1/29/2013. Start Your Sales Strategy Now. Technical. Background. From Home Care Pulse: The Leader in Quality Assurance for Home Care

Transcription

1 Start Your Sales Strategy Now From Home Care Pulse: The Leader in Quality Assurance for Home Care Technical» Everyone is on mute» Type questions in the chat box, questions will be responded to at the end» Please have your 2012 Benchmarking Reports handy!» Recording will be available by tomorrow, as well as handouts» For the next two webinars, we will get the slides to you the morning of so you can take notes» Access to recordings/handouts: Background» Aaron is a former successful private duty home care owner» Started Home Care Pulse in Leading firm specializing in capturing/measuring client and employee satisfaction for hundreds of private duty home care agencies throughout the United States and Canada.» Home Care Pulse s quality improvement program is being used by hundreds of agencies in North America» Started conducting the annual Private Duty Benchmarking Study in 2009, in partnership with the NPDA, now known as the Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) 1

2 Home Care Pulse Brands Goal of Presentation» Build a solid sales strategy that helps you convert more referrals into clients» Simplify your approach so that every team member can use it» Get more clients out of the inquiries and referrals you're already getting» Increase your inquiries and referrals with less time and expense A Mentality of Growth When it comes right down to it, you don t really have a choice; if you don t grow, you will die. Business is dynamic. It is not static. Every day your business is going to change, and there s nothing you can do about it. The belief that somehow you can maintain your status quo is false. - Clate Mask and Scott Martineau, Founders of Infusionsoft 2

3 The Cornerstone of Growth A Proven Sales and Marketing Strategy The Framework - The Perfect Customer Lifecycle (From InfusionSoft) The Customer Lifecycle was introduced to me by our wonderful marketing automation provider, Infusionsoft Nurture Prospects and Convert Sales» Nurture Prospects Often prospective clients do not need the care right now but will 6-months, 1 year, or even 3 years from now. Once they raise their hand, you need to nurture them along the way. Follow-up!» Convert Sales Once prospects are hot, it s time to turn them into paying clients. This is when a solid sales strategy comes in such as SPIN Selling. 3

4 Nurturing Leads» Good CRM software can track behaviors and setup nurturing sequences» Automate this with CRM (Sends out timed s, creates task for admin to mail them something, etc.)» Nurturing Sequence Examples What is your Mom s favorite past time? Watching the Chicago Cubs play. Send their Mom a printout of the history of Wrigley Field in color. Downloaded an educational article on website Over the next 12- months, send them 4 follow-up articles that tie in with the one they were most interested in, with your branding on them Convert Sales You Must Have a Proven Sales Strategy» Educate your team of the importance of First Impressions! It is vital for your growth.» Identify a Sales Model» Learn it» Teach it to your entire office team Monthly!» Record yourself or someone who is good at Service Inquiries and use it in training» Record them if possible and use it to train individually» Provide incentives for setting up performed assessments that become clients» BE CONSISTENT IN YOUR SALES TRAINING and ACCOUNTABILITY Leaders are Closers 2011 Median Sales Close Ratios 49.5% 39.3% Leaders All Others 91.4% 80.7% Inquiry Close Ratio Assessment Close Ratio Sales Efficiency = Increased revenue and less wasted time 4

5 SPIN Selling Strategy SPIN Selling is available on Amazon.com (Developed by Huthwaite Situation Get to their situation early on. What are they dealing with?» Problem What are the problems stemming from the situation? Help them see their problems vividly.» Implication What would happen if they didn t get our help? These questions help them explore the consequences of not using your services.» Needs/Payoff How will your services payoff their current needs? Situation Question Tips» Overuse Inexperienced sales people ask too many Situation Questions. Too many of these questions may put the client on the defensive. Keep it to 2-3 Situation Questions that get them to open up.» The Comfort Trap These questions are easy to ask and provide a certain level of comfort for sellers yet potential clients feel the opposite and usually do not want to answer them for very long.» A Purpose Situation Questions should always have a purpose and focus. People do not like to give too much personal information to someone they do not know yet.» Pay attention - If they are giving you short answers and not opening up, move on to the next type of questions. Situation Questions Gather!» What is the current situation of your mom?» What physical challenges is your mom faced with?» What are your greatest concerns for your mom? 5

6 Problem Question Tips» Use Them You should ask more Problem Questions than Situation Questions but always pay attention!» Identify Problems If you can t identify their problems and how your company solves those problems, you might as well refer them to your competition.» Implied Needs The really purpose of Problem Questions is to uncover their implied needs, which is further explored with Implication Questions.» Follow-up Problem Questions are designed to follow-up on their situation and to help both parties get to the root of the problem and why they are reaching out for help Problem Questions Based on what you ve said about your mom, it sounds like your greatest concern is what might happen to her while you are at work. Am I right? How often are you leaving work to come home to check on your mom? In your opinion, what are the disadvantages to how the current care for your mom is being handled? Implication Question Tips» Don t Stop at Problem Questions This is where amateurs are left in the dust.» Conclusions Are Made By Them Implication Questions help your potential clients form their own conclusions they need your care!» Build Up Implied Needs Problem Questions begin to suggest the implied needs but Implication Questions build up that implied need.» Get to the Pain If asked right, Implication Questions help the potential client see the really pain of their situation, vividly and in color. 6

7 Implication Questions So if I hear you right, you would be able to be more productive at work if you knew someone was home caring for your mom. Does that sound about right? What would be the impact on you personally, if you knew your mom was safely cared for during the time you were at work? What are you afraid would happen if your dad left the burner on overnight again? Needs Payoff Tips» Focuses On Solution These questions are designed to turn the potential clients focus on the solution and not the problem» Let Them Tell You The Benefits These questions should help the potential client explain the benefits to you!» Increase Acceptability These questions should help increase the acceptability of your solution» Positive Finish These questions help the potential client feel positive about the call and the solution you are providing» Reduce Objections If you can get the potential client to tell you the ways in which your solution will help, then you don t invite objections. Too often we tell potential clients how great our solution is and do not realize we are inviting objections and concerns.» Turns Them Into Your Sales People By getting them to visually see how your solution benefits them, they are better prepared to sell it to other family members who might be involved, etc. They are focused on how your solution will help and not necessary the finite details that might be more appropriately discussed once they move forward (i.e. Who they call when they change schedules) Needs/Payoff Questions How valuable would it be to you to have a professionally trained caregiver care for your mom while you were at work? What other benefits would you like to see from having one of our professionally trained caregivers care for your mom? Would having someone bathe and get your mom dressed in the morning be the greatest benefit of using our services? 7

8 Setup Assessment» Based on our conversation, I would suggest we set up a free in-home assessment, where our director will go over our services and can develop a care plan that will work the best for your mom. We have sometime this afternoon or even in the morning? Do any of these times work for you? Everyone Can Use This!» Post it - Laminate and post Spin Selling for everyone to use in their offices/cubicles. Give them examples of questions.» Train Monthly One on One and as a team! How companies handle inquiry calls separates them from their competition!» Role Play! Practice this with everyone!» Track and Measure Track your sales close ratios, for every team member involved.» Accountability Based on tracking and measuring, sit down with those specific team members every month and review their performance and provide necessary training to help them improve! The Framework - The Perfect Customer Lifecycle (From InfusionSoft) The Customer Lifecycle was introduced to me by our wonderful marketing automation provider, Infusionsoft 8

9 Who Performs The Sales Networking Functions? IT DEPENDS Pg. 67 The Senior Care Consultant (aka Sales Person) Position Agreement» Position and who they are accountable to» Position Statement 1-2 sentences of what their overall purpose is» Position Summary Bullet point job description» Position Detail Summary detailed out with goals, expectations, etc. Base off industry benchmarks.» Agree to abide / signature of employee and direct supervisor» Sample copy provided later today Setting Goals & Expectations 9

10 Keeping Them Accountable!» Weekly Accountability Meetings Review Performance and refer to Position Agreement» Tracking their performance Track daily visits, relationships built, lead sources, revenue generated by lead source, inquiry close ratio, assessment close ratio, etc.» Abdicate: to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner» DO NOT ABDICATE / Train Them Shadow them on visits, networking events, assessments, inquiries How Do I Pay Them? Pg. 67 Survey Says Living Salary + Bonuses 57.2% Living Salary + Bonus» Leaders median base pay for a FT Sales Person is approximately $40,000 + monthly bonuses. This will vary based upon experience and responsibilities.» Bonus plan Recommend it be based on new clients and how long they remain on services 10

11 The Best Way To Get Referrals YOUR CLIENTS! Pg Steps to Attracting More Client Referrals 1. Create a Referral Generation Plan Formalize how you and employees ask for the referrals. Make sure everyone knows when to ask and how to ask it. 2. Provide Support Don t leave it up to your clients to give the information to their friends. Provide business cards, coupons, and instructions on how to share your services with others and what information you need. 3. Offer appropriate incentives/discounts 4. Target your most influential / happy customers Ask for the referral Even Happy Clients need reminding that you like referrals! If you know they are happy with services, train everyone to ask on the phone, in person, via , or mail. Here is one idea: 1. Identify HAPPY CLIENTS. Home Care Pulse Quality Satisfaction Program. Talk with us to learn more! 2. Send these clients a letter with a handful of 15% off a weeks worth of services coupon. Make sure there is a space for their referral to write in the name of the client who referred them. The letter explains the referral program. 3. Referral Program For every client they refer that signs on for services, they and the person they referred, get 15% off a weeks worth of services. 4. Follow-up approx. 2 days after they received your letter. Make sure they received it and that you love referrals from clients. Be bold but not over bearing. 5. Repeat 2-months later. 11

12 The Power of Client Referrals» 1 Happy Client + 5 Years = $500,000 in additional revenue, just from the clients she referred» 1 Happy Retired Doctor Referred business to us for several years and became a new husband, thanks to us! A Game Changer Survey Opens Feb 1 st, 2013 Full Study available April 15 th, Pre-orders begin Feb. 1 st, 2013 Survey participants will receive a discount during February and March Sponsored by Home Care Pulse and the National Private Duty Association - Instant 2013 Personalized Report - All participants will receive their own confidential Instant Personalized Report immediately upon survey completion. This report calculates your answers, inputs some of them into visual pleasing graphs, and provides a detailed look at the performance of your agency. Furthermore, if you participated in the survey last year, this report will include 2011 data as well so you can trend performance going forward. More details forthcoming. Not to be confused with the Agency Performance Report last year participants received - More Regionalized and Trended Data included in the 2013 Private Duty Benchmarking Study we need more participants than ever before! More details forthcoming stay tuned to your . download the prep worksheet! Contact Us Private Duty Benchmarking Study Info» study@homecarepulse.com» (877) Quality Management Program Info» Director of Quality Management Andrew Rail» andrew@homecarepulse.com» (877) , ext: