If your roof suddenly started leaking, you probably wouldn’t scroll through your mental Rolodex and instantly know who to call. You’d start searching—fast. That’s the nature of at-need services: most people aren’t thinking about providers until the need becomes urgent.
Home care is no different. Even professionals like physicians, social workers, or discharge planners may not have a go-to in-home care agency until the moment they need one. That’s why building—and maintaining—referral relationships is essential. The goal is simple: be the agency that’s top-of-mind when someone picks up the phone looking for help.
Who Should You Be Building Relationships With?
While it’s important to maintain general awareness in the community, your best ROI will come from targeting specific professionals who frequently encounter individuals in need of home care. These include:
- Hospital discharge planners
- Primary care and specialty physicians
- Rehabilitation therapists
- Medicare-certified agencies that don’t offer private duty services
- Hospice and palliative care providers
- Skilled nursing facility (SNF) staff and administrators
- Case managers and social workers
- Dentists and pharmacists
- Geriatric care managers and elder law attorneys
These professionals are often the bridge between patients and the care they’ll receive at home. Make sure they know your agency is a reliable partner.
How to Get Their Attention (and Keep It)
Referral source marketing isn’t just about handing out brochures or popping in for a quick hello. It’s about becoming a trusted resource and staying consistently visible.
Here’s how to do it right:
- Offer valuable insights: Don’t lead with a sales pitch. Instead, share helpful tips about long-term care planning, safe transitions from hospital to home, or caregiver stress.
- Create resources they’ll want to keep: Think printed tip sheets, digital guides, or quick-reference brochures they can hand to patients.
- Be consistently helpful: Send regular communications with useful content. A quarterly email or drop-off packet that focuses on solving common client issues is much more welcome than a salesy reminder.
- Stay visible without being pushy: Show up at local networking events, CEU sessions, or professional gatherings—but always with the goal of listening and adding value.
- Build trust, not transactions: Think long-term. One referral today could turn into dozens over the years if the relationship is nurtured well.
Track, Analyze, and Personalize
Once referrals start coming in, the real work begins. If you’re not already asking, “How did you hear about us?” with every inquiry, start now.
Then go one step further:
- Track your top referrers by name and organization.
- Keep notes on how you’ve connected with them in the past.
- Send a personalized thank-you—or better yet, give them an update on how their referred client is doing.
- Share success stories and outcomes (respecting HIPAA, of course).
- Relationship marketing is a two-way street. Show appreciation, stay engaged, and become someone they enjoy working with.
Want Referral Sources to Remember Your Name?
Let’s make that happen. At corecubed, we help home care agencies develop marketing strategies that build trust, demonstrate value, and foster lasting referral relationships. Curious what a more effective referral outreach plan might look like for your agency? Let’s brainstorm. Call 800.370.6580, and we’ll help you map it out.