Social media makes it easy.
LinkedIn especially—though you could use Facebook—but LinkedIn is powerful because everyone has their name, title, and role listed. You can find exactly who people are. Start by following their page, maybe introduce yourself, or see if you have a mutual connection who’s already linked to them. Then, ask that person to make an introduction for you online.
This is all part of your reconnaissance—even the Facebook part. Why do I mention Facebook? Because you can look through your profile and see if you already know someone who works at the hospital.
That’s actually how I got into a hospital so quickly. Besides already having developed the entire territory, I had a high school friend who worked as a radiology tech at that hospital. She ended up referring business to me. Now, even though she wasn’t in a referral role, the fact that she worked there meant I could meet her for a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. Most hospitals have places like Starbucks, Walgreens, restaurants, or other pharmacies inside. Once you get past security, you can access those spots—and that’s a great place to meet someone you know.
Now here’s the important part—don’t be creepy.
When you go on Facebook and find your friend—like I did with my friend Jonna—I hadn’t seen her in 15 years. I didn’t just message her out of the blue asking for a coffee. I started engaging with her posts. I liked her photos, congratulated her on her wedding, complimented her baby—“Oh, he’s adorable!”—you know, genuine engagement.
Eventually, I asked, “Do you work at the hospital?” She said yes, she was a radiology tech. How did I know that? It was in her profile. Stalker 101, right?
After some time reconnecting and re-engaging, I said, “Hey, I’m going to be at the hospital on Tuesday. I’d love to grab a coffee at Starbucks.” She agreed. Boom—done. She happened to be really good friends with Irene, the head of case management. Jonna made the introduction, and that started the whole process of me developing that account.
You also want to find out what events the hospital is holding.
Not every hospital, but most are for-profit businesses. I’ll say that again: most hospitals are for-profit businesses. That means they have a bottom line and need to make money—otherwise, they’ll make changes or go out of business. So ask:
- What events are they organizing to drum up business?
- What charities are they involved in?
- Are there vendor fairs or health fairs you can be a part of?
Be involved in everything you can that connects you with the hospital. Also, do they offer in-house services? That’s huge.
If you’re a home health company, does the hospital have its own home health services?
If you’re hospice, do they have their own hospice?
If you’re private duty, do they already have a private duty team?
This information is your way in.
One of my clients—remember the one I showed you in that picture yesterday?—developed a relationship with Barnabas Hospital in Toms River, South Jersey. They discovered the hospital had its own private-duty home care program. So, I helped them strategize:
What kinds of cases did the hospital’s own agency avoid?
Turns out, they couldn’t handle same-day discharges and didn’t offer live-in care.
So, my client created a live-in program and offered to handle all same-day discharges. They built a system with team leads and care coordinators specifically for that purpose. The result? Anytime the hospital’s in-house agency couldn’t handle a referral, they passed it to my client.
Let me tell you—when you’re number two on a hospital’s list, you get a ton of referrals.
That client went from $1 million to $5 million in revenue in just a few short years because of that hospital partnership.
So here’s the goal: when you’re looking at hospitals, choose two that are easiest to develop.
Hospitals are tough. So pick the ones where you already have access, relationships, or inside information. That’s where you start.
Once you’ve completed your reconnaissance, the next step is to develop a plan.
How are you going to get your foot in the door and “free the nerds”?
Yeah—I like that: the nerds are trapped, and we’re the ninjas on a mission to free them.
Now, determine the hospital’s weaknesses.
What’s their readmission rate by diagnosis?
Every hospital has one or two areas they struggle with. That’s your opportunity.
Let’s say their biggest weakness is congestive heart failure (CHF), and their readmission rate is higher than both the state and national average. That probably means they’re being penalized. That’s a pain point.
Create a specialty program to help with CHF transitions from hospital to home. When you do that, the case managers and social workers will pay attention—because they’re being told from the top that this issue needs to be fixed.
Make sense? Yes or yes? Yes.
Now, here’s the key: make sure you can deliver.
This is a one-shot opportunity. If you do a lunch-and-learn and mess it up, you won’t get a second chance. So don’t overpromise. Only offer what you know you can do with fearless confidence and self-mastery.