Selling to the C Suite

Stephen Tweed | September 30, 2012 | Newsroom
Muffin Marketing is Dead.  C-Suite Selling is in.You can no longer grow your home health agency or hospice by bringing muffins to the hospital discharge planners and working on developing a personal relationship.  Hospitals are blocking access to discharge planners like never before.  There are too many sales reps, and discharge planners are over worked…

Muffin Marketing is Dead.  C-Suite Selling is in.

You can no longer grow your home health agency or hospice by bringing muffins to the hospital discharge planners and working on developing a personal relationship.  Hospitals are blocking access to discharge planners like never before.  There are too many sales reps, and discharge planners are over worked and under appreciated.

If the future, if you want to get a steady flow of referrals from your local hospital, you’ll need to learn how to manage C-Suite Selling, and make a compelling cast to the top executives that your agency can save them money, reduce their stress, or help their marketing process.

There are seven steps in the home health care sales process.  Let’s look at how each one applies to selling the C-Suite.

1.  Prospecting.  Find our the names, titles, and contact information for the hospital executives who are being help accountable for reducing hospital readmissions, and for reducing the overall cost of hospital care.

2.  Make the Approach.  Develop a clear, concise strategy for getting an appointment with these key decision makers.

3.  Develop Rapport. Rapport is a harmonious relationship based on trust, confidence, and comfort. We have shown that good rapport is 90% of the sale.  If you have a good relationship with a high potential prospect, and probability of doing business goes up. If you are unable to develop that harmonious relationship, the probability goes way down.

4.  Determine Needs and Wants.  To present a home health program that will save money, reduce readmissions, and help the hospital grow, you really need to understand their business. You need to understand the multitude of critical issues that hospital executives are facing.  You need to help them get claer about which issues are most pressing that you can help solve.

5.  Present your Program.  In our sales training system, we’ve identified the Four P’s of a Powerful, Persuasive Presentation – Problem, Premise, Program, Promise.  You need to develop specific, focused sales presentations base on your understanding of the hospitals key problems, the premise on which you can help solve these problems, the program you offer that will get those results, and the outcomes you promise to achieve if they go with your program.

6.  Close the Sale.  Ask for the business.  Use one key closing question. “What would it take for you to give us one patient referral to test our program?”

7.  Service After the Sale.  After you get that first patient, get results, give feedback, ask for feedback, stay connected, and ask for the next patient.

If you want to move your agency from Muffin Marketing to C-Suite Selling, give us a call and we’ll show you how.

Call Julie Raque at 502-339-0653 to set up a telephone appointment with Stephen Tweed.
Stephen Tweed
Stephen Tweed is among the top Thought Leaders in Home Care today. As an industry researcher, author, and executive coach, he has worked with owners and CEOs of companies in the top 5% of Home Care and is a frequent speaker at Home Care association conferences and corporate meetings across the US and Canada.

Related Posts

The 2026 Future of Home Care Study.

October 7, 2025
For the past month, I've been working with my friends at AxisCare to refine the survey for the 2026 Future of Home Care Study. This year, we have added some new questions based on last year's data, and we have added a whole new section on AI. This year's study has three major sections; Industry…

Visioneering Home Care

October 2, 2025
This week I was in Nashville, TN to present the opening keynote presentation for the Seniors Helping Seniors franchise conference. My topic was "Visioneering Home Care." I opened with these two questions: Do you remember the words of Walt Disney who said, "If you can dream it, you can achieve it?" This holds true in Home Care. If you…

Pickleball for Fun, Fitness, and Fellowship

September 18, 2025
This past Friday, my friend, John, and I drove from Louisville, KY to Cincinnati, OH to watch the Professional Pickleball Association Violia Championship Showcase. We spent the full day watching some of the best pickleball players in the world.Pickleball is the fastest growing participation sport in America. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), about…