By Michael Giudicissi, CSC, CHCSP, CPDSP
We’ve been getting this question frequently over the past 6 months…”How do we integrate social media into our sales and marketing strategy?”
Good question, and one with many answers depending on how you currently employ social media in your agency. Here are a few thoughts…
1. The more “professional” the media outlet (i.e. Linkedin), the higher up the food chain in a referral source you can reach. I’d be comfortable having the CFO of a hospital system as a Linkedin contact, but probably not a Facebook contact.
2. Use the social media outlet to reinforce what you’re saying in your sales calls. If you have a new memory care program, a Facebook or Twitter blast on the eve of the rollout can pave the way for your sales reps and potentially create some interest in advance of their visit. You can also use social media to reinforce something AFTER you’ve rolled it out to keep it fresh in a referral source’s mind until you call again.
3. Facebook and Twitter can be used (to an extent) to communicate non-vital communication with a referral source…but NEVER under any circumstances should patient information or even inferences be mentioned. Even though we’re big on timely follow up to referral sources, I’m not a fan of communicating anything in terms of your performance…not even “Jim, got that referral and will meet with client’s family tomorrow”. These formats are too casual, too open and don’t portray the professionalism we promise when we form a relationship with a referral source.
4. Be careful about who you “friend” on these services as well. I’m currently reading “The Facebook Effect” and in it, it is noted that Facebook found Mark Zuckerberg specifically created the service so that people didn’t have a “personal” and a “professional” profile…feeling that people’s lives should be portrayed completely on his service. Whether I agree with that or not, I don’t think many of your referral sources want to see your latest photos from happy hour, your weekend pool party in your tiny bikini (men or women) or that status update that talks about how crazy you’re going to get on your blind date tonight. Get the idea? If your personal and professional life are going to meld, you need to be vigilant about what you share.
5. Don’t overdo it. As with everything else in life, less is more. I know that I quickly block the contacts that I have that update their status 10 times a day or invite me to events every single week. Make it count when you do post something and people will be curious. In social media as in direct sales, always leave them wanting more.
6. Have some staying power. Many people are NEVER out of touch anymore….with devices that let you stay in contact with your contacts 24 hours a day from wherever you are. They (and you, probably) are overwhelmed with the amount of information coming at them. Don’t be disappointed if your new contact doesn’t immediately pick up on your open house invitation or comment on your status update. In 2009, for the first time, people spent more time on social media than on their email….and that trend continues to accelerate. With more time comes more friends, more information and less capacity to deal with it all. Stay the course on an intelligent social media campaign and DON’T expect it to do the selling for you.
We’ve only touched here on your relationships with referral sources….not clients or potential clients. That is a line that I don’t recommend you cross in any way, shape or form. Social media is a train that won’t stop rolling….and there is no need to avoid it. Carefully choose who you contact, how you contact them and how often you use the medium and you can create a business/social circle that can power your sales process.
