In the blink of an eye, we have entered the final months of 2021, the time we use to reflect on the past year and perhaps set resolutions for the next one.
As you make your personal resolutions, consider your organization’s growth in the new year as well. Reflect on both the accomplishments and challenges you’ve faced over the past 12 months – and plan out your new goals and initiatives for 2022.
If you’re looking for ways to grow your business, you may find opportunities in improving operations and enhancing your brand and reputation. Exploring a few key focus areas will ensure your team is working smarter, not harder, to achieve success in the coming year. You should:
#1: Use 2021 Challenges as opportunities
Before you can begin establishing goals and initiatives for the new year, you must first identify the current processes in place that were unsuccessful or caused pain points for your team.
Was your staff properly prepared and trained for the challenges they faced? Did they have the tools they needed to be successful? If not, identify the technology, resources, or training necessary to equip your team for success – and be sure to allocate these necessities in your budget planning.
Although change can be daunting and new resources can seem costly at first, the end result is worthwhile. Tools that save time, streamline operational efficiency, or provide greater process transparency will improve both staff experience and patient outcomes.
#2: Define what 2022 success looks like
Once you’ve identified the required tools and necessary operational improvements, it’s time to identify the goals and metrics for 2022 that will define success for your organization. Is your primary objective to grow the business with new partners and referral sources? Or are you focused on improving your reputation and developing your brand as a market leader?
If you’re focused on expanding your referral network, take a look at your target accounts’ patient mixes. Where can you fill in care gaps and help referral sources reduce hospitalizations, readmissions, or overall cost of care? Weave these metrics into your story to show why you’re the best choice for your top referral sources.
If you’re focused on improving reputation, identify the key areas of improvement for your agency and begin tackling them one by one. You may have specific areas where you need to improve performance. Conversely, you may simply need to leverage available data to better tell your organization’s story and demonstrate the value you bring. When your reps make calls, you want to ensure that they’re presenting compelling data that shows how you can help acute facilities refer patients to the right setting at the right time to decrease costs and improve outcomes.
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#3: Utilize competitive intelligence
As important as good relationships are, they won’t drive referrals on their own; you need to prove the value of your post-acute organization over competitors in your market. In addition to demonstrating credibility and enhancing marketing presentations, the right metrics can help your sales and marketing team prove your value as the best caregivers for your target accounts’ patients. Use competitive intelligence to show how your agency compares to your peers by comparing hospitalization and readmission rates, diagnostic category, acuity level, time to start of care, total cost of care, and many other quality metrics.
#4: Provide ongoing professional development
If you don’t prioritize professional development, how can you improve your image and offerings to stand out from the competition? How will you set your marketing and sales team up for success?
Keeping your team trained and knowledgeable on how to be successful in their role is always important, but that’s not all. Make sure you are equipping your team members with educational resources to stay on top of the key ways to engage with referral partners. Provide the necessary sales and marketing collateral to ensure your reps enter every referral meeting with confidence – including metric-driven sales scripts and conversation starters. Resources that cover targeting tactics, market trends, and competitive strategies will help your reps better engage their target accounts to improve your offerings and develop a stellar reputation in your market.
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About Trella Health
Trella Health provides unmatched, actionable market intelligence to DCEs, ACOs, healthcare networks, and post-acute care providers of all sizes. As one of only a few companies to be deemed both a Qualified Entity by CMS and an Innovator under its Virtual Research Data Center Program, Trella has elite access to billions of performance, referral, and competitive data points across the market and patient care settings. Its standardized insights, representing 90% of the 65+ U.S. population, help customers identify, engage, and manage critical relationships and advance their organizations with confidence.
