As a home care provider, your potential clients are out there, right now, struggling. They’re struggling with the idea of losing independence. They’re struggling with decreasing mobility and increasing health problems. If they’re currently acting as a family caregiver for another person needing care, they’re struggling with feelings of guilt at the thought of hiring a stranger to take care of someone who means so much to them. Hiring a caregiver is a difficult process, and it leaves people feeling vulnerable and afraid. With all the unknowns they face, how can they make the best decision for themselves or their loved one?
This is the purpose behind the Home Care Pulse Certified and Best of Home Care awards. Through our research, we’re able to recognize the home care agencies who are making real efforts to not only improve the lives of those they care for, but also the caregivers who work for them. These awards signify that your agency is trustworthy, legitimate and caring. In short, these awards tell your prospective clients that your agency will help them with their challenges.
But once you’ve won the awards, how are your potential clients finding out about them? If you aren’t using them in your marketing efforts, what sets you apart from other providers in your area? In reality, you should be shouting these awards from the rooftops and letting everyone know that you are a Best of Home Care award-winning agency. Here are a few ways you could potentially leverage your awards in your marketing efforts.
Show it off
When you receive any award from Home Care Pulse, you’ll be given digital copies of the award logos, as well as a document on approved ways to use these logos. Essentially, you cannot use the logos unless you’ve won the award. But other than that, we want you to be able to use it as much as possible. Give the logo prime placement on your website. Include it in Craigslist ads. Display it on TV commercials and in all print advertising. Create brochures that talk about your agency, the award, and what you did to win it; then place these brochures in doctors’ offices and supermarkets (with their approval, of course). Other places you could display the ad include:
In short, wherever you can display the award logo, display it.
Bring it up
Whenever you have a conversation with a potential client, bring up the fact that you are an award-winning agency. Talk about your award and let them know what it means. If you have a phone system that plays a message while people are on hold, update the message to talk about your award and how it demonstrates your dedication to being a great care provider or employer. You can also mention the award in radio spots and interviews.
Keep your BestofHomeCare.com listing updated
BestofHomeCare.com is Home Care Pulse’s online listing of all award-winning agencies. Traffic to the site is growing quickly, and visitors are searching for agencies on the site every day. But your agency only shows up if you’ve completed your listing through the Home Care Pulse online dashboard. There are searches performed that don’t produce any results – even for areas we know award winners are located in – because agencies simply haven’t completed their listing to define their service areas. These searchers are looking for you, so take the time to log into your account and set up your listing. It only takes a moment, but the impact could be huge.
The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to ease your potential clients’ minds regarding your company and the service you provide. As a care provider, you understand more than most the stress and worry they’re going through. By showing them, in every way possible, that you have been recognized by a 3rd party for your outstanding efforts, they’ll not only be more likely to trust you, but will also be more likely to hire you.
Best of Home Care awards are given to agencies that have received high rankings and feedback from their clients through surveys performed by Home Care Pulse. Only agencies that have won the awards are authorized to use that award’s corresponding logo, and we monitor this very closely in order to maintain the integrity of the awards. If you’d like to learn more about these awards and how you can become a Best of Home Care award-winning agency, request a free consultation today.
