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Send us Fan Mail A full October schedule can make December feel a long way off. Until three families pause care, a caregiver takes vacation, and a large client’s services end in the same week. In our October 7 Mastermind, Dawn Fiala, Annette Ziegler, and Lisa Marsolais talked about what home care agencies can do NOW to prepare for the holidays. One point worth taking back to your team: before you spend more to bring in new leads, look at the opportunities you already have. • Who inquired but never started care? • Which assessment ended without a scheduled next step? • Which client is planning to travel, and who will confirm the restart date? • Which referral partner is still waiting for a response? • Where will you need backup caregiver coverage? The work crosses departments. Outreach, scheduling, and recruiting need to talk every week so the care you promise matches the care you can deliver. And keep showing up for referral partners during November and December. The team shared how staying visible during the holidays helped them build relationships while other agency representatives stepped back. The session: “Don’t Let December Undo Your Year: A Home Care Holiday Growth Plan.” What creates the biggest holiday challenge for your agency: changing client schedules, caregiver coverage, or fewer referrals? Learn about GoCarePro® training: https://asnhomecaremarketing.com/gocarepro/ #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCareAgency #CaregiverRetention #GoCarePro Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail You stopped by the office for “just a minute.” A quick hello. A cup of coffee. One question from the team. A client situation you offered to help with. Suddenly, it’s 1 p.m., and you haven’t visited a single referral partner. Sound familiar? In this episode of Home Care Marketing Unfiltered, Lisa and Annette talk about staying focused when everyone needs you, and how easily a full day of marketing can disappear. They share practical ways to: • Protect time in the field, even when you wear multiple hats. • Plan your route and give every visit a purpose. • Use your CRM to remember details and follow through. • Adjust when an urgent assessment changes your day. • Finish today by preparing for tomorrow. For agency owners, this conversation raises an important question: Are you giving your marketer enough time to build the relationships you’re counting on for growth? Helping the team matters. So does keeping the commitment to get out, connect, and follow up. Read the article and watch Lisa and Annette’s conversation: “Staying Focused When Everyone Needs You.” What pulls you away from marketing most often? #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCare #ReferralMarketing #GoCarePro #HomeCareMarketingUnfiltered Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail You worked hard to earn that home care referral. How long did it sit in your voicemail? A family looking for help may keep calling agencies until someone answers. A discharge planner trying to get a patient home needs a clear next step. In this episode of Home Care Marketing Unfiltered, Lisa and Annette talk about “Speed to the Lead” and what being responsive looks like during a busy day. Their advice: • Answer promptly, even when you cannot do the assessment immediately. • Give a specific time and keep that commitment. • Have a plan for evening and weekend inquiries. • Follow up after an unanswered call. • Make sure leads do not get lost when another team member takes over. One of my favorite takeaways: “Speed doesn’t mean rushed.” You do not have to solve everything in the first conversation. But the person calling should know you heard them, you have a plan, and you will follow through. Referral partners remember who makes their job easier. Families remember who calls them back. Read the article and watch Lisa and Annette’s conversation: [Insert blog link] #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCare #ReferralMarketing #GoCarePro #HomeCareMarketingUnfiltered Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail You did the assessment. The family liked you. Everyone seemed interested. Then you left without a signed agreement. And now they're “thinking about it.” In the newest episode of Home Care Marketing Unfiltered, Dawn, Annette, and Lisa tackle a big question: Why don't more home care assessments turn into clients? One of the biggest issues they see? The person conducting the assessment never actually becomes the expert in the room. Families don't necessarily know whether Mom needs 12 hours, 20 hours, three days a week, or help every morning. That's why they invited you over. They expect you to assess the situation and say: “Based on what I'm seeing, here's what I recommend—and here's why.”  Pasted text This episode also gets into: • What to do when Mom absolutely refuses care • How a two-week “trial” can lower resistance • Why you shouldn't give families 15 different choices • How long an assessment should really take • How to transition naturally into the agreement • Why Dawn, Annette, and Lisa say never leave an unsigned agreement behind  Pasted text  Pasted text  Pasted text One line sums up the entire conversation: The family called because they need you to help them decide what care looks like. Being confident isn't being pushy. It's doing the job they brought you there to do. Read “Why Assessments Don’t Turn Into Clients” and listen to the full episode: #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCare #HomeCareSales #GoCarePro #ReferralMarketing Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail Some weeks in the field feel brutal. You’re doing all the right things, making your stops, trying to connect with referral sources, and it’s like you’re invisible. That silence can mess with your confidence fast, especially in referral-based sales where it feels personal when nobody calls back. We get honest about what those slumps look like in home care marketing and healthcare sales, and what actually helps when you feel beat up and discouraged. We talk about practical ways to “fill your cup” so you can keep showing up, including finding places where you’re guaranteed real human connection. We also break down a simple mindset tool that keeps a bad day from turning into a total write-off: tracking the small wins that still move your pipeline forward, even when you do not land an immediate referral. Then we dig into the rhythm nobody warns you about: the business is naturally up and down. A great marketing week can lead to a week full of assessments and signing, and when marketing pauses, the next week can get slow. We share how to plan around that cycle, why signing your own jobs often matters to referral partners, and how to set expectations so you stay top of mind. We finish with a real-world tactic for vacations, including how to hand off a trusted point of contact so your territory does not drift while you’re away. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who’s out there grinding, and leave a review. What’s your go-to move when your week goes quiet? Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail “We decided to go with another agency.” That one stings—especially when you thought the assessment went well. But before you decide it was all about price, ask. And before you disappear, ask whether you can check in again. In this episode of Home Care Marketing Unfiltered, Dawn, Lisa, and Annette discuss what to do after a family chooses another provider: get useful feedback, understand what mattered in the comparison, and follow up without being pushy.  Pasted text  Pasted text Dawn shares how a follow-up conversation sometimes revealed an opening that wasn’t there before: the family had care, but certain days were not getting covered. Helping with those gaps became an opportunity to build a new relationship.  Pasted text They also talk about the part nobody enjoys admitting: taking the loss personally—and carrying that disappointment into the next visit.  Pasted text A family choosing another agency is information. It does not have to become a verdict on your ability. Learn from it. Respect the decision. Stay pleasantly persistent. Read “They Chose Another Agency. Now What?” and listen to the episode: When a family chooses another provider, does your team ask what influenced the decision—or simply close the inquiry? #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCare #ReferralMarketing #GoCarePro Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail A referral source stops us in the hallway and drops the sentence every home care agency dreads: “We found your overnight caregiver sleeping.” That one moment can cost trust, referrals, and more importantly, put a vulnerable senior at risk. Dawn and Lisa break down what to say on the spot, how to stay calm, and how to lead with integrity when a quality issue hits inside assisted living, independent living, or a skilled nursing facility.  We talk through practical damage control that actually works in the real world: when comping a shift makes sense, why you should take the problem head on, and how to avoid spiraling into endless apologies. We also share a tougher boundary story where a caregiver gets too comfortable and helps themselves to a facility kitchen in the middle of the night, and why some relationships never fully recover after a breach of professionalism.  From there, we zoom out to operations. Detailed care plans and intake notes are not “too much information” in private pay home care. They are how you set caregivers up for success, protect the client experience, and make caregiver scheduling less like a daily crisis. We cover how cross understanding between marketing and scheduling builds a stronger agency, why honesty about hard details like pets matters, and how to “balance” the tough parts by highlighting what makes a client human and interesting. If you want better caregiver retention, smoother scheduling, and stronger referral partnerships, this one is for you.  Subscribe for more real talk about running home care, share this with your team, and leave a review with the toughest referral situation you have ever had to fix. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail You can feel it when someone has actually built a home care agency the hard way and kept it growing for years. Mark Dermont, a seasoned Touching Hearts franchise owner in New York, joins us for a candid look at what happens behind the scenes: the first-year stress of no paycheck, the “always on” on-call phone, and the unglamorous work of learning elder care and earning trust one relationship at a time. We dig into home care marketing and referral strategy with real specificity, including the referral sources that consistently produce high-quality cases: private geriatric care managers, discharge planners and social workers in short-term rehab, and key contacts inside senior living communities. Mark also draws a clear line between community relations and true sales, explaining why being liked and being effective are not the same thing. If you’ve ever hired a “networker” and wondered why the phone still isn’t ringing, this conversation gives you a better hiring lens. Then we get tactical with sales KPIs, CRM-based accountability, and what “fast response” really looks like when families are in crisis. Mark shares how his team works to book face-to-face intake quickly, why qualified leads are the metric he watches hardest, and how to sell value even when you are not the cheapest agency in town. We also talk resilience during unexplained revenue dips, scaling across multiple offices, and using diagnostics to figure out whether a plateau is a process problem, a people problem, or both. If you want smarter growth in private duty home care, hit play, take notes, and share this with an owner who’s stuck. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with the one change you’re making after listening. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail The biggest reason families choose a home care agency isn’t your website, your rankings, or your ad budget. It’s whether a real, competent human answers the phone when their world is falling apart. We dig into what it feels like on the other end of that call: an adult child leaving the hospital, being told their parent needs 24-hour care, and dialing down a list of providers until someone finally picks up and can help right now.  We share why live phone answering is a true growth lever for private duty home care and senior care services, and why “we’ll call back” often means “we lost the client.” We also talk about how to handle warm transfers, what to say when you can’t solve everything in the first minute, and how a simple sense of urgency changes conversions. If you’re investing in home care marketing, SEO, newsletters, or community outreach, this is the moment that makes all of it pay off.  Then we get practical about trust signals families actually look for, including your Google Business Profile hours. If your listing says 9 to 5, many people assume you’re unreachable at night, exactly when caregiver no-shows and overnight shifts create the most stress. We also bring in what social workers and discharge planners told us directly: their biggest frustration is silence from agencies and reps when a patient is discharging fast. Quick acknowledgment, clear timelines, and consistent updates protect referral relationships.  Finally, we zoom out to the real job behind the intake call: orchestrating discharge, scheduling, caregiver readiness, home safety, and even vendor support like deep cleaning or quick home fixes. If you want more calls, more referrals, and fewer lost leads, start here. Subscribe, share this with a home care owner or administrator, and leave a review with the one change you’re making to become faster and more responsive. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to get more home care referrals is often the simplest: make it easy for referral sources to reach you. We talk about what happens when you move from phone tag to a real texting relationship with hospital case managers, social workers, and facility teams and why that tiny shift can put you in the “bestie zone” where you get contacted first when time is tight. We dig into the practical mechanics that increase referral speed and trust. Think: putting “call or text” on every leave-behind, saving names instantly so you can answer with confidence, and using text to receive face sheets quickly so you can start the assessment with the right details. We also cover a real-world hurdle, rotating on-call phones in hospitals, and how to stay responsive even when the number changes. Then we get creative with relationship building that still feels professional, including a pumpkin decorating contest that gets referral partners to text you a photo and opens the door to ongoing communication. We also talk about when a coffee text works, when it does not, and why none of it matters unless you can handle the hard conversations. You’ll hear a “doozy” patient story that shows how calm, option-focused language can turn resistance into a signed start and elevate you from marketer to trusted resource. If this helped, subscribe, share the episode with a colleague in home care sales or marketing, and leave a review. What’s one small texting habit you can start this week? Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail They tell you the truth in the first five seconds: “We already have a home care agency.” If you’ve ever heard that from a skilled nursing facility, hospital discharge planner, or assisted living community and felt the door slam, we’ve been there. We unpack why that objection happens, why it rarely means “never,” and how we keep showing up without looking desperate or generic. The heart of the strategy is simple: you must be different in a way they can repeat to someone else.  We talk real home care agency sales tactics that work in crowded markets like Phoenix, including how to craft a differentiator that actually gets you past the gatekeeper. We share examples like rapid response programs, “start today” promises you can operationally support, and service lines that make social workers think, “No one else is doing this.” We also dig into skilled nursing facility marketing reality: the side-eye, the high-stress front desk, and the long game of becoming the person who can walk straight back to the social worker’s office because you’ve earned trust.  Once you get that first referral, we explain how to turn it into momentum by doing the extra work others skip: coordinating details, gathering PT and OT notes when needed, and making the discharge plan smoother for everyone. We also get tactical about winning the in-home assessment when families are interviewing multiple agencies, plus how we keep up with competitive analysis through secret shopping and market check-ins so we can reinvent before a new competitor takes our lane.  If you want more referrals, stronger relationships, and a message that stands out online and in the field, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a marketer who needs it, and leave a review with the differentiator you’re working on right now. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail If you’re doing all the “right” home care marketing moves but the phone is still quiet, there’s a good chance you’re not failing at effort, you’re failing at being memorable. We get real about why referral sources stop responding when all we bring is another brochure, and how to shift from repetitive drop-offs to purposeful visits that actually build trust with discharge planners, social workers, and skilled nursing facility teams.  We break down situational referral marketing, the simple strategy of matching your message to what’s happening right now, then pairing it with a small, useful leave-behind people will keep on their desk. Think fall prevention month plus grip socks, or a creative Halloween idea that sparks conversation and makes someone smile, because “stuffy and serious” is not the only way to be professional. The goal is differentiation that feels thoughtful, not gimmicky, so you become the agency they remember when a patient needs help.  We also talk about the realities of the referral roller coaster: market hard, get slammed with assessments, then everything goes quiet when you can’t get back out. That’s where planning two months ahead, keeping basic supplies in your car, and building a repeatable system keeps your referral pipeline steady. We dig into ethics and boundaries around gifting, how to ask for the business without sounding pushy, and why “pleasantly persistent” wins over time.  If you want more referrals, stronger relationships, and a home care sales approach that feels human, press play. Subscribe, share this with a marketer who’s feeling stuck, and leave a review with the most creative leave-behind idea you’ve ever tried. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail 👀 Does your home care agency suddenly need an “AI website”? Probably not. AI search is changing FAST. But there is also an enormous amount of noise right now. GEO. AEO. AI SEO. LLM.txt. AI-built websites. “Guaranteed” ChatGPT rankings. Home care owners are going to be sold a LOT of things over the next year. So we opened this week's Approved Senior Network Home Care Marketing Mastermind to everyone and talked about what actually matters. One of the biggest takeaways: ⭐ Your website still has 3 jobs. 1️⃣ Help families FIND you. Google, Maps and AI systems need to clearly understand who you are, what you do and where you provide care. 2️⃣ Help families TRUST you. A referral means very little if the family Googles your agency afterward and lands on an outdated, confusing website. 3️⃣ Tell people what to DO next. The person visiting your site may be scared, overwhelmed and trying to figure out how to help Mom or Dad. Make the next step obvious. And here's another important point: Good SEO is not suddenly useless because AI exists. Clear service pages. Strong local content. Accurate Google Business Profile information. Schema. Reviews. Useful answers. Original content. Community involvement. Authority. Trust. Those are exactly the kinds of signals that also help AI systems understand your agency. We also talked about: 🔹 SEO vs. AI search 🔹 WordPress vs. AI-built websites 🔹 What schema actually does 🔹 Why your website should be the hub of your marketing 🔹 Why your in-person marketing belongs on your website 🔹 When an older website really SHOULD be rebuilt 🔹 The truth about LLM.txt 🔹 GEO and AEO hype 🔹 Why nobody can guarantee your agency will appear in ChatGPT 🔹 What home care agencies should focus on going into 2027 AI is important. But don't let someone convince you to throw away solid marketing fundamentals because they invented a new acronym. The technology is changing. The goal isn't. Help the right families find you. Give them a reason to trust you. And make it easy for them to ask for help. 🎥 The full webinar replay is available now. #HomeCare #HomeCareMarketing #HomeCareAgency #AIsearch #SEO #DigitalMarketing #SeniorCare #HomeCareOwners #GoogleSearch #ArtificialIntelligence #ApprovedSeniorNetwork Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail One bad caregiver hire doesn’t just create a scheduling headache, it can break family trust, put a client at risk, and damage your home care agency’s reputation in a single shift. We walk through a practical, field-tested approach to caregiver hiring, selection, and training that aims for something bigger than “coverage”: dependable, compassionate people who make good decisions when no one from the office is in the room. We start where most agencies quietly lose great applicants: caregiver job postings and slow follow-up. We talk about why recruiting is sales, what to change in your headline and call to action, how to stop burying the benefits, and why speed matters more than you think. Then we shift to the in-person experience, because your office process is also being evaluated. We share the questions we ask first about hours, travel radius, and client preferences, plus how to stay honest about schedules so you don’t create early quits. From there, we get into caregiver interview questions that reveal judgment and integrity, not just experience. You’ll hear the five traits we screen for, the red flags we take seriously, and the real-world scenarios we use to test boundaries: cash tips, late relief coverage, falls, medication requests, and shower refusals. We also outline hands-on training stations, dementia communication support, documentation standards, and a simple retention plan for the first 90 days so caregivers feel supported and stay longer. Subscribe for more home care leadership and caregiver training strategies, share this with an agency owner or scheduler who needs it, and leave a review with the one hiring change you’re making next. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Send us Fan Mail Posted at https://homecaremarketingnews.com/handling-family-conflict-how-home-care-agencies-can-help-families-get-to-yes-faster/ Families don’t delay home care because they love waiting. They delay because everyone in the room is protecting something: a parent’s independence, a spouse’s pride, a sibling’s wallet concerns, or their own fear of making the wrong call. We walk through what’s really happening behind “We need more time” and how to move a family toward clarity without pushing, pressuring, or picking sides. We share the most common reasons families hesitate, then break down the four main stakeholders you’re actually communicating with: the older adult, the adult daughter, the adult son, and the exhausted spouse caregiver. From there, we get tactical with listening skills and specific questions that uncover hidden objections, build trust fast, and turn a tense assessment into a calmer partnership conversation. You’ll hear practical language for responding to “Mom doesn’t want help,” “My brother disagrees,” “It’s too expensive,” and “We’ll handle it ourselves,” while still keeping your expert role. Then we go past the signed agreement, because client experience and retention are won in the first 30 days. We cover expectation-setting, common complaints, the CARE framework for de-escalating tough calls, and a proactive check-in cadence that prevents silent dissatisfaction from turning into cancellations. We also dig into caregiver matching, personality fit, and how to gather the right details during intake so the first week of care starts strong. If you work in home care sales, senior care marketing, or client services, this one is a practical playbook you can use immediately. Subscribe for more training, share this with a teammate who handles assessments, and leave a review with the hardest family objection you want us to tackle next. Visit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.com Get Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev