Making new friends is easy; it’s keeping them that takes work, particularly in the business world. A new business relationship requires attention and nurturing in order to grow, just like a personal relationship. In the home care industry, salespeople often receive comprehensive training on how to schmooze with potential referral partners, but not much training for what comes next.
If you’re active in home care sales, you’ve probably heard a lot about how to get past the gatekeeper, how to hone your elevator pitch, and how to discuss the benefits of working with your agency. But in home care sales, there’s often a lull between establishing a solid relationship with a potential referral source and actually receiving business from that referral source. Basically, you have made a new friend in the business; referrals have not really generated from the relationship as of yet, but you know you are top of mind (for the time being) for this friend. Now what?
This “awkward pause” often occurs after home care salespeople have established new referral relationships, and it’s important to find ways to break the ice and stay connected. However, as with all relationships, there are right ways and wrong ways to nurture new referral sources.
Click here to take a look at some home care referral relationship dos and don’ts and download our FREE Sales Self-Assessment tool.
