1. Be Present in Your Community
Help clean the community park, host a booth in a public place, hand out water bottles at community events, carol at your local living assistance homes, host summer events for the community – show that you care about your community and the people in it by getting involved. Help your neighbors put a face with a name.
Here are a few other ideas to get involved in your community:
- Join your Chamber of Commerce / Community Board
- Support Local Charities – Choose a charity that is important to you and your community
3. Create a Scholarship – Even a small fund can help a student!
4. Volunteer with your staff
5. Promotions, Giveaways and Contests
2. Take Advice from Successful Business Owners
Everyone wants to give you advice on how to run your home care agency – but who can you really trust to give you sound advice?
Before you start putting systems and processes into place because they worked for “Joe Shmoe” and his home care agency, here are a few questions you can ask yourself as you gather advice from your fellow business owners:
- Is their proof in the pudding?
- Have they successfully implemented the systems and processes they recommend?
- Is their business where you want your business to be in 2-3 years?
- Do they run their business with integrity?
Find 2-3 people you trust, listen to their advice, do your own research, and implement.
3. Be Abnormal - Set Your Agency Apart
Home care is a rapidly growing industry, and there are likely a few other home care agencies in your area for potential clients to choose from. It’s not enough to stick to the status quo.
What makes you different? Why should they choose YOU?
What do you have that your competition doesn’t? Do you pride yourself in exceptional customer service? Do you have a strong presence in your community? Do you have any awards that you can show off? Do you hire the best caregivers? Do your caregivers have very thorough training? Are you available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Do you provide a family portal for family members to monitor their loved one’s care? Do you have great personalized home health care plans?
If you can’t think of anything that currently sets you apart from your competition, start by picking something from above and work hard at it – STAND OUT.
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We’re confident that once you try AxisCare Home Care Software, you won't go back to the old way of managing your business.
4. Referral Marketing
Referrals from your caregivers and clients are the most effective way to boost your home care agency’s growth. Hearing from someone who has experienced your care first-hand gives potential clients a trustworthy source to help you stand out from the competition as they make their decision.
Our friends over at Home Care Pulse put together these 5 practical steps to help maximize your referral potential:
1. Establish a Referral Program
Try having a program for your clients and caregivers.
For your caregivers, you could offer bonus incentives such as a $50 gift card for every new client they bring to you. Likewise, you could offer a credit to your clients in dollar amounts or as a percentage of their total bill. You could also try giving away larger items like tablets (an iPad, for example), mp3 players, or a home surround sound system.
By establishing a consistent referral program you can get your clients and caregivers excited to refer new clients. They’ll be much more likely to talk up your company if they know it’ll benefit them, too.
2. Give Referrals to Get Referrals
If you’re over booked or can’t take a certain client because of the specific care needed, then refer them to a home care agency you’ve established a relationship with.
Build alliances with other home care businesses whose services complement yours, and you’ll each benefit from one another.
3. Ask for Referrals
Pick your top 10 clients that love your company and praise your caregivers, then take the initiative to ask them to refer friends. Chances are if they already adore your business they won’t even need an incentive.
4. Send Thank You Notes
In relation to point #3, always send a thank you note to clients who give you a great review, or give a thank you to caregivers who are doing especially well. This will make your company seem friendlier and is another great incentive to get referrals.
5. Be Worthy of Referrals
Before expanding your client base you need your clients and caregivers to be so happy with your business that they want to refer their friends and family. Establish a strong reputation; one worthy of referrals.
Creating a referral engine in your business is a lot of work, but it’s also worth it. As long as you have a company worthy of referrals, you can obtain them. Don’t be afraid to give clients and caregivers a nudge, because this cheap marketing strategy can make a huge difference in your business. [Original Post]
5. Streamline Management
Home care agency owners understand the struggle of balancing extraordinary patient care with effective management systems and processes. Operating a well-oiled home care agency can be overwhelming without the right tools.
So how do you find that balance? By incorporating systems and processes developed by people who understand home care and the challenges of running an agency.
Start by finding a management software that helps you streamline your workflow so that you can focus on what is most important – your clients and caregivers. As you are searching for a management software that meets the needs of your agency, here are a few extremely helpful features to keep an eye out for:
- Third Party Billing Assistance
- Effective Reporting
- Evaluation/Certification Renewal Management
- Caregiver Mobile App
Interested in learning how AxisCare can help you streamline your home care agency? Learn More
6. JUST DO IT
You have gathered lots of great advice from other well-established agency owners. You have done your fair share of research on how to run a successful home care agency. You have some great ideas to implement that you believe will take your agency to the next level.
It's time to stop dreaming and planning - start implementing!
“But where do I start?”, you might ask. As Tony Robbins says, “It’s not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.”
- Do you know that having a strong community presence will boost your agency? DO IT.
- Do you know that you need a more efficient management software? DO IT.
- Do you know that sending thank you notes to your happy clients and high-performing caregivers will help with referrals? DO IT.
- Those other great ideas that you have written on those note pads in your office? DO IT.
