A common mistake we see is that owners and marketers show up to referral sources to just say hi or drop off brochures, but you do want to do that every time. In today’s episode of Coaches Corner, Meghan Smith discusses 5 Reasons To Visit a Referral Source.
Hey, everybody, I’m Meghan Smith and I’m one of the coaches with Hurricane Marketing Enterprises. One of the common questions that gets brought up with my clients is,
“I know that I should be going to my top accounts on a regular basis, but I was just there last week. What am I supposed to go back in there and speak to them about?”
So today, I wanna talk to you about some good reasons for drop-by visits.
1. Hand-Written Thank You Card
People don’t get hand-written anything anymore, so it makes it very special. It also shows your appreciation for the business that they’ve sent you. And you took time out of your day to write this out and bring it to them. I’ve gone back into my accounts, six weeks later, and that thank you note was still sitting on that discharge planner’s desk. It means a lot, they keep it, it makes them think about you.
2. Client Update
The next reason is bringing in an update on a referral that they sent you, on a client that you’ve brought on. “So just wanted to let you know Mr. Smith is doing fantastic. He is continuing the exercises that you wanted him to do, to continue to stay strong or get stronger. He loves his caregivers. The family loves the caregivers. It’s goin’ great.”
This also gives you a perfect opportunity to bridge that into asking for the next referral.
3. Visit A Client
Your next reason is going to be to visit a client or patient that you have in that community or in that facility. So if one of your patients or clients went into rehab, check-in on em’, see how things are goin’. Check with that Diretor of Nursing (DON). Make sure that your caregivers or your nurses are working as smoothly with the care team that they have involved with this patient as well.
If they’re in an Assisted Living (AL) or an Independent Living (IL), that’s a perfect opportunity to go in and either introduce yourself to contacts that you haven’t been able to make yet or just firm up some of those relationships that you’ve been working with.
Again, it’s about that update. It’s about that reason to speak to them. You have a client or patient in common at this point. We need to make sure that everybody’s on the same page for care. Gives that good continuity of care.
4. Invitation To An Event
Your next reason is going to be bringing in an invite to a community event. I was very involved in the Alzheimer’s Association and we always participated in the Walk To End Alzheimer’s. I got so excited when that time of year came up because it was such a great opportunity and perfect reason to be able to walk back into so many of my referral sources or even new accounts.
“Just wanted to let you know this is when The Walk To End Alzheimer’s is gonna be. This is where it’s gonna start. This is the kick-off for it. We are starting a team. If you would like to join our team, here’s how you can do that. If you would like to start your own team, here’s where you can go to make that happen.”
Guys, it’s all about the reason to walk in there! We never want to walk in and go, hey, I was in the neighborhood. Just wanted to stop by and say hi. And then, we get that really awkward situation where they’re going, hey. All right, have a great day. I’ll be back next week.
Go in with a reason to talk to them. Go in with a topic, something that relates to them. That’s gonna be so important. That’s what’s gonna make the difference. We never want people to feel like we’re wasting their time. This goes for my home, health, and hospice as well.
Those physicians, they’re busy. It’s tough to get in front of em’ in the first place. We wanna make sure that we have a specific reason to speak to them when we do get that opportunity and we wanna make it meaningful.
So these are reasons to walk in and then, you can get into the business part of it when you’re in front of them, when you have that opportunity.
5. Promotional Items
These reasons can be as simple as, I got a new shipment of pens in. So, the company that I worked for, we actually ordered two different types of pens, and one of them was definitely better than the other. I did stash a couple of them. I need these, they write fantastic.
Why? I had a lot of my contacts that felt the exact same way about it. They loved them. They wrote dark, they were really smooth. They were perfect. So when I had a new shipment come in, I made sure that I took those pens back to those contacts.
“Hey, I know these are your favorites and I wanted to make sure I got some to you before we ran out.”
They loved it, it was simple. And then, I was able to transition the reason for walking in into, who do you have that’s goin’ home? Asking for the business, depending on where you’re at in your relationship, but we wanna make sure that it’s always meaningful that we have a reason to be in there.
Side Note:
So just as a little teaser and something that I’m very excited about, Hurricane Marketing Enterprises is rolling out a brand new home, health, and hospice program. It’s gonna be fantastic. It’s specifically for those Medicare reimbursed agencies.
AND we are gonna be having our very first home health, and hospice workshop on October 28th in Houston Texas. You can learn more by clicking the link below.
Thank you so much! Have a great week!
https://www.homecaremarketing.net/referralworkshop
