Home Care Marketing & Sales Mastery by Approved Senior Network®

Hosted by Valerie VanBooven RN BSN

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Episodes

483

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Dawn Fiala, Lisa Marsolais, Annette Ziegler, and Valerie VanBooven RN BSN provide insight into home care marketing strategies. They cover in-person, in-field sales and online marketing every other week. These podcast episodes are part of the Home Care Marketing Mastermind, sponsored by Approved Senior Network®. Find more information at https://ASNHomeCareMarketing.com

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60 recent

June 5, 202638 min

Increase Home Care Revenue by Changing the Way Your Team Answers the Phone!

Send us Fan MailYour phone is your front door, and families decide whether to trust you fast. We talk about the moment a stressed adult child calls looking for help for mom or dad and how a rushed “hello” can quietly kill a referral that could have turned into months of care. When most home care leads come in by phone, phone answering is not reception work. It’s home care marketing, intake, and trust-building all at once.We break down the essentials of home care phone etiquette that actually move the needle: answering live whenever possible, stating your agency name and your name, slowing down so callers can understand you, and using active listening so people don’t feel brushed off after telling their story for the tenth time. We also get specific about holds and transfers, including the small habit that changes everything: asking permission and explaining what you’re doing before you put someone on hold.Then we shift to the systems that prevent follow-up failure. We talk voicemail expectations after hours, why complicated phone trees drive hang-ups, and how to use a call champion, a simple checklist, or a CRM to capture the right details and ensure timely callbacks. You’ll hear why mystery shopping your own agency is one of the fastest ways to improve conversion rate, plus a few wild real-world call stories that prove training can’t be optional.If you want more inquiries to turn into starts and you want callers to feel calm, heard, and confident, this conversation gives you a clear standard you can share with your whole team. Subscribe, share this with your scheduler or intake coordinator, and leave a review with your best tip for answering the phone under pressure.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

May 22, 202636 min

In Home Care - Your First Visit Sets The Standard For Care

Send us Fan MailThe first day of service is where home care agencies either earn trust or create doubt, and it happens faster than most teams expect. We break down what a great start of care actually looks like, using real field lessons from years in home care sales, operations, and private pay growth. If you’ve ever had a brand-new caregiver paired with a brand-new client and held your breath, this conversation gives you a practical plan that reduces risk and protects your reputation. We talk through why sending someone from the office on day one should be the standard, not the exception. We cover the problems that show up at the door: caregiver no-shows, late arrivals from getting lost, sudden changes like “walker” turning into “wheelchair,” surprise pets and allergies, and questions that caregivers should never have to answer about billing, holiday pay, or policy. We also show how a warm, confident introduction helps the client feel safe inviting a stranger into their home and helps the caregiver feel supported instead of alone. From there, we get tactical: how to walk the care plan without “training on the client’s dime,” how to tour the home respectfully while verifying safety, and what to check for bathing setup, mobility access, supplies, and emergency contacts. We also share simple time management coaching that prevents unfinished laundry and last-minute chaos on short shifts, plus why witnessing transfers can stop injuries and complaints before they start. We wrap with what to do when caregivers change and how to handle 24-hour home care handoffs so knowledge transfers cleanly and the care plan stays accurate. If this helped, subscribe for more home care marketing and operations playbooks, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review so more agency owners and leaders can find us.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

May 7, 202646 min

Medicare’s GUIDE Model: A New Opportunity for Home Care Agencies Supporting Dementia Families

Send us Fan MailMedicare is quietly rolling out something dementia families have begged for: ongoing support that doesn’t end when the appointment does. We sit down with Nancy Gillette, Chief Growth Officer at PocketRN, to explain the CMS GUIDE Model (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) in plain English, including what it pays for, how it’s delivered virtually by experienced RNs, and why it’s a true shift in dementia care, caregiver support, and aging in place. We dig into eligibility and exclusions with the details that trip people up in real life: traditional Medicare Part A and B plus a dementia diagnosis is the baseline, all dementias qualify, and many people can still participate while receiving Medicaid services, veteran benefits, palliative care, or living in assisted living or memory care. We also cover the common deal-breakers like Medicare Advantage, hospice, PACE, and long-term nursing home residency, plus what paperwork typically works to prove the diagnosis. Then we get into what GUIDE actually delivers across nine care domains, from comprehensive assessment and care planning to caregiver training, medication reconciliation, referral coordination, and ongoing monitoring designed to catch changes before they turn into an ER visit. Finally, we clarify the respite benefit everyone asks about: 72 hours per year for moderate to severe complexity, used in four-hour increments, on a July 1 to June 30 “use it or lose it” cycle, and how home care partners can get paid for required in-person safety visits and respite coverage. If you support dementia clients or family caregivers, listen through to the Q&A and the real case stories about doors opening with discharge planners and senior living communities. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review so more families can actually find these Medicare dementia care resources.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

April 23, 202642 min

Unlock Home Care Growth: Master the High-Impact Hospice Partnership

Send us Fan MailFamilies hear the word “hospice” and often assume it means 24/7 care. Then they call and cancel home care, only to realize too late that hospice visits are scheduled, not constant. We walk through the real hospice care model and the exact gaps that home care agencies are built to fill, especially overnight, on weekends, and during the long quiet hours when families are afraid to leave the bedside.We share a clear, client-centered framework for hospice and home care collaboration: who does what, how to prevent miscommunication, and how to set up simple reporting so caregiver observations reach the hospice nurse fast. You’ll also hear what our caregivers must never do, how to respond when families ask “Is the end close?”, and why rotating at least two caregivers can protect the relationship and keep care steady. Along the way, we talk caregiver training for end-of-life care, palliative care fundamentals, comfort-focused mindset shifts, and the emotional reality of supporting families through grief.If you’re a home care agency owner or admin team member looking to grow hospice referrals ethically, we cover outreach tactics that work: meeting hospice teams, being the partner who responds quickly, sharing outcomes, and giving families real choice instead of pushing exclusivity. We also get practical about policies families ask about, including gifting caregivers and how reviews can honor great work without crossing boundaries. Subscribe for more home care marketing and operations guidance, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

April 10, 202646 min

How Home Care Agencies Build A Bulletproof Backup Plan

Send us Fan MailOne uncovered shift can undo months of relationship-building with a client, their adult children, and your referral sources. We’ve seen it happen: a single call-off turns into lost billable hours, a stressed scheduling team, and a family that starts Googling other home care agencies. So we get specific about the fix, not the frustration, and we map out a staffing backup system designed to keep care covered fast and keep trust intact. We walk through the lead caregiver model: how to choose your most reliable field pros, how to structure guaranteed hours (instead of vague “on-call”), and how to define coverage windows around your real risk points like Monday mornings, Fridays, weekends, and holidays. We also share what makes someone true lead caregiver material, why many agencies lean toward CNA-level experience, and how to keep these high performers busy with pop-in visits, training support, and care plan updates when they aren’t dispatched. Then we tackle the silent revenue leak most agencies don’t notice until it’s too late: the words your schedulers use on the phone. If your team says, “Do you want a replacement?” you’re handing clients an easy way to say no and quietly reduce service. We offer clearer scripts that communicate confidence, protect client safety, and preserve billable hours, plus practical guidance on mileage, travel time, and setting expectations so clients understand a lead caregiver is there to stabilize coverage, not become the permanent match. If this helps, subscribe, share it with an agency owner or scheduler, and leave a review so more home care teams can stop missing shifts.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

April 8, 202620 min

The Revenue Problem Most Home Care Agencies Misdiagnose

Send us Fan MailRevenue down while your rates go up should make your stomach drop, because it almost never “fixes itself.” We walk through a real home care agency scenario where the owner assumed the website or Google Ads were the problem, but the data told a more uncomfortable truth: client census was shrinking, client hours were slipping, and the business was losing clients faster than it could replace them.We break down the exact numbers that clarify what’s really happening in a home care business, from website traffic and call volume to the operational metrics that actually determine revenue: referral leads by month, assessments scheduled, starts of care, ends of care, active caregivers, and the conversion rates between each step. Once you can see the full lead-to-client flow, you can stop guessing and pinpoint whether the gap is marketing activity, booking, closing, or retention.Then we get practical about fixes. We talk about why marketing location matters, how skilled nursing facilities and rehab referrals often produce higher-hour cases, and why you should track 12-hour and 24-hour starts as a weekly KPI. We also dig into the assessment itself: families need an expert recommendation, not a vague menu of options, and the wrong approach quietly reduces hours and revenue. Finally, we zoom in on basics that still get missed like answering calls live, plus simple weekly KPI tables and quarterly reviews that keep small leaks from turning into a lost year.If you found this useful, subscribe for more home care growth tactics, share this with an owner or marketer who needs it, and leave a review with the KPI you want to improve first.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

March 27, 202647 min

Turn Facebook Into A Community Referral Engine For Senior Care

Send us Fan MailFamilies don’t always start with Google. A huge number start with a post to friends and neighbors: “Does anyone know a good home care agency for my mom?” That’s why we’re getting tactical about Facebook marketing for home care agencies and why a neglected business page can quietly cost you trust before you ever get a chance to earn the referral. We walk through how Facebook actually functions as a community outreach engine for senior care: where decision makers spend time, why local groups and neighborhood conversations matter, and how to participate without sounding salesy. We also unpack the most misunderstood metric on social media right now. Follower count is far less important than comments, shares, reactions, and real discussion. If you want referrals and leads, your goal is familiarity and credibility, not volume posting. You’ll get a clear content framework you can reuse every week: community connection posts from events, educational caregiving tips that answer real questions, and human stories that spotlight caregivers and team culture. We also cover when paid Facebook ads make sense, including caregiver recruiting and simple lead magnet guides that build your email list over time. Plus, we touch the questions families ask most about home care cost and Medicare so your content matches what people actually want to know. If this helps, subscribe, share this with a home care owner or marketer, and leave a review so more senior care professionals can find practical, ethical marketing strategies.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

March 13, 2026Episode 550 min

How Elder Law Attorneys Choose Home Care Partners And What Wins Trust

Send us Fan MailOne of the most overlooked referral partners in home care marketing might surprise you.Elder law attorneys.These professionals talk to families when they are dealing with some of the hardest decisions:Mom fell. Dad can’t live alone anymore. The hospital is talking about discharge. The family is worried about Medicaid or losing the house.And often the adult children have no idea where to start.In a recent conversation with elder law attorney Bill Nolan, we talked about how attorneys choose which home care agencies they recommend.A few things stood out.The agencies that earn referrals are the ones that:✔ Answer their phone ✔ Communicate clearly with families ✔ Screen and supervise their caregivers ✔ Handle problems honestly and quickly ✔ Show professionalism during stressful family momentsOne thing he said really stuck with me.No agency is perfect. Things happen. But how the agency responds makes all the difference.We also talked about something families rarely realize.Sometimes families think they can’t afford home care.But legal planning can open doors like:• VA Aid and Attendance benefits • Medicaid planning strategies • Special needs trusts • Financial planning that keeps someone at home longerWhen home care agencies and elder law attorneys work together early, families often have more choices and less stress.And that’s the goal.Helping families stay home safely while protecting their future.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

March 2, 2026Episode 455 min

What SNF Social Workers Need From Home Care Agencies

Send us Fan MailWant to be the agency a SNF social worker calls first? Start by seeing the world through their eyes. We unpack the real pressures behind every discharge—insurance clocks, readmission metrics, complex families—and lay out a playbook that turns home care from a sales pitch into a safety net. Our focus: reduce risk, protect reputations, and make hard days lighter.We break down the non-negotiables that matter most on the floor: lightning-fast responses, true 24-hour start-of-care capability, and weekend coverage that actually shows up. Then we get specific about scope so no one’s guessing—ADLs, transfers, dementia supervision, fall-risk protocols, live-in versus 24-hour care, and short-term transitional support. You’ll hear how to structure first-day-of-service home visits that validate the plan in the real environment, prevent early failures, and keep families from bouncing back angry.Readmission prevention is where non-medical care changes the outcome. We map simple, repeatable habits—hydration and nutrition check-ins, medication reminders, appointment follow-through, mobility assistance, and change-of-condition reporting—that keep clients stable and facilities confident. We also tackle the two biggest trust breakers: staffing flakiness and fuzzy pricing. Learn how to present backup plans, field supervision, and retention stats, plus a clear pricing range rooted in assessment, not guesswork. And because March is National Social Work Month, we share practical, memorable ideas—coffee bars, hydration stations, gatekeeper treats, and social worker spotlights—that open doors and start real partnerships.If you’re ready to stop selling and start safeguarding discharges, this conversation gives you the language, systems, and leave-behinds to become the reliable choice. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review to tell us which strategy you’ll implement first.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

February 12, 2026Episode 336 min

Tax Refunds Stole My Applicants And Other True Stories Of Caregiver Recruiting

Send us Fan MailGrowth stalls when great clients arrive and caregiver applications vanish. We tackle that crunch head-on with a practical, fast-moving playbook to recruit exceptional caregivers in a competitive market—and to keep them after day one. We start by naming the seasonal dip few talk about: tax refunds and school breaks reduce both applications and availability every spring. The fix is to prepare early and compress the entire hiring cycle, so motivated candidates choose your agency within days, not weeks.We walk through a two-day job fair strategy designed less for foot traffic and more for urgency. Promoting on job boards, social, and text lists with “interviews on site” sparks immediate requests to interview now. Pair that momentum with a text-first workflow: a short form screens deal breakers, candidates self-book interviews 24/7, and you run a thorough phone interview without forcing duplicate applications. If they’re a fit, invite them to a single in-person orientation where you complete paperwork, run a quick drug screen and background check, teach core skills, and—crucially—hand them initial hours before they leave the building.You’ll also get the interview frameworks and ad tactics that separate you from the crowd. We break down open-ended, behavioral, and situational questions that reveal values, reliability, and judgment. Then we show how to write caregiver ads that convert by leading with benefits, not rules: flexible schedules, earned wage access, holiday differentials, paid training, and real 24/7 support. Use our headline formula and include pay ranges to increase clicks, then refresh weekly to stay visible. Finally, plan your funnel with clear math: to hire five, target forty applicants, twenty interviews, and ten orientations.Retention ties it all together. The first 90 days make or break loyalty, so commit to weekly, human check-ins that ask about their experience and solve problems fast. Add meaningful recognition, a simple caregiver newsletter, and mentor support to build community that lasts. Subscribe, share this with an owner who needs a recruiting reset, and leave a quick review telling us which tactic you’ll implement this week.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev