With the pandemic causing many of us to celebrate the holidays virtually last year, families are embracing the opportunity to gather in person once again. There’s so much joy to be found in turning off our digital devices, reuniting for the traditions that were put on hold, and simply wrapping our arms around those we love.
And perhaps this year more than ever before, family members will be taking note of the health and well-being of the older adults they love. We know that holiday gatherings frequently provide the opportunity to notice red flags that could indicate the need for care. Agency phones begin to ring off the hook with calls of concern and requests for assistance. Do you have a strategy in place to capitalize on home care agency growth potential as calls for care increase?
Consider preparing for home care agency growth by initiating these strategies before, during, and after the holidays:
Before the Holidays:
- Boost your recruitment efforts now so that you have plenty of caregivers trained and available to work throughout the holidays and beyond.
- Equip your inquiry staff:
- Advise them that there is expected to be an influx of calls post-holiday season.
- Train everyone who answers the phone on effective inquiry management techniques.
- Ensure you have an efficient inquiry follow-up process in place.
- Reach out to your referral sources to let them know how your agency can help as the need for care becomes evident over the holidays, while thanking them for trusting your agency with the referrals already provided.
Throughout the Holidays:
- Don’t let up on your caregiver recruitment (as you may have done in previous years). The current caregiver shortage means those agencies wishing to have staffing in place to cover all clients can’t afford to take a break from recruitment. Continually connecting with potential caregivers and following up immediately is vital in this highly competitive market.
- Celebrate the season! Let your staff know how much you appreciate their loyalty, dedication, and hard work. Provide opportunities to both celebrate together as a team, as well as provide a holiday bonus or another meaningful gift.
- Provide your sales team with the flexibility to work hours that accommodate them, while allowing for in-home visits with clients when the opportunity arises.
After the Holidays:
- Reassess caregiver availability, both for current clients and anticipated new ones, and continue emphasizing recruiting efforts.
- Kick off the new year with a PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaign. PPC is great for a quick boost in visibility for your agency. A PPC campaign can run for a short period of time to catch the surge of family members searching for care for a senior loved one, positioning your agency higher in search results.
- Add fresh content to your website and social media accounts, such as helpful resources, tips, answers to questions that someone searching for care might have, etc.
- Consider an email campaign, to follow up with anyone who has called your agency in the last few months but has yet to schedule care. Let them know that your team is experienced, skilled, and available to help whenever they decide that care is needed.
It’s also critically important to ensure your agency has exceptional home care software in place to support growth and make both the client care delivery and caregiver management processes as smooth and efficient as possible.
Rosemark provides the customized home care software solution your agency needs to build your client and caregiver base and achieve revenue goals. We can help you:
- Recruit and screen qualified caregivers
- Work on critical scheduling needs as a team with real-time collaborative scheduling
- Set up daily, weekly, biweekly and monthly scheduling patterns and calendars
- Plan and measure sales outreach, lead generation, and revenue reports
- Track and manage referrals to identify, nurture, and deepen key relationships
- Deploy seamless and timely communication in a variety of formats
- And so much more
Contact us for a free, no-obligation demo at (734) 436-2631 to learn more about our home care software solutions.
Happy Holidays and all the best to you in 2022, from all of us at Rosemark!