around town all day, stop in Physician offices, drop off a brochure, and say "Hi" or "How do you do?" (Howdy Doody). This is not good marketing and it is a waste of time!
Marketing should be done by a true marketing professional, not someone that would take a minimal annual salary set aside as an experiment. Someone who will develop a well thought out and measurable strategy/plan to differentiate your agency and ultimately get referrals. This professional can set your agency up as a resource to the Physician, versus just another "Howdy Doody" agency, and the referrals will come.
I love to visit with agencies about the proper way to attract, hire, measure and compensate marketing professionals that can get these results. It is not difficult to grow your business, if you take the growth of your business seriously.
If anyone is interested, I'll write about some of the most successful marketing programs I've seen used by agencies. Is anyone interested?
Read Part two: Finding the Right Home Health Marketer