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Home Care Marketing & Sales Mastery by Approved Senior Network®
Dawn Fiala, Lisa Marsolais, Annette Ziegler, and Valerie VanBooven RN BSN provide insight into home care marketing strategies. They cover in-person, in-field sales and online marketing every other week. These podcast episodes are part of the Home Care Marketing Mastermind, sponsored by Approved Senior Network®. Find more information at https://ASNHomeCareMarketing.com
Home Care Marketing & Sales Mastery by Approved Senior Network®
Marketing Masterminds: Success Stories from Top Home Care Liaisons
What separates exceptional home care marketers from the average? It's not about having the perfect pitch—it's about building genuine relationships that transcend business transactions.
In this illuminating conversation, we're joined by marketing powerhouses Gigi and Tess from Touching Hearts at Home in New York. Their impressive track records speak volumes: 56% and 107% revenue growth in their respective markets. These aren't just numbers; they represent the tangible impact of authentic relationship building and strategic community engagement.
Both marketers share their daily routines, highlighting how they balance planned meetings with spontaneous drop-ins to stay connected with referral partners. The magic happens through consistency—maintaining regular touchpoints through various channels while finding creative ways to provide value. Their approach to gatekeepers is particularly refreshing: rather than seeing them as obstacles, they treat them as vital relationship opportunities, learning their names and bringing personalized gifts based on their preferences.
When referrals slow down, their solutions showcase their creativity. Gigi's "Back-to-School Breakfast" presentations brought her into ten facilities in just three days, while Tess's "Heart to Heart Tours" program creates mutually beneficial promotion opportunities with partner communities. They share practical tools too, including how they leverage Canva and social media to amplify their outreach efforts.
The most powerful takeaway? As Gigi emphasizes, "You are not selling the organization you work for; you are selling yourself." This fundamental shift in perspective transforms marketing from a series of transactions into a web of meaningful connections that naturally generate referrals. If you're looking to revolutionize your home care marketing approach, this conversation provides both the inspiration and practical strategies to make it happen.
Continuum Mastery Circle Intro
Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com
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This is a really special mastery. We're super excited about it. Should we do our introductions or just get straight to Gigi and Tess?
Speaker 2:Everybody knows us. I think they do too. A lot of talking to do today.
Speaker 1:So, valerie, do you want to do our housekeeping? You're the nurse in the group. They're the rules. They make all the rules.
Speaker 3:I'm the rule follower, I can tell you that. But I'm the skirt by and no one dies on my shift. That's very important. We'll live until I'm off work today, okay. So, housekeeping, just keep your lines muted unless you're speaking. Share stories, experiences, tip, ask questions. We really want this to be interactive and a lot of times it's easier for you to just type that in the chat and I think Lisa has already said hi in the chat so if you type it in there, we will rewind and come back to you. If we have moved on for a minute. We definitely check for questions, make recommendations, tell us what you want to know. We want to know, oh, and what about customized leave-behinds? Who's the winner, or is there a winner? There will be, oh, annette.
Speaker 2:Well, there will be. Yeah, so in the chat, we so whoever everybody that's here today, your name gets put in a hat and we will pick somebody to receive a set of customized leave behinds with your logo, colors and content information. And I will be giving away November. So put your name in the chat, say yes, and we will put you in the drawing and let you know at the end of the class soon who wins. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:But you have to promise to send us pictures of you and your stuff, or what it looks like, what you came up with, because not everybody follows it exactly the way we present it, and you guys are real creative. We'd love to see what you do with it. So that's the caveat is, if you do this, then you have pictures.
Speaker 1:Okay so we're going to get started because this is a really like I said, it's a really exciting one. We have two very talented community liaisons here, and so we want to get right into it. We're going to pick their brain and ask them all the questions, and there will be some time for you to ask them some questions as well, because maybe you guys have some that we hadn't thought of. So our agenda we're going to go over doing marketing right fueling your private pay growth. A day in the life of result-driven marketers. Proven referral building tips from successful home care marketers. Effective marketing and outreach strategies, how successful marketing reps overcome challenges, supporting the liaison role. And then, of course, lisa will have her beautiful October, november, december lead lines. First, we're going to introduce them. So these two come from the Touching Hearts at Home franchise in Rochester and Syracuse, new York. We are going to introduce both of them, but their offices are ranked among the top 15% in revenue across the entire Touching Hearts franchise system. So what they're doing is they're killing it out there. They have a proven track record of creating meaningful connections and driving growth.
Speaker 1:Gigi, she's a community relations manager of Rochester, new York. As a manager at Touching Hearts, she's been there for over a year. She uses her 13 years of experience in senior care and sales to lead marketing and sales initiatives that have achieved a 56% revenue growth, surpassing previous years. She currently serves as a president-elect of a local senior care and services organization and is passionate about advocacy, collaboration and making meaningful impact through community involvement. Welcome Gigi. Then we have Tess is here as well. She's also a community relations manager in Syracuse, new York. Tess joined Touching Hearts at Home in Syracuse in 2022, bringing her more than 20 years of experience in community relations within the not-for-profit sector. In just three years, her efforts helped drive a 107% increase in revenue. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing and has a deep passion for creating meaningful connections and building impactful partnerships. So these two gals are the real deal.
Speaker 1:So get your notes, your note taking. Of course, you can always watch the recording, but I would get a pencil and paper out and start get ready for their answers, because they're going to be good. Some of the questions we're going to ask both of them and some of the questions they're just going to just one of them is going to answer. To ask both of them and some of the questions they're just going to add one. Just one of them is going to answer First question, guys. First of all, we're so glad you're here. What path brought you into the marketing liaison role in home care, gigi? You want to go first?
Speaker 4:So I have been passionate about senior care literally since I was a child. I grew up with family in living in senior care and we would visit them multiple times a week my entire life, and so I always knew that I wanted to work with seniors. The last 13 years in the field, I have worked very closely with clients and residents. Prior to being in my role with Touching Hearts, I was working in senior living, so I really worked very closely with a lot of home care organizations even though I was on the senior living side. So when I came into home care, it was an easy transition.
Speaker 2:Great, great. Was everyone able to hear? Your volume might be a little low, Gigi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or maybe a little closer to the microphone I could hear most of it. But just for the, do you want to talk again? Let's just make sure we can hear you. She's working on it. Okay, we'll let you work on that and we'll move on to Tess and then we'll hear you. Okay, tess, can you answer that same question?
Speaker 5:Okay, welcome everyone. Thank you for having me. So my personal mission and always has been for 30, 40 years in working is giving back to the community and helping people within the community. I worked in the not-for-profit area for well over 20 years and wore a lot of different hats, but the one that really prepared me for this position was working in development and I helped with all of our major events. I helped with fundraising. I was getting out there and really talking to our community to bring in the money, make people aware and telling stories. I'm a big storyteller and I think that lends a lot to the job that I had and the job that I now have. I also, going into this position here with Touching Hearts at Home, was looking for a little more work-life balance, and that's exactly what I've gotten. So I'm meeting my personal mission, my work-life balance and it all seems to come together.
Speaker 1:That's fabulous. That's great. Thank you for sharing both of you. The next question is also for both of you what does a day in the life look like for you? What is your day-to-day? What does it look like, Gigi? Do you want to try, and let's see if we can hear you better too?
Speaker 4:Is it better?
Speaker 1:It still sounds far away. It still sounds far away, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I don't know why, just yell at us, you'll be okay, don't worry about it. How does?
Speaker 1:this sound. That's better Enough, just loud.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just talk loud, yell at us.
Speaker 4:So a day in the life for me, I usually have anywhere between two and three meetings, depending on the day, and then trying to do some drop-bys close to where the meetings are in between them. So the key there is usually just constantly connecting with my community partners, whether it's email, telephone, text message. Basically, in between every meeting and every drop-by, I am also on my phone in one way or another connecting with these people.
Speaker 1:Okay, and when you say meetings every day, who are those meetings with? Do you mean assessments, or are they meetings?
Speaker 4:Usually referral partners. So actual sit down meetings, face-to-face, connecting with individuals who would eventually send us referrals.
Speaker 1:Perfect, okay, great, thank you for that Tess, very cool.
Speaker 5:So Gigi and I have the same title but, being in a little different demographic, we are quite a bit smaller than Rochester, but I wear a lot of hats. So a day for me, a typical day for me, is our staff meeting, that we have to get everyone on board on who's doing what today, where everyone is going to be. And then it's either doing the same thing that Gigi just mentioned going out, meeting with our referral sources, doing a senior resource fair, meeting up with our networking group, our very large networking group, and talking to whoever will listen to who we are and what we do. I also do a lot of client care, where I'm taking the inquiry, I'm talking to the families. Sometimes I'm going out and actually meeting with the families and or introducing care partners to the new clients that we have. So it's building those relationships as well. So for us it's a little bit different, but it's all getting our name out there and what we do and the passion that we have for our company.
Speaker 1:Fabulous. Thank you for that. All right, and that next question, Gigi what are the top two to three referral source types that you focus on and bring you the most referrals?
Speaker 4:Our biggest referral sources are rehabs and hospitals. For a fact that rehabs and hospitals have people that are going home and, more than likely, if those individuals are older adults, they're going to need help, even if that help is going to be temporary. Those are your best options, as far as at least for us, being our top referral sources. We also connect a lot with assisted livings.
Speaker 4:We get a lot of referrals from assisted livings. A lot of times there's just not enough staff to help the residents that still fit within their scope of care but really need that extra one-on-one.
Speaker 1:Okay. So for inass assisted living, you're not replacing their staff. The families are hiring you because they need more one-on-one care.
Speaker 4:Correct. It really depends. Sometimes it's that they need that more one-on-one companion care. Other times, just for an example, we have seen that people will move into an assisted living, and mom has always taken a shower every day. Assisted livings don't have the staff for that, so we may be able to come in, because in New York State, as long as you are a actual business and not a private companion, you are able to go in and provide care for someone who lives in a licensed community. So a lot of times there's different circumstances as to why an assisted living would want us to come in, but they're definitely a huge referral source for us.
Speaker 1:That's fabulous. And when you say rehabs and hospitals, so rehab you mean like a skilled nursing facility? Yes, have you also gone to rehab hospitals? Are those popping up where you are?
Speaker 4:So it all depends. There are rehab units in our hospitals. A lot of times, though, more often than not, if somebody is being discharged from the hospital, they're not. Usually they're going to give them a short amount of rehab, just a day or two in the hospital, just to make sure that they're safe enough to be discharged, whether they're being discharged with help or not. So for the hospitals, for us it's usually more emergency room or observation, or if they are recovering from any kind of surgery, and then rehabs that are located within skilled nursing communities those are the rehabs that we would hit.
Speaker 1:Okay, good, that's good to know. Here in Arizona we do have rehab hospitals popping up, and so they leave the hospital, the regular hospital, and they move into the rehab hospital. The rehab hospitals have been more open, more friendly and much easier to get into than a regular hospital. So just for those of you listening, that might be an avenue I think we have in the last three or four years. We have five pop up in the Phoenix metro area, so just something to keep in mind. Thank you for that answer. It's fabulous. I think the next question is for Tess. What is one lesson you learned early on that still guides you today?
Speaker 5:So I have one answer ready for that, but I think I'm changing that.
Speaker 5:So really it is the relationship building, it's getting to know our referral sources and every person in that area that is important to our job.
Speaker 5:So when Gigi mentioned the rehabs or assisted living, getting to know more on a personal level, the discharge nurse, the admissions people, the social workers, the director of nursing so not just going in and finding out who they are, their name, their title when they work, what kind of coffee they like but it's more diving deep in.
Speaker 5:I want to say the first 18 months, maybe two years, of being here and I've been here almost three years I was going out on so many coffee and lunches with an individual just to sit and get to know them on more of a personal level and it has led to some really great friendships. And now it's we know each other. When we see each other we ask how's this going? Or how you know about their family, or, oh, how was your vacation? And it really does help a lot for them to know that I'm invested in who they are and not just them as a staff person there looking to get their business. So that's really the lesson that I learned early on and I bring that, I think, from my previous job too and just getting to know them.
Speaker 1:I think that means a lot because they know you want a referral. All of these people know you're coming to get a referral. But if you can be honest, like you care about them and an interest in their life and their world and even their day-to-day at work, it can really and it's a real friendship. I have friends. I tap dance with someone who used to refer to me 20 years ago, like we're in class together every Monday. So it's a real friendship and they're sending them to you because they trust you, because they know you more than just oh, she's a home care agency, she's just one of those home care agencies. So that's a really important lesson to learn. I'm glad you shared that test, yeah, so that's a really important lesson to learn.
Speaker 5:I'm glad you shared that, tess. Yeah, I have to say real quick one of the ladies that I've gotten to know really well, her son got married this past summer, a month after my son did. So we were like comparing wedding dresses and just everything leading up to all the stress. And wow it really helped to have someone to just bounce that off of other than just work, so that was really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great, that's great. All right, gigi, how do you build?
Speaker 4:trust with referral sources quickly. Oh, it's funny because it piggybacks on what Tess just said. Right, building relationships is huge and getting to know people personally. So one thing I always say that some people are comfortable with and some people are not is the fact of the matter is you are not selling the organization you work for, you are selling yourself. It's that simple. When you are meeting people, it is all about selling Gigi, it is all about selling Tess. And then, after people trust you, that is when it comes into play that you can sell the product that you have.
Speaker 4:If people don't think about you when they're at the grocery store and say, oh, I remember that Tess loves hazelnut coffee, oh my gosh, I should try this.
Speaker 4:If they're not thinking about you on other ends of their life or other aspects, then chances are they're not going to think of you when it's time to refer, because they're making those connections with other people who have sold themselves and they're going to think of them first. Also, building that trust means that everything you have to say to them from a sales standpoint, they know you're telling the truth and they know that when you say touching hearts is the best at this, or home instead is the best at that. Well, I trust Tess, so I know she's not BSing me, so to speak, and just giving me her sales pitch. She is actually telling me what is going to happen, is actually telling me what is going to happen, and I know that if this doesn't happen, or touching hearts doesn't perform the way I want, I can call Gigi and say this is what's going on. We need to fix it. So it's really all about building that trust and selling yourself first.
Speaker 1:That's great I hear both of you saying is these aren't surface level relationships, correct and you're not worried. It doesn't sound like about the referral when you walk in to meet somebody. It's more about establishing that trust and that relationship and that's where your focus is and you truly do want to get to know the person and they can sense that from you. So I would agree 100% with everything you guys were saying Absolutely yes. Okay, tess, please share your getting past the gatekeeper tips.
Speaker 2:Oh boy.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you can all see. She looks like the. What is that? Home alone kid yeah.
Speaker 5:So this is and I have to say this goes back to my training over a year ago that we must have talked endlessly, annette, about how do we get past a gatekeeper. They want to give me their name. So I have accomplished getting past most gatekeepers, working on a few, which is fine because it's a challenge and you know what it just. At the end of the day, all you have to do is just smile at them and say hi, but really getting to know their names, and when you walk in and you think they're calling the person that you want to talk to, I don't know if they're really calling them or not, and then they just say I'm sorry, they're on the phone or get them out right now. I don't know, I'm not on that other end. I always make sure that I know their name.
Speaker 5:I'm like you know what, millie, thank you so much for trying anyways, and I tend and try to bring something for them, and so it's just for them. I leave things sometimes, obviously for the person that I'm there to see, or people I'm there to see, which I try to change that up every time I'm there. I try to look for someone new, but I bring things to them I make it important. I'll sit and chit chat for a few minutes with them. We might talk about the weather, or we might talk about oh my gosh, we have to wear masks again, or whatever it is but, it's done right there, or if they're super busy I recognize that too.
Speaker 5:If their phone is ringing off the hook, I just kind of have a great day. See, it's just. It's like the same thing with your referral sources. It's getting to know who they are and them and about them a little bit. It's not as easy getting to know them more on a personal level because you don't have the time, but just find something fun and meaningful to take to them that you're not giving to your referral source. Make it different so that they're not thinking, oh, she just had an extra. No, I meaningfully bring something just for them.
Speaker 1:That's great and from my experience out there and I know Lisa and Annette will agree because we talked about this before that gatekeeper is ignored by everybody else members have been by.
Speaker 1:There's people fixing the cable there. There's so many people coming in and out of the building that don't even make contact eye contact with that gatekeeper. So I think if and it sounds like you're doing this, like you're getting to know their name you're making them feel special, they matter. Even if you just come in and say their name, you will see the shock on their face the next time you come in. So when you make them feel special, of course they're going to help you get back there because you make them feel important and special, and I think that's a great way to do it. Tess, that's awesome.
Speaker 5:And they don't always have name tags on. They don't always have name tags on. No, you have to ask and if you're comfortable asking, I always check with my referral source that I'm there to see whether it's a social worker, director of nursing, what's her name at the front desk. So they're shocked that you know it when you walk in.
Speaker 1:Definitely Very surprised by that. That's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 5:And you mentioned a training. I just want to make sure that that was the training with Annette, right.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I just want to make sure and I think I remember Tess I remember this was you were in my sales training class and I think I remember you saying you had a really hard time getting past a gatekeeper and she liked sunflowers. Was that you? And what did you do?
Speaker 5:I took her some sunflowers. The next time I brought up a case of sunflowers and she was. There was another one who was complaining about how dry her hands were and she said I just can't find the right lotion. Let me bring you some lotion that I like.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, I love it.
Speaker 5:You pay attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You pay attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you pay attention and you're being thoughtful, and they start thinking the senior care this company provides must be spectacular, because Tess and Gigi are paying so much attention to every little detail and little details on this relationship with that really matter. Yeah, that's fabulous. All right, gigi, you're up. Can you share an example of turning a cold relationship into a strong referral pipeline? And I'm sure everyone's to hear this loud. Yeah, I'm interested in what you have to say too, so so truly.
Speaker 4:The key is to be consistent.
Speaker 4:So when I started in my role, there had been nobody in the role for about nine-ish months, so there was no form of marketing, no outreach, no connections to the outside world aside from the phone ringing.
Speaker 4:That was literally it. So there were a few referral sources that had been strong in the past and had really fallen off, and when I attempted to try and connect with some of them, they felt ignored and they were almost under the impression that there was somebody in the role and they just didn't care about them anymore. So, realistically, the role was completely empty. But they didn't know that. So I went out of my way to stop in, to check in with them phone calls, email, see how they're doing and some of them were definitely like no, I don't want to be bothered, I don't know who you are, I'm not going to talk to you, and so on. But eventually, as time went on and I stayed consistent to show them that we do still care and they are still important to us, they came around and are now some of our most active referral sources.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's fabulous. So consistency, yeah, consistency is very important.
Speaker 4:And again back to what Tess said about not just the gatekeepers but knowing exactly what interests these people and getting to know them as individuals and showing them. Maybe you know that someone in the department has a huge sweet tooth and you send them cookies instead of dropping by because they can be interrupted in their day. You know it doesn't work. Drop-bys don't work for everybody. Some people really hate them. Doesn't work. Drop-bys don't work for everybody. Some people really hate them. Or you know that someone loves a good spa day and you make them like a little gift basket with small, little spa treatments and things like that. If you customize and stay consistent, that really will help build any type of relationship, cold or not.
Speaker 1:So true, so true. I feel like too. A lot of times when the relationship has been burned or went cold, it's even more difficult to prove it again.
Speaker 2:So good job, being pleasantly persistent.
Speaker 1:Thanks Gigi. Okay, yes. What is the best way managers or home care owners can support their marketers?
Speaker 5:So I've had it a little easy, I have to say, because my executive director was my boss at my previous job, so we know each other very well.
Speaker 5:But it is working in a new company with new owners. So I want to say the biggest thing that I have found is trust, building the relationship with me and getting to know me and who I am and my style, and supporting and trusting that I'm going to do a good job out there and that I know our community. And I think that the managers, even all of our staff really but our owners are actually in Rochester, which is great and we have a VP in Rochester and as long as they trust and understand that we know our community, we know who our people are, we know how they're going to react to different things that we may be doing that Rochester isn't doing, or if Rochester's doing something great and they bring it to us to know us enough that if we don't think it's going to work, or if we try it and it doesn't work, to understand why it didn't. I think that's just the biggest thing for me, for being in the marketing area myself, and it goes both ways.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense, that makes total sense, thank you for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think Rochester and Syracuse are totally different markets, so I totally get that test and some things don't work for other markets. You're in an unusual market and you're doing super.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Gigi. How do you still walk in with a smile on your face when they act like they don't want you there?
Speaker 4:We've all felt that May not be acting. Just saying Close the door. Yeah, I always say kill them with kindness. If you're walking in with a smile on your face, you can be having the worst day ever. Just pretend that you are so happy to be there. You are so happy to see them and usually they're at least at the beginning of building a relationship is if you know that they aren't thrilled to have anybody walk in but they're not answering calls and emails.
Speaker 4:You try to make meetings because people really prefer having something scheduled, but if you really are unable to do that, so you really want to do a drop by or drop and leave them a little gift, a little something. What I always do is I do not wear my name tag, so I purposely don't wear my name tag. I walk in as if I'm just somebody signing in and I come in and so then they're so happy to see me, so kind to me and polite, and then when I tell them why I'm there or who I'm there to see, they've already started being polite and it's very rare that they change their tune. So that's just my own little trick that I like to do when I'm going into a community I may not be thrilled.
Speaker 4:I'm walking in.
Speaker 2:I like that yeah, pretend you're a family member. Sometimes you got to go a little beyond the family member.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you got to go a little beyond the. It's hard to stay motivated and positive when you're For me anyway, when I'm going and I see that face every time oh she's here again, and she was just here again. And they even say you don't need to come every week. I know who you are. They don't know that I do need to come every week because they don't realize that they forget who I am. So for me that was hard and I would feel beat up after maybe three of those stops. So then I would go to an assisted living or somewhere where they are going to love on me a senior center and I would get up again and then I could get my smile going. But I like your idea too. Yeah, tess, which marketing tactics consistently bring you results?
Speaker 5:So always face-to-face is the best. I like picking up the phone, I don't like texting, I don't like emailing. Sometimes I'll sit there and start to type out an email, but I really like to talk to people on the phone and I find that works really well because they actually will answer my calls, sometimes better and faster than if I send them an email. Face-to-face again is always preferred. I love face-to-face, I love chit-chatting.
Speaker 5:I took a training years ago in my old job called Listen First, and I bring a lot of that with me. So as much as I just love to talk and love to just keep that conversation going, I have to step back and just stop talking and listen and give them a moment to tell me what they need, what's going on. And I find that that really works well because I think a lot of people, especially in sales and marketing, can tend to go in and just work, vomit and just continually go and stop and not stop Kind of what I'm doing right now. Just keep talking, and if you just pause and let them have the floor, I find I can get so much more out of them. And it helps on the phone and it helps face to face.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree that listening is really important, because there's little clues in everything they say too. Like you might find out that the director of nursing is very involved in discharges. At this one sniff, Maybe you weren't even going to go pay her a visit. There's all kinds of little things that they say when they're talking that you can pick up on too. That's a great. It's a great tip. I like that. Yeah, it's great. Gigi. What percent of your time each month do you spend on networking or events?
Speaker 4:So I would say, if we're talking actual networking events, about 20% of my month is networking and attending events or hosting, depending on the situation. But if we're talking networking as in connecting face-to-face and having any kind of meetings and whatnot, majority of my month is made up of one-on-one meetings.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay, and so for networking events, what I see and this says networking forward slash events I can see we didn't really say the word networking events. That's where something's being hosted at an assisted living and all the home, health and the hospice and the they all come to those. How many of those do you go to a month?
Speaker 4:Probably an average of between three and four, as far as actual events, a month.
Speaker 1:And what is your goal by going to those? Do you get referrals from those, do you?
Speaker 4:It all depends. So sometimes referrals come out of them, of course, but it's more so about people seeing you. More often than not, you're going to build those relationships at these networking events right, these meetings when you go, get to meet people one-on-one. They may be busy and you have the meeting with them, you go over your information, their information, and then at the end of the meeting you leave. So if you haven't had the opportunity to network with them prior, you may not have those personal talking points yet. If they're at this event and you're at this event, you're all on the same timeline and you're all trying to build those connections together. So people are also a lot more receptive to wanting to talk to you and wanting to get to know you and give information about themselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense because that's the whole purpose of the meeting, so you're going to have more of that talking with them. That's a good point.
Speaker 2:Okay, thanks Next.
Speaker 1:Yes, how do you stay top of mind with referral sources without coming off as pushy?
Speaker 5:I think we talked about this a lot already, but it's really just being genuine. It's going in being yourself, showing them who you really are, showing them the passion you have for your job, your company, your, their clients, clients, their residents, their patients, and then it comes back to our clients too. So really just being genuine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think you have to be willing to put yourself out there. It's vulnerable sometimes because sometimes you meet a referral source and you think I will know in real life if I would like her Like. Sometimes it's just not the same and you have to figure out how to make that work anyway, and so there is some vulnerability in this too. I think, yeah, yeah, all right. Next one, gigi when referrals slow down, how do you jumpstart the flow again?
Speaker 4:So I always start to brainstorm new ideas or new initiatives. So if things start to slow down, the first thing that I'm thinking is okay, what is something that I can offer to our referral sources that I haven't done in a while or I think they'd really enjoy? Can I host an event, or can I come up with a new drop by or start a raffle or a poll on social media? Any type of idea that can get people engaged all over again. And people love I hate to put it this way, but they love what you can do for them, right? Whether we intend it or not, it's a what's in it for me kind of scenario.
Speaker 4:So most recently, I came up with the idea to do what I've been calling back-to-school breakfast presentations. So I reached out to a bunch of our strong referral sources especially people that have always been strong referral sources but have not really given us anything lately and said hey, I would love to come in chat with your team, bring breakfast. And everybody is struggling with back to school. We know how it is, so they're probably not having breakfast, getting their kids on the bus and rushing out of the house. Let me bring it to you. And so it was a little bit more of a kind of casual presentation, standing there serving them lunch and getting to talk to everybody about Touching hearts. But I ended up doing about 10 of those and they were all scheduled between September and October because I do have some still in October. But all 10 of those were scheduled within three days of me sending out those requests.
Speaker 1:Wow, good for you.
Speaker 4:They love food, and now we're about to have a record, so it really has.
Speaker 1:That's really great, would you say. It's still probably early to know, but did you get some referrals after that from them?
Speaker 4:Yes, we did Yep Perfect.
Speaker 1:That's. That is such a great idea. I love that because they are exhausted Anytime. Every time they're going back to school, they're tired that everyone's getting up early again and getting people ready for school. It's a lot, so that's genius. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very good, that's a really great idea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that too. That's really thinking outside of the box.
Speaker 4:No, I haven't had breakfast since my child started school, so nobody else has either.
Speaker 1:That's right. I haven't had breakfast since 19. I don't know when. Okay, tess, what's the biggest challenge in your role today?
Speaker 5:Because we are a much smaller community here than with Gigi and I love and appreciate that she has so many meetings lined up and can get in there as much as she does. That's a challenge for us here. We don't have as many places. I feel like I've exhausted some places, but we continue to go into every community, every facility, every building that we possibly can. Really, my challenge is getting those meetings and then figuring out the different items or different information packets to bring every time. So we try to change it up. I don't get into them weekly, I get into them every other week. I split it up. So I'm still out there and I'm going to a lot of the community networking and events and everything. But the challenge is getting those meetings set up. It really is, and they don't take your calls, like you said, and they don't want to meet. They're tired. So we're working on it. It's getting better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that can be tough because they think, oh, another meeting, and yeah, it can be tough, and they don't return the call and they don't respond to the email and it can be really challenging. Thank you for sharing that. That's a big one for everybody. Gigi, what's your approach when a referral source declines or selects a different agency? How do you move forward from there?
Speaker 4:I always just say don't take it personally. I know a lot of places here in Rochester do have very specific rules on how many organizations they're allowed to refer to, meaning they have to refer to a minimum of three Right, meaning they have to refer to a minimum of three right. And so some of them might say here is my list of three that I'm going to recommend, call this one first and they would say to call Touching Hearts first. Some people are comfortable doing that, some people are not. Our hospitals here in Rochester have been very strict on no gifts, no drop-bys, nothing that has nothing coming from organizations because they're so fearful of getting sued. And that's a real thing. That has been happening across the country and has happened to a couple organizations and a hospital here in Rochester.
Speaker 4:So when my referral sources potentially refer somewhere else, you just don't take it personally. You just keep moving along and you understand that business is business and maybe they just had a meeting with the person they referred to that morning and they were right in front of them. Easy as can be. You just refer. So you really can't take it personally, because that tension and that bad blood is just going to affect the relationship in the long run and I would say too, it doesn't mean it's over for you either, because I had a marketer.
Speaker 1:Oh, she's referring to so-and-so now and I'm like, no, that's not what this means now, yeah, that's good, and not taking it personally is a very big deal. Yeah, and it's hard not to sometimes. When was the last time I was there? And what was that conversation like? And did I offend her? You start your mind just starts whirling. But it is just business. And it could be that her boss walked in and said you've referred to Gigi the last three times. You need to start mixing it up.
Speaker 4:And that happens to me all the time when I was in senior living. It was. You've referred to them multiple times and this organization found out that you only referred to them, so now we need to try and refer to others, and it really is just business. It doesn't mean you're out of the game. It doesn't mean that they're not thinking of you and don't want to refer to you. As long as you keep going and building that relationship, it's not endgame.
Speaker 1:That's right. Yeah, I love that. Tess, can you share a time when you had to pivot your approach and it worked?
Speaker 5:There's lots of times I'm going to go back to trying to get those meetings have to figure out something new and innovative going into the new year that people are really going to latch onto and want to be a part of, and maybe that'll get me in their building. So we launched Heart to Heart Tours and it's an in-depth tour of a community facility building where we go in and take lots of pictures, learn everything about their community and post it everywhere and tag them. And just saying that has gotten our foot in the door in a lot of places where we might not have gotten tours before or we've had them, but they've been very short and abrupt. Oh, here's this, here's that. Do you have any questions?
Speaker 5:So now, not just the sales and marketing person in those communities, but it's been other people that have really taken this on, whether it's the executive director or the social worker, sometimes even the activities director, because they really want to showcase and highlight the special things that they're doing in their community. So that's the answer that I could come up with this, because there's a lot of times that you have to pivot more on a grand scale. It was thinking okay, what can I do for the whole year and push it and we do two to three a month there's been in the summertime it slowed down a little bit but we've stepped it back up for the fall and it really has helped us. But it has helped them too, and again, tagging them and knowing that they're going to be all over our social media pages has really helped them what a great idea.
Speaker 1:I know that you have very. You're both very creative and think outside of the box, and that's part of your success. For sure that I love that idea.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is that's really cool facebook and linkedin tasks. It's a great idea. I think that's really cool Facebook and LinkedIn tasks. It's a great idea. I think it's simple and you do beautiful pictures. It's awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Speaker 1:Gigi, how do you maintain motivation when results are slow or not meeting your expectations?
Speaker 4:Oh, the key is to keep up momentum. So just keep swimming is what I always say. You got to keep going.
Speaker 4:So, sales, especially when you are dealing with any form of care or any form of like older adults in general, it ebbs and flows. It's that simple. So, going into the winter, if you are new in home care or working with seniors, you're going to find that things are going to either increase like crazy because so many people need help and their children are coming in from out of town for the holidays and seeing it, or they're going to drop significantly because people are going way out of your scope very quickly, and that is the trend with senior care and selling any type of senior care. So you just got to keep your initiatives going. Don't stop. If you come up with new ideas, great, but do not stop what you are doing. Don't stop your drop-offs. Don't stop trying to connect with people.
Speaker 4:Statistics over the last, however many years have shown that typically it is one to six months after the action that it becomes fruitful when connecting with people. So if you are out there having a meeting and you're or you have this great big event for the holidays, chances are your referrals are going to start coming in from there one to three-ish months after that. It's not going to be the next week. So if you have this wonderful event and a month goes by and nothing has happened and you think, okay, that's it, things are just going slow. That's not the case, so just don't stop, keep going.
Speaker 1:That's why now is always the time, yeah that's right, that's great.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's right, that's great. Tess, what metrics or reports are most meaningful for showing success? We list our first contacts for the month, so anyone that we have met for the first time that hasn't referred to us yet, so that we can look and see, okay, how do we massage that relationship, how do we hit all our touch points every single week with them? We also have on there follow-up. So follow-ups could be whether it's by email or phone calls or face-to-face. So there's a whole list of activity on there that we do, that we follow. That I really appreciate because it keeps me on board and when I look and see, oh my gosh, I didn't have such and such community on there in the past week or so I need to have a touch point with them.
Speaker 5:We do monthly metrics, which is really interesting as well. So it'll have all my monthly activity report numbers on there. But it also has our gross profit and the number of hours and the number of hours per care partner and per client and it's just so interesting and it has HR information on there. So going all over all of those numbers as a team here is very interesting in how we, when one piece of our metrics is down, you can see the reflection in another metric of someone else's and it's just amazing. It's oh my gosh, okay. So we pull together as a team when we're looking at all of that and say, all right, how can I help you, what can we do to increase your numbers that ultimately will increase my numbers?
Speaker 5:And then we have an outside agency that we use, for it's called Home Care Pulse that we use. That will call our clients, call our care partners. They can do it anonymously and just give a nice little review and it's all rated and we are always looking at those and addressing those, as well as Google reviews. That's so important too. So there's lots of bits and pieces of numbers here and there that we look at. I have to say, our owner, the very first week that I started and you're going to know what this is on YouTube he put together a bullseye and he said okay, tess, here's your bullseye In the number one part of the bullseye are these communities or these people I need you to visit and hit all the time. And then it goes out to the second level and then the third level and I have that sitting at my desk. I refer to it almost daily and it's not a joke anymore. It's fun, but it really works.
Speaker 1:That's a great idea. I love the book. Really smart, Awesome.
Speaker 4:Thanks, Jess Gigi what tools, materials or resources make your job easier? Canva and social media.
Speaker 4:Canva and either of those. Social media is huge. We are on there constantly and Tess said, always tagging other organizations so that we're front and center with them and vice versa. And I found, too, that whenever we are doing something and tagging people, then when we do something for them, they want to tag us too. So, just as an example of something that I actually got the idea from my sales training with Annette last year was the giant posters. So I did these giant posters and I took a little bit of a different spin on it and I did bring them to some assisted livings and rehabs and they loved it and rehabs and they loved it. And then I also brought them to some of the schools that we work closely with that I know have a lot of grandparent involvement and my daughter her school being one of the four that I bring them to she's at a different school this year and the old school still wanted to be completely involved, even though we are not there anymore as a family, to be completely involved even though we are not there anymore as a family. So it really the social media is huge. They're still tagging us in things and we are tagging them and we do LinkedIn, facebook and Instagram All of those are awesome.
Speaker 4:And then Canva. I make everything on Canva. Literally cannot live without Canva Emails, posts, all of it fabulous.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to move this on valerie, do you want to? I have another meeting. I have to jump on to valerie. You want to continue asking these lovely ladies, these questions?
Speaker 2:or I can continue don thanks guys, so sorry you.
Speaker 3:All right, you're on Annette.
Speaker 2:Okay, so this is for both of you. You both completed our 90 day sales training. What was your experience?
Speaker 4:So for me, what I found I it was an amazing experience. The training was awesome, and what I found interesting is I have been in the industry and in a role like this for about 13 years. So for me, having been a veteran sales professional, so to speak, I still learned so much and had so many great ideas from it and obviously, with my answering the last question, I'm still using ideas from it all the time.
Speaker 2:Great Thanks Gigi.
Speaker 5:I did what Gigi said. It was an amazing training and that's why I continued on with the every other week calls that you have, because it's just so informative. I think the support of Annette and your whole team, as well as everyone that was on our training, and we could bounce ideas off each other and just give kudos for doing this or doing that. And then, of course, the update on your. Is it the website? It's where you're showing off all the drop-offs and everything that people were doing.
Speaker 5:That support right there is. Just it's incredible and it just really helps us validate what we're doing and that it really is working and other people are doing that, or it shows the challenges that we have too and being able to bounce that off of each other. So it's just been amazing. I'd suggest it to everybody if I could.
Speaker 2:We love having you on. Thank you All right, this is for Gigi and Tess. What is the most important thing that you've answered it, but is can you pick one thing that you gained from the sales training that you still follow today? Pick one thing out of the training, gigi.
Speaker 4:That's a really hard one, honestly. Just so many of the tools that you were able to provide for us. Again, I still use those ideas constantly and people love them. They respond well to them. It's not just about you designing a tag for a drop by, it's not just about that. People love the ideas of the coffee on us tags. I do coffee on us all the time and I have gotten multiple referrals and new referral partners from it, people I have never spoken to before because they are new in their position. So really, just that whole creativity side I still use every day.
Speaker 2:I love those coffee tags. Jess, do you have anything to say?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I love the tags too. I think, Lisa, you do a great job with those.
Speaker 1:I think that creates them.
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh, they're incredible, and we might tweak them just a little bit, but they're perfect. And I think, again, to just reiterate the support that we've learned to give the communities and their staff, and also our own staff we can give the we've learned to give the communities and their staff and also our own staff. There's been some caregiver information in there, too that we've been able to pull and use, and our staff really appreciate that.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome, thank you All right, so these are our last. We had two fun questions for each one of you. Gigi, if you had to sum up home care in one word, what would it be? Relationships, love it.
Speaker 5:That's great. And, tess, what is the best piece of advice that has shaped your career? It's a little funny and it's a tiny little story, but so my son went to Springfield College in Massachusetts in his very first week. He called me and he said Ma, he says you can't step outside your comfort zone anymore. And I said okay, why not? He said because we're not allowed to. And I said what? You can't step outside your comfort zone. He said no, you have to expand your comfort zone because if you step outside, it means you can come back in. So you have to expand your comfort zone and it just gets bigger and bigger. And I have used that in my previous job with teenagers and I just I continue to use that because I just think it's such wisdom.
Speaker 2:Right, that's so good.
Speaker 2:I like that too. Thank you, gigi and Tess. I can't tell you I just loved. This was great, and I think it's everything you said is so informative. We have a lot of people attending that are marketing liaisons or managers or EDs that are out there marketing, so it was really helpful and I think really shows a lot of it is that relationship building, getting those referral partners to, getting closer with them and hoping that you're going to be the agency of choice. You know. So both have done a great job and you're doing really well in both of your agencies. So great job, thanks again.
Speaker 2:Okay, so, speaking of sales training, we are. We just opened up October 16th and October 28th. We do have spots open. If you are interested, please let us know. We would love to have you. It's 12 weeks, once a week per hour, and I like to say that I spoon feed you, which I think is very helpful. Each week we hold you accountable, we give you little homework and I just love seeing the success from everybody that takes the class, that puts forth the efforts that we teach you. Hey, thank you everybody. It was a great session. Have a good rest of your day, everybody. Take care. Bye-bye.
Speaker 4:Bye, thank you.
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