WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 1

WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 1

Contents 3 Can Health Care Keep Up? 4 Reality Check 5 New Environment Emerging 6 Two Necessary Elements 7 Motivate Your Team 8 Referrals Make the Difference 9 CRM Tools Not Just for Sales 10 Evaluate Your Needs Checklist 11 Summary 12 What You Need to Succeed 13 About Us WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 2

When It Comes to Sales, Can Healthcare Keep Up? The home based and post-acute health care industry has been growing steadily year over year and the demand for care is expected to grow with the aging baby boomer population. As in any booming market, competition grows as well. Instead of focusing on just how to improve your services for that competitive edge, the differentiator is really in having an equipped sales team who is talking to the right prospects. And yet, sales functions have traditionally been thought of as a necessary evil. Why is it taboo for healthcare agencies to even speak of sales? The question you should be asking is: How well can the health care industry serve those in need if we don t adequately address the need to sell those services more effectively? WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 3

Reality Check The truth is, you can t provide great patient care if you don t continue to grow. Growth is an essential part of any business, especially in the healthcare environment. With the signing of the ACA and the implementation of the ACO model, we are already seeing the signs of smaller organizations, that are not organically growing, being consumed by larger, more sophisticated providers. With the vast availability of data today, agencies need to be more strategic in identifying the providers who care for patients who need home based services. Many physicians are under-educated in the options offered, and with education, embrace home based services as part of the continuum of care. In the simplest terms, if we want to serve more people in need, we need to be more purposeful and progressive about seeking them out. It s time to break out of the box with the right attitude that an investment in sales training and infrastructure can produce real growth. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 4

New Environment The days of walking the halls of the local medical center to meet practitioners has passed. Physicians and their extenders have caseloads higher than ever before, and any available time for marketing and sales efforts has almost been completely eliminated. This change requires agility on the part of the skilled marketer. You need to find out which providers are sending patients to your competitors, what their patient mix and caseload is to better position yourself to drive value on your initial interaction. The changing environment makes it critical for an increased emphasis on sales. While your mission and message can remain focused on patient care, it s time to also examine your current referral funnel. Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable. William Pollard WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 5

Two Necessary Elements Be the change that you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi To bring about change within your organization, you need both commitment plus enablers. Investing in sales efforts can no longer take the back seat to an organization s other needs, but must rise to the forefront. With the right attitude about sales, your team can stop playing hide and seek with referrals. You know the patients exist, that there is documented benefit to post-acute care and anyone can find qualified referrals with enough effort. The first secret to winning the game is to use a CRM solution that offers industry marketers a powerful edge, one that exposes hidden data to analyze your accounts for profitability and referral maximization. These data points allow your staff to know which providers are sending the most and richest referrals so you can focus your efforts to produce more growth. Give your agency that access by providing unparalleled knowledge of hiding spots! There are literally thousands of untapped referrals sources all looking for quality providers to care for their patients. So what s the secret to finding the hiding spots of the most valuable referral sources? Once you ve equipped your team with the tools they need to succeed through a CRM solution, the next strategy to winning the game is implementing an effective incentive compensation strategy. While the same strategy may not work for every provider, your organization must ensure you are adequately motivating your team. Once you ve assembled your stellar sales team, keep in mind that the best sales people know that the key to sales is quality information and leads. Having the right organization then enables them to focus their resources on the best targets which equal better referral sources. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 6

Motivate Your Team Developing the right incentive compensation plan that provides the right motivation deserves careful thought. Many agencies incentive comp strategies fail to deliver on expected results. While there may be a number of factors, the most common reason is that the strategies focus on the wrong approach. As your team works to develop an effective compensation strategy, you need to know: With a well-constructed and carefully implemented incentive compensation strategy in place, you can raise expectations on what your organization can achieve in year-over-year growth. Once you ve effectively motivated your team to successfully target untapped referral potential and optimize territories, you re ready to equip the team to meet the demands of the growing market by implementing the right sales and CRM tools. How to implement a specific strategy that addresses your specific pain point, How to overcome the common myths about incentive compensation, How to best achieve territory optimization, and How to use incentive comp strategies and tools to focus on untapped referral potential agency growth. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 7

Referrals Make The Difference Apply an infrastructure using a Customer Relationship Management software, or a CRM as a Sales Tool Your sales force will also want to take advantage of your investment in CRM software. Whether your sales team uses laptops or mobile devices, they must be able to readily enter their field notes and manage their referral sources with the software. CRM software designed for the healthcare industry includes referral source management tools such as referral source conversion rates and hierarchies. Using these tools, your sales team can identify which hospitals, practices, and physicians are sending the most referrals and which are not. From planning call routes and sending thank you notes to keeping referral sources apprised of the patient s condition, Customer Relationship Management software ensures that your sales professionals are equipped with the tools they need for success. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 8

CRM Tools Not Just for Sales Apply an infrastructure using CRM...as a Caseload Management Tool In today s competitive environment, having a central database where employees can readily share notes, histories, and other patient data is crucial. Because of patient privacy regulations such as HIPAA, security is essential. Select a CRM program designed to give access to those who should see PHI, and prevent access from others, and restrict the PHI available to only that required to perform one s duties within their agency. In addition to access of critical data, CRM software should also include tools for managing activities, time, schedules, and productivity. as a Competitive Advantage Finally, CRM software delivers a competitive advantage. After all, the organization that provides excellent care and promptly communicates with all parties concerned will earn the trust and respect and future referrals of those parties. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 9

Take the First Step Today - Evaluate Your Needs Could your agency benefit from better managing your referral sources? Take the quick assessment below. Referral Management Diagnosis Y/N Has your agency used an off-the-shelf CRM? Do your referral sources dry up? Do you want to spend more time in front of referral sources? Do you think your competitors are looking at using industryspecific CRM? Is it critical that your agency be recognized as the care agency of choice? WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 10

Summary All organizations must sell to survive. However, the selling function of service oriented businesses including post-acute care often falls off the radar. To effectively grow your business, you must examine your sales team to ensure they are targeting the right referral sources, and equip your sales team with the right tools. Two key tools include a CRM solution specifically designed to meet your business needs and an incentive compensation strategy that empowers and motivates your brand ambassadors. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 11

What You Need to Succeed HomecareCRM can make your organization more efficient and productive. And ultimately, more successful. IDENTIFY - You can easily locate all referral sources in your market that aren t in your database. For agencies that think that there are no more leads available, prepare to be surprised at the sources your firm is missing. PRIORITIZE - Automatically qualify the true potential of all the new and existing referral sources so you can prioritize your resources on the ones that matter most. You ll be able to set clear goals for your sales and marketing teams and equip them for greater success. RECRUIT - Give your marketing reps the ability to inform referral sources on patient status and outstanding orders. Digitally process orders in mere seconds so that admin time per patient declines. GROW - Get paid faster by decreasing time for signoff from weeks to days, resulting in better cash flow. Track the ROI for all marketing programs, even by person, to make real-time decisions that help your agency save more and earn more daily. Make your organization more efficient, productive and ultimately, more successful. WHY SALES IS A GOOD THING FOR HOMECARE PROVIDERS 12

Looking for a Complete CRM Solution? Whether you re still on the fence about implementing a CRM solution or looking for the best solution for your organization, HomecareCRM is here to help. HomecareCRM, LLC is the industry s leading customer relationship management solution provider, delivering the first and most robust solution specifically designed for home health care and hospice providers. Visit www.homecarecrm.com or call us at 888-611-0912. Create more growth with less work... 13