Home Care Referrals
I hope you’re enjoying these Dramatizations as much as I am. This week, we stay with the theme of Lunch n Learn In Services for referrals. It’s something that is vital to the long term success of our business and as a result we need to do them regularly.
In this specific episode, we see Tony (Marketing Rep) coming in to visit Nicole (Social Worker) with lunch for a meeting to discuss his business. Nothing looks wrong on the surface of this lunch n learn and many people will do this, but it doesn’t guarantee referrals. All too often I have people calling my office or commenting on videos saying “I am doing in services and I’m not getting referrals.”. My immediate response is “Where are you doing the in services?”, as many people don’t go to the right places for business. But when I hear someone tell me a place that’s on the top 10 BEST REFERRAL SOURCES for HOME CARE, then my follow up question is “Well, who was present for the meeting?”. This is where I find the problem, as the response is usually “Oh just the social worker” or “Social Services Dept”.
You see the problem lies in the fact that there is no accountability when doing lunch n learns 1 on 1. Yes they can be effective, yes you can develop a great relationship, yes it CAN lead to referrals. However, this is only about 50% of the time. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to spend money on an in service and as hard as it is to schedule these things, I don’t like 50/50 odds.
This is why it’s so important to have all dept heads present during your in service. In the video, I describe a SNF that has significant number of discharges. If you do an in service there for all the dept. heads and the Administrator, someone who typically doesn’t refer you business, happens to like your program and agrees to commit to referring you; you now have someone in charge to hold their team accountable. This way if say a month passes from the time you did your in service and you see that administrator again, one of the first questions out of their mouth will be “Hey, are you getting referrals from us?” When you tell him “No!”, he will say something to his staff. He knows how many people came through his building, and he knows how many people needed help since you did your in service. Before you know it, boom you’ll be getting referrals.
I know it seems like there are so many nuances to generating referrals, and YES THERE ARE! This is why companies like mine exist, to help service providers find those in need of care. And when you have a calculate strategy, you stack the odds in your favor. It’s not social workers or discharge planners faults that you’re not getting referrals. They work so hard, so many hours, and are bogged down with too much to do. They are truly not aware of all the services they can refer. Even if they are, sometimes they just don’t get a chance to. So if you get the chance to do an in service, make sure you have everyone present. Think about it this way, it takes a village to care for someone, so make sure that entire village knows who you are and what services you provide.
Have a great week everyone and I hope you’re doing well. Keep up the great effort to care for our elderly and disabled. God bless.
