For years I’ve heard home care agency owners tell stories of caregiver applicants not showing up for a scheduled job interview, an initial scheduled training session, or even a first shift. If you work in the home care industry then you know what usually happens next – they get added to the no-hire list or they get fired. I can’t help but wonder if putting many of these caregivers on a no-hire list is a good idea.
Bear with me, let’s jump to a marketing lesson. Research and experience have shown us that it can take many touches (that’s marketing speak for things like emails, phone calls, snail mail, etc.) to get a response from someone even if they have shown some interest in the past.
Our Process
If someone fills out a form on our company website for some useful content, we will call them and then send them a series of emails (up to 10 over many weeks) until we get a response or a no. The response we are looking for at this point is only a conversation. Yes, only a conversation because we really don’t know at this point if we are a good match – do we have what this person (lead) needs? Can this lead be a good customer and partner to us? These are both very important questions that, if answered accurately, can save both time and money.
If we have a conversation with this interested lead and it looks like we might be a good match then we set up a walk-through of our software system and services. Our walk-throughs include an in-depth conversation about a potential relationship. Believe it or not, one-third to one-half of everyone that does a walk-through with us becomes a customer/partner. That’s because we take the time to really get to know them and their concerns. We demonstrate that we are the software company that can provide solutions to their concerns and help them grow their home care agency.
Nurturing Your Future Home Care Agency Workforce
That process of maintaining contact and continuing a conversation with prospective customers is what we call “nurturing.” It reflects the care shown and the nature of the process. This can and should be easily adapted for your home care agency’s hiring process. By using this process, you and your agency might become the figure that your applicant needs. Someone who, through kind words and encouragement, can be trusted. And when a potential caregiver feels that you have a stake in their future, they may be more willing to push forward into new territory with confidence.
For more strategies on how to deal with the crisis of high caregiver turnover, be sure to check out our webinar with Leading Home Care CEO and industry expert Stephen Tweed.