Careswitch | Home Care Industry FAQs

Q: What are some good professional referral sources my home care agency can partner with?

Here's a list of professional referral sources you can use.Healthcare referral sources:Home health agenciesHospicesAssisted living facilitiesContinuing care retirement communitiesHospital discharge plannersDoctors officesSkilled nursing facilitiesIndependent living facilitiesHouse call physiciansRehab centers (outpatient)Rehab facilities (inpatient)PharmaciesOther home care agenciesDiagnosis-specific support groupsNeurologistsOther non-healthcare professional referral sources:Social service agenciesWorkers compensation providers/case managersBank trust officersReal estate agenciesCPAsVA programsFinancial plannersGeriatric care managersAdult day care centersChurches/clergyOccupational therapistsFuneral directorsFiduciariesElder law attorneysEstate plannersCountry clubsHouse cleaning se... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 1

How can I get traction in my efforts to build referral pipelines?

Gabrielle Pumpian · Accepted Answer

Here’s an overview of some of the different areas you should think about—as well as telltale signals that each area might be what’s holding you back.Note from Connor at Careswitch: This piece draws heavily from a recent interview on our podcast, Home Care U, with three-time home care marketer Gabrielle Pumpian who currently works as Chief Development Officer at Cheer Home Care in California. You can listen to the full episode here; we’ll also link a list of related resources at the end of this article. While this was written by our team, we&#x27;ve credited her as the author because her knowledge formed much of the subject matter.Before we get started: working through the different areas of the referral marketing/sales process requires us to hit some points that might sound painfully obvio... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 2

Which marketing activities should be done in-house and which ones should be outsourced to a marketing agency?

Marissa Snook · Accepted Answer

To answer this question, we separated the typical marketing activities that home care agencies engage in into a handful of categories. While the answers will always depend somewhat on the circumstances of the individual agency, these are generally applicable across the board.Note from Connor at Careswitch: We compiled this article from a recent interview with Amy Selle and Marissa Snook of corecubed care marketing solutions. While it was put to paper (so to speak) by our team, we’ve listed Marissa as the author because her and Amy&#x27;s knowledge formed the subject matter of the article (and we can only list one author).Also, we’re writing to all sizes/levels of sophistication of agencies here. If something feels ridiculously basic, assuming we’re speaking to someone who needs it but have... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 3

How can I make sure I’m maximizing my ROI from online lead sites like APlaceForMom.com?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Online lead sites like APlaceForMom.com are one of the foundational ways for home care agencies to consistently grow their client base.The transactional nature of their operations is appealing for a reason; it typically yields results much faster than strategies like referral marketing, which can take many visits over time to start yielding results.However, as Lori Eberly of A Place For Mom says: “We get agencies who tell us that almost all of their business comes from our site: ‘We love this, we’ve built our business on it.’ And then in the same day we’ll get a call from somebody who says ‘We’ve spent hundreds of dollars on this and gotten nothing.’ Why is one agency having wild success and another agency isn’t? It all comes down to a difference in their processes."While lead website... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 4

How should I decide which referral partners to work with and which to avoid?

Debbie Miller · Accepted Answer

Finding the right referral partners can have an incredible impact on your business. Unlike digital marketing such as Google Ads or SEO, which target consumers directly, building relationships with referral partners can give you access to a steady stream of consumers in need of care services. The question is: who should I target and how do I build relationships with them?Dominate at the Point of NeedLet’s start with targeting. Put simply, you should target those who interface with seniors and their families at their “point of need”. The reality is that the home care industry is driven by seniors in crisis.Sadly, it’s usually after some major event such as a fall, hospital visit or illness before seniors and/or their families consider home care. A referral from a health care professional who... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 5

What are the best (and worst) talking points to use with each type of referral source?

Debbie Miller · Accepted Answer

Targeting the right people within your referral / influence centers who can refer seniors and their families to your services is a critical part of growing any home care company. The trick is visiting them often enough with the right message to develop a true referral partnership.Referrals come from relationships and relationships come from frequent touchpoints. Most facilities worth calling on have weekly, if not daily needs. Centers where more than ten patients a week are being discharged should be called on as often as possible.  Overall, I believe that weekly touchpoints are what it takes to develop and maintain a referral partner.The question is, what do I talk about each week?I’ll start by pointing out what NOT to talk about.Avoid talking about yourself. You are calling on very busy ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 6

What are some good professional referral sources my home care agency can partner with?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Here&#x27;s a list of professional referral sources you can use.Healthcare referral sources:Home health agenciesHospicesAssisted living facilitiesContinuing care retirement communitiesHospital discharge plannersDoctors officesSkilled nursing facilitiesIndependent living facilitiesHouse call physiciansRehab centers (outpatient)Rehab facilities (inpatient)PharmaciesOther home care agenciesDiagnosis-specific support groupsNeurologistsOther non-healthcare professional referral sources:Social service agenciesWorkers compensation providers/case managersBank trust officersReal estate agenciesCPAsVA programsFinancial plannersGeriatric care managersAdult day care centersChurches/clergyOccupational therapistsFuneral directorsFiduciariesElder law attorneysEstate plannersCountry clubsHouse cleaning se... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 7

I just started my agency. How should I go about getting my first five clients?

Gregg Mazza · Accepted Answer

I would take a two-pronged approach: internet lead sites and direct relationships with referral partners.Consider Internet lead sites includes sites like Caring.com and A Place For Mom or others like it. These sites require you to contact the leads quickly (because the sites typically pass leads to multiple agencies) and the quicker you contact them the more effective you&#x27;ll be in closing them. However, if you&#x27;re just starting your agency you probably have an advantage in being able to focus your time and energy on these leads at a level that a more established agency might not.An advantage of internet lead sites is that they could work quickly. If you&#x27;re a startup, you want to get out of the red as quickly as possible. You have all these expenses and you might not even have... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 8

How much should I pay a home care marketer?

Erica Horner · Accepted Answer

The base pay for a home care marketer could be as low as $50,000 because ideally, a significant portion of their compensation should come from bonuses for growth (more on that later). A best practice for determining an appropriate base salary is to stay in tune with your market.If you have a smaller organization and budget is tight, yet you’re ready for more community outreach, you don’t need to let budget be a show-stopper for you. Find someone with potential, but not necessarily years of experience, and train them yourself.Quality sales training and coaching resources are available to help develop your marketer’s skills and execute a sales plan. If a person has the right personality, resilience, a strong work ethic, and an understanding of the players, they can learn to implement effecti... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 9

At what point should I hire a marketer for my home care business?

Erica Horner · Accepted Answer

If you’re asking this question, I’d like to say “congratulations” on your growth! To understand if it’s the right time to hire a marketer, you need to evaluate if you can accomplish the two MUSTs of building sustainable referral relationships, now and in the near future.The Two MustsStrengthening Existing Relationships. Consider if you are able to adequately nurture existing referral relationships. Sure, at this point you’ve probably developed some dependable referral sources who send a somewhat steady stream of new clients your way. But keep in mind that this is a competitive industry; your competitors are knocking on the same doors as you. Don’t take your current referral sources for granted; they require ongoing communication and continued nurturing. If you aren’t able to invest time in... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 10

How can I decide how many referral partners to work with?

Brett Ringold · Accepted Answer

When it comes to determining the ideal number of referral sources to work with, there’s good news and there’s bad news.Let’s start with the bad news first - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.And now, the good news - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.No, this isn’t a typo. Nor is this meant to confuse you. Simply stated, there is not a one size fits all approach that will work for every single agency.For new agency operators, it’s a good idea to call on as many potential referral sources as possible. Tell them about yourself and what sets your agency apart from others in your market. Most importantly, you should ask questions about them and try to identify how you can be helpful to their ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 11

Are there mistakes I'm making with my website that could be hurting my ability to get new business?

Jeremy Fuller · Accepted Answer

It&#x27;s very possible that there are. We asked Jeremy Fuller, Managing Director of Grow Home Care Marketing, to make an overview of the biggest mistakes home care agencies make with their websites and what they should be doing instead. How well does your website measure up?Watch the video here Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

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