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Steve “The Hurricane” (00:00):

What’s up, everybody? It’s Steve “The Hurricane” here, and for today’s episode of a Drink with the Hurricane, we are going to talk about how to ask for referrals without offending someone. So I hope you got your glass. Let’s raise it and toast to your success. Cheers.

(00:26)
This is A Drink With The Hurricane, the talk show discussing all things growing your home care business. This video is sponsored by Home Care Evolution where we help home care agencies adapt to changing circumstances, transform their business so that they can thrive for years to come. Alright, my friends. So if you happen to be one of my clients, I specifically go over five different ways to ask for referrals in advanced training. Lesson six. So make a note of that. You could go and watch the whole course, that whole hour long training on asking for the referral without offending somebody. For everyone else. Just real quick, you know what I’m talking about. You go to a referral source in the beginning when you go there, the first or second time, the social worker, the discharge planner, the director of nursing, they’re cordial, they’re nice to you, and oh, what do you do?

(01:31)
Oh, you’re a home care agency. Oh, okay, okay, nice. You have some brochures. They kind of go through the motions. Then all of a sudden on the fourth or fifth visit, you show up and they’re going to say to you, Steve, listen, you’re a nice guy and I appreciate you stopping by. I have your brochures. I know what you do. And then they say to you, we don’t have any referrals for you. Don’t you just hate when that happens? And the truth of the matter, and this is what I want everybody to write down, most people go to referral sources three to five times. That’s what you want to write down, three to five times. Most people go to referral sources three to five times, and that’s when they get kicked out. That’s when they give up, that’s when they stop going. But the truth of the matter is you really need to go to that referral source eight to 12 times before you start getting referrals.

(02:37)
The reason why it takes so long is what is a referral? A referral is a person, A referral is a patient. This is somebody at their weakest point, somebody who needs a lot of help, someone who is vulnerable, someone who is desperate for care. If you want me to refer you, I have got to trust that you are going to do it right, and before I trust you, I got to get to know you, which is why it takes eight to 12 times in the first place. So now that you understand that, now that you understand how long it takes to get into an account, here’s how you can ask for the business without offending somebody. The best way that I used to do this myself, and I teach so many people to do it, is to ask about getting work for one of your caregivers.

(03:46)
When you think about it, at the end of the day, unemployment is very low. And yes, there are more jobs than there are people to do the work, but everybody also knows someone out of work. Everyone wants to do whatever they can doing their part to help someone else get a job. So when I walk into a referral source and I ask them for a referral, the best way that I can ask for that referral is to say, Hey, Jennifer, it’s Steve. I know that you know what I do. I know you have my information and I know that you’ll send me a referral when you have one. I just wanted to let you know that Barbara, one of my best caregivers, is coming off a case tomorrow, and I am trying to find another case to put her on Friday or Monday of next week so that I don’t lose Barbara and she has to go look for work somewhere else.

(04:54)
So is there anyone going home that could benefit from my services? Because if you have somebody, they might be able to get Barbara, who’s one of my best caregivers. Now, think about what I just said there. I just talked about a specific person. I made it very real. So now I’m not just coming in asking for a referral because I’m a greedy marketer or a greedy business owner. I’m coming in asking for a referral because I’m trying to get one of my people work. I’m trying to help them keep their job. I’m trying to help keep food on their table so that they’re not without pay because there’s no work for them to do, and they got to go work somewhere else because that involves going on an interview, going through orientation, documentation, fingerprinting, and all that other back stuff, right? This is hugely important.

(05:46)
So it adds a level of urgency. It adds a level of commitment beyond just asking for the referral. And it’s very hard to say, no, I’m not going to help you, to someone who’s trying to find work for their employee. Now, there’s plenty of other ways, and if you need to get to a point where you can even come in consistently to be able to ask for referrals, that’s why you have to come to one of my bootcamps. You go to my website by clicking on the link below, homecare evolution.com and register right now to come to the next bootcamp because you know I’m going to give you everything you need to blow away the competition.

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