How To Make the Most of Your Home Care Power Partners

When you’re marketing to referral sources in your community, are you getting the most bang for your buck in every engagement? We’ll show you how. 

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• Go beyond the traditional goodie bag.
• Track and tag referral partners. 
• Calculate the ROI of each source that you partner with.

Go beyond the traditional goodie bag.

In home care, we face a competitive, saturated market in most locations. That said, referral partners are being given the same gifts and leave-behinds by most agencies. 

That’s an opportunity for us to do better. Let's think outside of the box instead of bringing the same collateral and swag. Make each interaction more personal. 

If you have a physician’s office that has discussed the need for more education around home safety, offer to host a session for families to join in. Put a digital poster together and show it to them the next time you visit. Get the logistics filled in and start promoting the event. 

Making more personal connections with your power partners will help you stand out amongst competitors and get on their shortlists for referrals. 

Here are a few other ideas:

• For the busy geriatric care manager, consider leaving a coloring book with colored pencils to encourage them to take a moment for self-care throughout the workday. 
• For the stressed-out hospital discharge planner, consider putting together a self-care kit to help them unwind after a stressful day at work with patients. Offer to take some of the stress away with a well-coordinated transition home for those who are likely to be readmitted.
• Pro Tip: If you are approaching military-affiliated organizations, be cautious in leaving gifts behind. They are instructed not to accept gifts, so try to give them the minimum necessary to make a referral. 

Whatever gift or leave-behind you choose, leave a personalized, handwritten note. This extra touch will stand out. 

Track and tag referral partners.

Okay, now something a little more tactical. When you’re looking for a home care agency management system, make sure that it has the functionality to track referral sources. 

When you get an inquiry call from a potential client due to a referral from a hospital or social worker, make sure that the referral information finds its way into your customer relationship management (CRM) tool like CareTime has l. And you’ll also be able to set tasks and reminders to follow-up so that you never miss an opportunity to network and grow.

Keep tabs on which referral partners are sending you a continuous stream of referrals (and which ones aren’t so responsive). 

Tracking every inquiry call has a noticeable difference in the bottom line. According to the 2023 HCP Benchmarking Study, home care providers who tracked every inquiry had a median revenue of $2,040,759. Those that didn’t, had a median revenue of $825,000.

Keep in mind, though, even when you have a relationship with a power partner, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get a referral right away. Take the time to nurture each one, to meet with multiple stakeholders at the company, and have a strategy/purpose around each visit. 

READ MORE: Using Home Care Software To Reassure Families 

(And Power Partners By Extension)

Calculate the ROI of each source you partner with.

You tend to make calculated decisions, and your power partners shouldn’t be an exception to that. Spend your time where it counts by getting to the hard numbers and figures.

With CareTime V3, we have reporting functionalities that show you revenue by referral source so you can see which ones translate into your bottom line the most. Check out this feature and others by clicking here.

This information can help you zero in on which top 5-10 referral sources need the most attention. Once you’ve got a strategy down for each one, you can slowly fold in more new community relations efforts.

“With only 40 hours a week to work with, you should spend your time where it counts the most. Tracking referral sources and pulling revenue reports by source are two key features that we encourage you to use to bolster your relationships in the community and for your bottom line,” Julio Barea, Head of Sales at CareTime. 

Make the most of your power partners.

“You don’t close a sale; you open a relationship.” A powerful mantra from presentation expert, Patricia Fripp. Keep this quote top of mind when you visit with new and existing referral partners.

Your goal is to not only nurture a relationship, but to help them solve problems. 

You’re not selling home care to a senior living administrator; you’re showing them they can manage staff more effectively with residents receiving one-on-one care.

You’re not selling home care to an elder law attorney; you’re helping their clients sleep more soundly at night and elevating their level of service. 

According to Steve The Hurricane, it can take 8-12 visits before a referral source will start sending you referrals. That underscores the importance of how you go about solving their problems and opening the relationship. Keep tabs on this information for your agency without manually tracking and calculating it all. 

CareTime can be your power partner in technology, delivering insights that you need in one place to help open the relationship and keep the doorway open for more.