Where do you go to get new insights into growing your Home Care business?
As a professional speaker, author, and strategic advisor to Home Care CEOs, my go-to place for learning is The National Speakers Association. NSA is a society of experts who earn all or a portion of their living speaking professionally.
I’ve belonged to NSA for 40 years, and I’ve served on the Board of Directors, I’ve been national President, president of my local chapter in Kentucky, and Chair of the NSA Foundation board of Trustees. I’ve learned that if you really want to learn and grow in your business or profession, you need to join and be actively involved in your professional association. The more effort you put in, the more learning and expertise you will get out.
Many of the leading Home Care CEOs I have worked with have also been members, Board Members, or Officers of the Home Care Association of America.
Meeting with NSA Kentucky.
This past Friday, my wife and business partner, Elizabeth Jeffries, RN, CSP, CPAE, and I attended the monthly meeting of our local NSA Chapter here in Louisville, KY. The speaker was Meredith Elliott Powell, CSP, CPAE, the current Chair of the Board of the National Speakers Association.
Meredith led a wonderful conversation with the members about her experience growing a significant business presenting keynote speeches to association conferences and corporate meetings on sales and sales management.
Make Noise in the Marketplace
Meredith began her presentation to NSA KY with a statement.
“If you want to get noticed, you need to make noise in the marketplace.”
It got my attention because I didn’t think about my visibility in the Home Care marketplace as making noise. I’m actually a pretty quiet person. But Meredith went on to say, If you want to get booked as a professional speaker, you need to have a clear and visible presence in the eyes of your prospective clients. When a meeting professional needs a speaker on your topic, you need to be the first name that comes to mind.
Meredith then described in detail her system for being visible and building relationships with meeting professionals:
- Define your ideal audience and your ideal client
- Make a list of the top 100 people you want to work with
- Make three sales touches every day … a phone call, email, text message, or hand written note
- Be relevant. Develop a clear understanding of your client’s top three pain points.
- Make your outreach 70% Value Add, and 30% Asking for the Business.
- Change your sales strategy regularly to adapt to changes in the marketplace.
Meredith continues to make noise in the marketplace with a weekly podcast and video blog, regular social media posts, and an email newsletter to her target audience.
Making Noise in the Home Care Marketplace
As I sat there on Friday morning making notes furiously, I was thinking about how Meredith’s message applies to Home Care CEOs who want to grow their business and get ready for the future. Here are my lists of action items for you:
For Home Care CEOs:
- Define your Ideal Clients – those than bring high hours per week and long length of stay.
- Define the Referral Partners who bring you more of your ideal clients
- Make a list of your Top 100 Referral Partners
- Do some homework to determine each Referral Partner’s Top Three Pain Points
- Make 3 sales touches per day with Top 100 Referral Partners
- Make your touches 70% Value Add, and 30% Asking for the Business.
For Home Care Business Developers:
- Define Your Ideal Clients
- Define your High Potential Referral Partners
- Make a list of the Top 100 Referral partners
- Divide them into A’s, B’s, and C’s based on how frequently you need to call on them.
- Identify their Top Three Pain Points.
- Make 8 sales touches per day … 40 touches per week, 2000 touches per year
- Make your touches 70% Value Add, and 30% Asking for the Business
- Nurture the Relationship with your Top 100 Referral Partners
If you want to have more conversation about methods for making noise in the Home Care Marketplace, visit my website and fill out the contact form. Or, just hit reply to this message and send me an email.
Building Community in your Professional Association
The other wonderful element of being active in your professional association is building community. It is having relationships with thought leaders in your profession, and having great friends who do what you do, and understand what you do.
Elizabeth and I have been actively involved in NSA for over 40 years, and some of our best friends in the world are our professional speaking colleagues. Likewise, some of our other wonderful friends are our colleagues in the Home Care industry whom we have met through our connections with state and national associations, and through the The Home Care CEO Forum.
