office staff talking on phone with client

The baby boomer generation is living longer than any other generation in recent history. The majority of individuals desire to stay in their homes where they raised families, where memories can be relived, and where safety is felt. The only issue is how to stay home when the daily activities of life are the barriers. Difficulty lifting items, preparing meals, doing laundry, and even doing shopping for food can be extremely difficult!

Today, with a growing number of options to provide these services, how do clients find a quality company, and how does that company ensure quality of the services? Satisfaction management is a topic that most home care agencies have considered, but the cost and reliability of performing in-house satisfaction management is often burdensome on an agency. Due to the complexity of running a successful in-house satisfaction management program, some may even forego it. So, what does the data say in reference to the importance of a quality program, and why is satisfaction management essential to the health of your business?

In the 2016 Home Care Benchmarking Study, it was determined that 82% of home care clients base their decision off of the business’s reputation or recommendations from others. This reputation comes from recommendations by family and friends, other professional referral sources. Clients that are generated from these types of referral sources, on average, have a larger median lifetime value than other referral sources.

If your main client base is built from referrals from your current clients, you’re more likely to generate higher revenues than if you get your clients from other sources. In fact, businesses that use their clients as their number one referral source have median annual revenue that’s nearly $350,000 higher. The only way clients refer their friend or other loved ones is if their satisfaction with your company is extraordinary.

Home Care Pulse’s Satisfaction Management Program helps to ensure that your clients’ feedback is heard, and ensure they are happy with the care they are receiving. Home Care Pulse users generate median revenue numbers that are $460,000 higher than those who are not partnered with Home Care Pulse. Happy clients stay longer and generate more revenue. The reported median revenue for 2015 was also $850,000 higher for those that could retain their clients for more than 14 months.

Another essential element of a client’s satisfaction is the overall client experience. The client experience is the interaction and relationship a home care business develops with each client. The client experience is impacted by each “touch point” and person that interacts with your client’s life. Factors such as the ability and compassion of caregivers, a client’s confidence in the office staff, and client/caregiver compatibility all impact the client experience. Being able to identify client types helps you know how they are impacting the growth of your business. In these types you want to identify your promoters and your detractors. With your promoters, ask them for referrals, while with your detractors, find where you can make improvements and how to turn them into promoters.

Satisfaction management is part of the “back stage” of your home care “production.” How are your clients seeing you? Are you a high school musical or are you a Broadway drama? All of this is determined by what goes on behind the scenes in your business. This includes caregiver training, office staff decorum, and communication with the client. But the real key to satisfaction management is listening to feedback the client provides in third-party interviews, and then taking action on it. Without taking action, it is nothing more than words on a page.

Reduce caregiver turnover, increase satisfaction, and stand out from your competition. Learn more about Satisfaction Management and how it can help you grow your business on our program details page.

2 Comments

  1. Newport Home Care October 24, 2016 at 5:20 am - Reply

    Thank you for sharing this article. Satisfaction is a very important aspect to any business. High quality care and professional service can make you a leader in your business.

  2. Aspencare November 14, 2016 at 1:54 am - Reply

    Satisfaction is an important aspect when we do a business and if you are from a health care background then we can do very well in home care business. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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