Referral Marketing: Mastering the Follow-Up Process as a Home Care Agency
How to follow up with new leads funneled from your referral sources
A new lead comes to your home care agency via one of your trusted referral sources—maybe from a current client, a local healthcare provider, or a medicare coordinator. What do you do next?
Following up with leads is an art perfected by planning and practice. In this article, we’ll lay out the essential steps for reaching out to new lead referrals and converting them into clients.
What to know about following up on home care client referrals
As you establish a referral program and start bringing in leads through the channel, here are a few points to consider.
- It should be easy for your contacts to make referrals. Equip your professional contacts with print and digital collateral so they can refer to your agency well-informed. To cultivate your current clients as referral sources, run an email campaign that makes it easy to pass contacts back and forth.
- Speed matters. Time to follow-up on a referral makes a difference in your ability to close. That potential client may be looking elsewhere, and the longer you wait, the more likely it is that a competitor will scoop them up.
- The customer journey begins immediately. Your new lead’s customer journey begins the moment your referral source mentions your agency—make it a good one.
- Persistence matters. Closing sales with home care referrals takes persistence: 80% of sales close after five follow-ups, so be patient and respectfully persistent.
- Leads should be qualified. Not all leads will make ideal clients, so as they come to you, complete a phone screening as quickly as possible to vet them as clients. If they’re not right for you, be prepared to pay it forward and refer them to another service provider. (That’s why reciprocal relationships with other home health agencies can be beneficial.)
How to follow up on a home care referral
Prep with a sales script
In order to produce the most consistent, high-quality results, equip your sales team with a script they can use to guide the call. This ensures that all points are covered, and that your strategy is consistent and therefore testable.
Acknowledge the referral source
When you contact the lead, provide context by telling them how you got their information.
Hi, I’m calling for Stacey DeMarco. My name is Gabrielle Coleman, I’m a client services director at Caring At Home. Rachel Short at St. Elizabeth’s Residential Care Center gave me your contact information. She mentioned that they did an evaluation with your father Charles and determined that home care may be a better option for him. I’m reaching out because I think we may be able to help. Is now a good time to talk?
Confirm their needs
Before moving forward, make sure you understand what they’re looking for and confirm that you may be able to help.
I understand that you were looking for some personal care assistance for your father, like help with meal prep, maybe light exercise, some social activities. Is this right? Can you tell me a little more about what you’re looking for?
Demonstrate your expertise
While a trustworthy referral is worth its weight in gold, your job is to establish trust and credibility with your new lead—tell them why you’re up to the task.
We have 16 years of experience providing in-home personal care for people like your father, and many of our personal care providers are licensed CNAs.
Schedule the next interaction
Don’t let go of a qualified lead until you schedule your next interaction. Ideally, that’s a face-to-face client evaluation.
I’d like to go ahead and get you scheduled for an evaluation with our clinical care coordinator Darren Sharpe. He’ll come by your father’s house and conduct an assessment and talk about your options. Would Tuesday afternoon work?
Thank the referral source
Don’t forget to thank the source who sent the home care lead to you. Send a personal message or make a phone call, updating them on the status of the lead.
Use this opportunity to continue the conversation about the leads they send. Are they qualified? Do they understand what your agency offers? Provide further guidance to your referral sources, and ask how you can return the favor.
Track follow-ups, outreach, and lead progress
At Home Care Marketing Pros, we’re experienced in lead management processes—we even built a tech platform to generate, organize, and nurture new home care referrals. Our CareFunnels platform helps you turn referrals into clients with thoughtful, organized processes. Want to see how we do it? Book your demo.
