Today, we are pleased to share the fourth post in our ‘What to Know When Launching a New Home Care Agency,‘ blog series. We’ll be sharing some marketing do’s and don’ts to keep in mind in the process of launching your agency, shared by Shelle Womble, Home Care Sales Coach for corecubed.
Congratulations! As a home care agency startup, you’ve decided to serve some of your community’s most vulnerable members, enabling them to remain where they’re most comfortable: at home. And with the explosion of growth in our senior population – predicted to reach a staggering 98 million Americans by the year 2060 – there certainly is now and will continue to be a great need for your senior care services.
However, in tandem with the ever-growing number of seniors in need of in-home care is an equally expounding list of competitors vying for seniors to serve. How can you ensure that your new home care agency will stand out in this crowded marketplace and be the one families think of – and trust – when a need for care arises?
The good news is, you’re starting with a clean slate and can set the course for your potential success. As seasoned home care marketing and sales experts, we’ve compiled the top dos and don’ts for home care agency startups to get a leg up over the competition.
Do:
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Start with a strategy.
If we could offer only one piece of advice, it would be to begin with a plan. Partnering with a professional home care marketing and sales consulting firm, such as corecubed, enables agency owners to tap into the minds of those with decades of industry experience in creating strategic marketing and sales plans that get results.
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Determine the answers to these key questions:
- Do I want to work with a franchise, or open an independent agency?
- What payment options will I accept?
- What are the licensure requirements in my state?
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Research the competition.
Take a close look at other home care agencies in your market. What services do they offer? How do they differentiate themselves? What kind of quality and professionalism are displayed on their website, in their marketing materials, in how they answer the phone and in how they follow up?
Don’t:
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Try to do it yourself.
We receive calls from so many home care agency owners who perhaps attended a few free webinars, read a few books, and right out of the gate threw together an agency name, DIY logo, website and brochure – and then wondered why their phones weren’t ringing off the hook. Family members searching for care for a senior loved one are turned away by unprofessional marketing materials that don’t clearly outline the answers they’re seeking and that look thrown together. If precision and attention to detail aren’t given to a company’s marketing materials, it only leads to the assumption that corners will also be cut in the quality of care provided.
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Assume all markets are created equal.
Successful home care marketing requires so much more than simply printing a stack of brochures, passing them around the community, and hoping for the best. Effective marketing and sales efforts vary based upon the the geographic area being targeted. For example, we recommend that new startups in major metropolitan areas seek to form strong connections with just 5 key referral sources within a 3-5 mile radius, while an opposite approach is used within rural areas, blanketing a 30-45 mile radius and touching every little viable community possible.
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Say what everyone else is saying.
Many home care agency startups set themselves up as cookie-cutter copies of the competition. There are more than enough agencies named something along the lines of “Angels at Home Care” with generic pictures of elderly people to support their brand. While that may resonate with you as an agency owner, it’s much more important that it resonate with your target market – and if your agency’s look is exactly like everyone else’s, they’re likely to pass you by.
The bottom line, if you want to improve your agency’s bottom line, is to understand that in order to attract the types of clients you want, as well as high quality caregivers, you need to make an initial investment in creating a professional brand and marketing strategy that will allow you to take off running right out of the gate, rather than stumbling along for a year and discovering the need to go back and start all over again from scratch. Poorly done marketing materials and sales techniques can never stand up against professionalism in the eyes of those seeking the best for a beloved senior family member.
The home care marketing and sales experts at corecubed offer downloadable tips and resources for home care agency startups, strategic planning and sales consulting services, and much more to help new home care agencies start off – and continue forward – on the right foot. Contact us to learn more!