Community Aged Care is undergoing significant reform. With an increasingly open and competitive market where the consumer choice is at the centre, providers can no longer assume the safety of a guaranteed steady level of income. Customers having the choice to select their provider and switch if not happy with the service (along with providers no longer restricted to allocated regions), will lead to increased competition within existing providers and new entrants.
These changes, coupled with increased customer expectations, mean that “sales” can no longer be a dirty word in community aged care. The active management of sales processes cannot afford to be ignored.
To understand if you have an efficient and effective sales process, that creates a positive customer experience, you should be able answer a few critical questions.
- How many leads are being converted to sales?
- Is our marketing and business development creating enough sales opportunities?
- What is the expected client attrition over the next week, month, year?
- What is the package utilisation % when customers exit?
- Which services create the largest margin and are most frequently requested?
- Do my people understand how to identify changing needs of existing customers and raise with the right people to capture a sale opportunity?
- What is the customer journey through our sales and on boarding process?
The impact of not having answers to these questions may not be felt immediately, however it is critical you understand these today to ensure you have time to embed necessary changes before your competitors gain too much of a head start.