Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
- Dale Carnegie
Whether or not we are in an actual recession is not really a factor in home care marketing. It feels like we are, so we act like we are. One of the first actions responsible owners and managers feel the need to do is cut expenses and take a hard look at revenue streams. At the top of the list is usually marketing, which most poor souls think is an expense.
During slowdowns such as the one we are mired in, there is no better time to ramp up your marketing efforts. Since your competition is cutting their marketing expenditures, you will have less noise to get your message out and will ultimately gain market share.
So here’s my great idea this week…continue to market and brand your home care agency, especially as your competition is retracting and lying in wait for better times. Don’t think of your marketing efforts as expenses but rather opportunities. Fear is a powerful emotion, however it is courage that will lead you toward increased revenue and referrals.
Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It’s hard to measure and you aren’t quite sure if it’s needed when it’s time to reduce costs. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? Simply put, you will find yourselves in an even deeper hole when the market makes an upturn and you will lose market share… it happens every single time.
During the last economic slowdown in 1985, companies that were aggressive recession advertisers grew their revenue over 2.5 times faster than those that reduced their advertising. Firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. When you look at those numbers, it is obvious …. Now is the best time to effectively increase your home care market share through marketing!
I feel your pain. But in the next 2-3 years if you do not lead your agency toward greater revenue through effective marketing, you will be left behind. I want you to grow by getting out into your local community with these free or nearly free proven home care marketing strategies:
Partner up with other health care providers
Go out and talk to the marketers in your community who work in ALFs, ILFs, hospices, insurance offices, physician offices, hospitals, etc. Invite them all to a lunch meeting and start brainstorming about ideas that benefit everyone. Co-marketing sales calls or presentations is a great idea. Conduct an open discussion of everyone’s greatest success story in marketing. These endeavors usually result in ideas and tend to energize everyone.
Start a home care newsletter
Begin your own agency newsletter. Sounds easy enough and many people start one. Trouble is we get too busy to keep it up because after that initial rush of “stuff you have wanted to write” dries up, it starts to be a burden. We have already done all the work for you. We have written tons of home care articles and columns and they are right here at www.HomeCareNewsletters.com. I will even give you the first template free…It doesn’t get any easier than that. Start one today and saturate your local market with some value-added marketing material.
Become an educational event planner
Every home care agency with a marketer must insist that educational event planning become a priority. I tell every owner and manager I speak with that their staff should have their day job of calling on referral sources and at the same time be planning an event in your community. Events draw in potential future referrals and are an effective way to brand your agency. My home care coaching staff has guided live events all over the country and they are just a free coaching call away.
Market to your staff
Have a staff meeting to solicit their help. Agency owners who are honest and reach out to their staff will find a wealth of understanding and ideas. Of course your staff wants your agency to succeed. Don’t go it alone when you have other soldiers right beside you in the same foxhole. Your staff has tons of connections out in the community. Let them lead you toward senior groups and social networking. Find the hidden talent and resources you have in your agency that will lead to increased marketing and exposure.
Become a super marketer
Become a community expert and celebrity. Submit articles to your local newspaper, trade papers, and other publications. There is a tremendous need for home care education and once you have established yourself as someone who can provide some answers, your agency will be flooded with contacts. I’ll even give you a powerful topic that is little known in your community but certainly true: “Home Health services are the most cost-efficient way the government spends your health care dollar!” Beat that drum and watch your local community seniors start dancing.
For even more discussion on these proven strategies, simply contact me or one of my sales coaches at TAG Home Care Marketing for a FREE 30-minute coaching call. Click this link www.HomeCareCoachingCall.com or call 866-232-6477.
Working to grow your referrals,
Adam
a.k.a. – Home Care Referral-Man
this is great. i like it