Why Response Time is Your Most Important Sales Metric (Brad Gilmore)

Why Response Time is Your Most Important Sales Metric (Brad Gilmore)

Bonus episode recorded live @ Home Care Innovation Forum in Palm Springs, CA Key topics include: * Why weekly new revenue is the most important sales measurement and how it provides a real-time view of where new business is coming from. * Ensuring sales activity stays aligned with referral accounts that are actively generating new business. * What success looks like for new sales reps, including tracking the number of new referral accounts established. * Brad's "controlled shotgun" approach to account management: * Tier A: 10 key accounts  * Tier B: 10–15 growth accounts  * Tier C: 15–20 contingency or "just in case" accounts * The role of sales, operations, and branch leadership in building referral partner relationships and ensuring smooth transitions to start of care. * Why great sales professionals focus on being present, not just visible, when engaging referral partners. * How leaders can better equip sales teams with meaningful data that supports conversations and decision-making. * The growing complexity of patient care and why sales professionals need a stronger understanding of clinical and complex-care scenarios. * Positioning home care organizations as outcome-driven partners who help referral sources solve patient care challenges. * Why organizations with service models that solve the widest range of problems are positioned to win. * What to stop and start measuring: * Stop: Overloading sales teams with insignificant data.  * Start: Viewing revenue as a measurement of performance rather than the sole metric of success. * How experienced reps focus on long-term referral source retention and relationship management. * Why response time may be the most important quality assurance metric in home care sales—and why speed matters. Extras: * Connect with Brad Gilmore [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradgilmore/] on LinkedIn or via email: brad.gilmore@familytreecares.com  * Learn more about Family Tree Private Care [https://familytreecares.com/] * See how Phoebe AI [https://www.phoebe.work/book?utm_source=homecarestrategylab&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=homecarestrategylab] can double your scheduling output * Home Care Innovation Forum 2027 [https://homecareinnovationforum.com/live/] / Pasadena, CA on May 16-18 for Orgs $30M+

Nearly 100% Show Rates When AI Handles 830 Caregiver Touches a Week (Nate West)

#64 Most home care agencies are still operating the old way: phone calls, spreadsheets, reactive scheduling, and constant firefighting. Nate West, owner of Heritage Home Care in Arizona, joins me to discuss how he's transformed a well-established agency from what he jokingly calls "the Stone Age" into a modern, tech-enabled operation in just two years.  He talks about eliminating edge cases, transitioning from reactive scheduling to proactively filling shifts days and weeks in advance, and the role AI is playing in caregiver communication, shift confirmations, and open shift management. And maybe more importantly, we discuss what happens when technology frees schedulers from constant firefighting and allows them to focus on relationships, retention, and the overall client/caregiver experience. Nate explains the results Heritage has seen after six months of using Phoebe, including: • Median open shift fill time of just 9.7 minutes • No-call/no-shows reduced from 8 to just 1 year-over-year • 830 caregiver touch points per week handled by AI • 2,800+ shifts confirmed with a 97.8% confirmation rate * Nate West [https://www.linkedin.com/in/natedwest/] / nate@heritagehomecareaz.com * Heritage Home Care [https://www.heritagehomecareaz.com/] * Phoebe [https://www.phoebe.work/book?utm_source=homecarestrategylab&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=homecarestrategylab]—AI scheduling assistant for home care, mention the ‘LAB’ for a discount

The Gold Standard for Dementia Home Care (Jim Kimzey)

#63 Most home care agencies treat dementia care as a service line. Full Bloom built an entire company around it. Jim Kimzey, Co-Founder of Full Bloom Home Care, shares the systems, training, and care philosophy that allow his team to successfully serve some of the most challenging dementia clients while helping caregivers, families, and staff thrive. Jim breaks down the three levers that drive better dementia outcomes, an eight-step process for overcoming care refusal, and the gold standard for supporting complex dementia clients at home. He also explains how a dementia-first approach can reduce caregiver burnout, ease operational strain, and create better experiences for clients and families. This conversation is a practical roadmap for delivering better care to anyone serving dementia clients and families.  * Jim Kimzey [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkimzey/] * Full Bloom Memory Care [https://fullbloommemorycare.com/] * Breakthrough: The Full Bloom Method for Overcoming Resistance to Care [https://fullbloommemorycare.com/overcome-resistance-to-care-with-full-bloom-memory-care-guide?hs_preview=WzGbjfZw-214082090628] * Best Practices Booklet—Dementia Home Care [https://drive.google.com/file/d/16oWuG6-p0zoD8uJaZrypiB2vMDs2CWVA/view?usp=sharing] (Alzheimer’s Association) * Danny Meyer's Salt Shaker Theory of Leadership [https://paulstansik.medium.com/the-salt-shaker-theory-of-leadership-5a8ad62563f] Sponsors: * Mertz Taggart [https://www.mertztaggart.com/value-accelerator-program?utm_source=homecarestrategylab&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=homecarestategylab]—Home Care M&A Experts

Top Five Sales Activities that Drive Home Care Referrals (Sean Reiley)

#62 Most home care sales reps stay busy—but very few generate high-quality referrals consistently. Sean Reiley, CTO at 52 Weeks Marketing, breaks down the specific sales activities, scorecards, benchmarks, and accountability systems that separate top-performing reps from everyone else. Sean shares the five sales activities that actually drive referrals, how many referral sources a rep should manage, what productivity should look like week-to-week, and the biggest mistakes operators and sales leaders make when managing referral accounts. * Sean Reiley / Sean@hmstechsystems.com * 52 Weeks Marketing & CRM [https://52weeksmarketing.com/] Sponsors: * GUIDE-Ready Respite Provider Program [https://debbie-miller.mykajabi.com/join-guide-ready] (Debbie Miller + Harmonic Health) * CMS GUIDE Participant List [https://242294540.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/242294540/GUIDE%20Participants%20List.xlsx] (spreadsheet download)

The Real Barrier to Aging-in-Place Technology Isn’t Families (Paula Marks)

#61 90% of home care calls still happen in crisis mode—after the fall, hospitalization, or cognitive decline has already escalated. Paula Marks, VP of At Home Caregivers, explains why the industry must move from reactive “sick care” to preventative wellness models before the caregiver shortage reaches a breaking point. From the growing demand for in-home monitoring technology to the surprising resistance coming from referral sources themselves, Paula breaks down what’s actually preventing families from aging safely at home—and why quality, prevention, and trusted partnerships will dictate the future of home care. * Paula Marks [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulasmarks/] * paulam@athomecaregivers.com * At Home Caregivers [https://www.athomecaregivers.com/] Sponsors: * Phoebe.work [https://www.phoebe.work/book?utm_source=homecarestrategylab&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=homecarestrategylab]