We've reached the final step of this series.
In Step 1, you got out into the community, found the people who need care, and captured their name and telephone number. In Step 2, you turned those names into complete referrals and built a pipeline to move them forward.
Step 3 is the step that decides whether all of that work pays off.
Follow-up is where clients are won. It is also, quietly, where most of them are lost.
Don't be a forgotten hero
Follow-up is very important in landing a potential client and making them a client. As the person marketing your home care agency, you must stay fresh in that potential client's mind.
Call them. Let them know you are thinking about them. Let them know you are working as their advocate so they can receive the services they need. And tell them plainly: if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me.
Sometimes follow-up means a home visit. In most cases, a phone call is just fine. What matters is that the memory of you and your company never leaves the client's mind.
Because here's what happens if it does. Weeks later, the case manager sits down with your client and asks a simple question: "Who would you like to provide your services?"
And the client says: "I don't know."
Three words, and weeks of marketing work disappear. Somebody is going to get that client. If the family can't remember your name, it won't be you.
Don't be a forgotten hero. Follow up with your clients and make sure they remember your name, and your company's name, very clearly.
The cracks are bigger than you think
This isn't just a home care problem. Sales research has reported for years that nearly half of all prospects never receive a single follow-up after the first contact, while the large majority of wins go to whoever keeps showing up, often taking five or more touches to land.
Now put that in home care terms. The family you met at the rehab center five weeks ago has talked to other agencies since. The private home care agency that called them every week feels familiar and safe. The one that vanished after one nice conversation feels like a stranger.
Which one gets chosen on approval day?
The follow-up circle
Think of every referral as a circle connecting three people: you, the client's family, and the case manager. Regular contact is what holds the circle together.
When you stay in touch, the circle holds: the family remembers you, the case manager associates the referral with you, and when approval day comes, your agency's name is the one everyone says.
When you go quiet, the circle breaks. And a break in the circle is an open door. Another agency steps in, makes the calls you stopped making, and walks away with the referral you worked for.
Follow up with the case management company too
The client's family is only one part of the circle. You should also follow up with the case management company.
It's important that they know who you are. If you check in about once a week, then when the time comes for the client to be approved, they'll remember that you were the person, and the company, that referred the client. The same goes for your contacts at the Medicaid sites.
You are not calling to pressure anyone. You are calling to be helpful: is anything missing, is anything needed from the family, is there anything you can do to keep things moving? That's what an advocate sounds like, and case management agencies remember the agencies that operate that way.
Be a resource, not just a rep
Here's what separates memorable follow-up from annoying follow-up: bring value every time you call.
While a family waits on Medicaid waiver approval, they usually have other needs. Maybe grandma needs a shower chair now, not in six weeks. Maybe the daughter is exhausted and has never heard of a caregiver support group. Maybe the local senior center delivers meals, or the area agency on aging has a program that helps with the light bill.
When you explore those resources and connect families to them, two things happen. The family gets real help while they wait. And you become the agency that helped before you ever got paid, which is exactly who they'll want caring for their loved one.
Being proactive costs you a few phone calls. It earns you a client and a reputation.
The day the good news comes
Stay with the process, and approval day arrives. Here's how to handle it.
The client will usually come over by email or fax, and sometimes the case manager calls you before sending it. The moment the client is received, let management know so the nurse assessment visit gets scheduled and services can begin.
Then make the phone call you've been waiting to make: call the client and give them the good news that they've been approved.
Don't rush that call. This is a special time in the client's life. They've waited weeks to hear that the help they need is really coming, and you're the advocate who saw it through. Enjoy it with them. That call is the whole reason this business exists.
Let your home care software do the remembering
Everything in this article comes down to one skill: remembering, on time, every time. Which family is due for a check-in call. Which case manager expects an update Friday. Which referral has been sitting quiet for nine days.
When you have three referrals, your memory might manage. When you have twenty, memory becomes the crack everything falls through.
This is exactly what we built Pearl OS to handle. Pearl OS is home care software built by home care operators, and its lead and referral tracking keeps every potential client in view: where they came from, where they stand, and what needs to happen next. Reminders and task lists prompt your team when a follow-up is due, so no family sits forgotten and no case manager wonders what happened to you. The system does the remembering, and your people do the relationship.
Whether you run a private home care agency, serve Medicaid waiver programs, or both, the agencies that grow are the ones where follow-up is a system, not a personality trait.
The complete circle
That's the series. Three steps, one repeatable engine:
- Step 1: Find them. Go where your future clients already are, and capture the name and number.
- Step 2: Turn referrals into a system. Complete the referral, know every agency's process, and track everything in a pipeline.
- Step 3: Follow up until care starts. Stay fresh with the family, the case manager, and the Medicaid contacts, and be the name everyone remembers on approval day.
Then keep the circle turning: while today's clients start care, tomorrow's are entering your pipeline, because you never stopped marketing.
Relationships are the real product in home care. Follow-up is simply how you prove yours are real.
Thanks for walking through this series with us. Subscribe below and future Insider Tips will land straight in your inbox.