2022 HME Business Handbook: HME Sales
How To Improve Referral Sales Using Market Data and CRM
- By Ashton Davis
- Jun 01, 2022
The operations for
HME businesses continue
to evolve as organizations learn
to work smarter, not harder, to
improve their strategies for their
sales and marketing teams. To be
successful, teams need direction
and a clear plan to focus time and
energy on referral targets that will
bring the most business to their
organization. But what is the best
way to identify these targets and
evaluate success?
To end the guessing game of
referral targeting, market data
is becoming an essential tool to
effectively identify the best sources
of referrals to grow your HME
business. Territory plans lacking
market data result in inefficient
targeting strategies and poor
planning. Market data brings
to light the major questions your
organization may be asking, such
as “Are these truly the top referrals
to be targeting?” Or “What
partners are we missing out on
that should be on our list?”
In addition to market
intelligence, a CRM (customer
relationship management) tool
will streamline your sales and
marketing team’s efforts and
increase productivity. It is easy
to lose track of account notes or
business development metrics, but
a CRM tool enables consistent
and clear documentation, so you
never lose sight of your business’s
performance.
SMARTER REFERRAL TARGETING WITH
MARKET DATA
Market data allows HME provider businesses
like yours to gain a better understanding
of potential opportunities and
visibility of the best referral sources in
your area. This is a critical tool to ensure
your sales and marketing teams have
guidance on where to focus their time
and efforts.
With market data, your organization
can validate a prescriber’s volume or
referrals for both current, and prospective,
referral sources. This will unveil any
untapped potential referrals your team
has been missing out on and should
begin targeting, while also maintaining
existing relationships.
UNCOVER INSIGHTS INTO YOUR
COMPETITION’S MARKET POSITIONING
Market data also brings to light the
competition you are facing and where
potential referrals are going. Use insights
to benchmark your performance and
evaluate how you compare to peers by
diagnosis-level metrics, payer mix breakouts,
and other quality metrics.
Having this information equips your
sales team with the knowledge they
need to create a compelling marketing
message as to why your organization is a
better partner.
As the saying goes, knowledge is
power and market data brings visibility
to the actual number of referrals and
market share your business is receiving.
This level of awareness allows your
organization to act on gaps or missed
opportunities.
A CRM TOOL FOR PERFORMANCE VISIBILITY
A CRM is a game-changer for HME businesses
struggling with ways to measure
the ROI (return on investment) of their
team’s activities.
Capturing key information from
referral visits, topics of discussion, and
visits that result in referral gains allows
leadership to better strategize and forecast
for achieving personal and company
goals. Not to mention, obtaining
historical data on accounts is crucial for
accurate reporting, attribution, and even
onboarding new employees.
A CRM should include real-time
activity tracking, executive-level
dashboards, and referral pipeline
performance.
Another critical component is a mobile
app, so activities can be documented on
the go. Tapping into this powerful technology
to help with territory management,
call volume, and sales techniques
can fuel your agency’s growth.
USING TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR GROWTH
AND OPERATIONAL SUCCESS
It can be challenging to fully evaluate
the opportunities in your market landscape,
but with the right tools to equip
your business development team, your
organization will benefit. HME organizations
that adapt and utilize new tools and
resources will find the most success with
growing their business.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The right tools and insights will
improve your operations.
- Market data is key for validating
existing and new referral partners.
- Insights should be utilized to adapt
your marketing message.
- A CRM captures critical information
from your sales team’s activities.
- HME provider businesses will
benefit from adapting and utilizing
the resources available.
LEARN MORE
Trella Health, which acquired
PlayMaker Health in December 2021,
provides the post-acute industry with
the most comprehensive healthcare
market data, CRM, and EMR integration
solutions, all in one platform.
With Trella’s market intelligence
and CRM for home medical equipment
(HME), customers can feel confident their sales and marketing teams
are focusing their time and efforts
on building the relationships that will
have the greatest impact.
To learn more about ways to
improve your referral sales with
market data and a CRM, schedule a
demonstration with Trella Health at
trellahealth.com/demo.
This article originally appeared in the May/Jun 2022 issue of HME Business.
About the Author
Ashton Davis is the marketing manager for Trella Health and has spent her career working in marketing and sales in the healthcare industry.