Market your staffing service to other facilities
March 1, 1998 2 minutes read
Market your staffing service to other facilities
MO agency grows by leaps and bounds
When it comes right down to it, there is no end to the possibilities for a private duty agency that decides to market itself to other businesses for supplemental staffing.
For instance, Heartland Regional Medical Center West Private Duty in St. Joseph, MO, has started a program to market its services to area nursing homes, assisted living facilities, day care centers, cleaning businesses, and other companies.
"Private duty agencies have such a large role they can play within the community not only with personal clients, but with institutions and businesses," says Becky Hampton, team leader private duty for the hospital-based agency, which has 55 employees and provides about 5,500 hours of services a month.
Target local needs
Heartland started the marketing program by first targeting local nursing homes and a mental health treatment center that occasionally needs certified nursing assistants and personal companions to stay with clients.
"We provide secondary services to the mental health center to supplement their staff," Hampton says. Heartland can provide a companion to stay with one of their clients for a short period of time.
This is a more efficient way for the mental health center to offer these services than to have to hire full-time companion care employees who not stay consistently busy.
The program grew so quickly that within a few weeks the agency was providing 16 hours a day of personal companion care to the mental health center.
This has contributed to the agency’s rapid growth. "I’m continually hiring people," Hampton says.
The agency has grown by 80% in the past year, and Hampton says it likely will have the same growth this year.
Heartland markets the staffing service with a flier that reads: "Staffing problems? Stuck with the Friday flu? Heartland Private Duty can put out the fires. Our highly trained, experienced staff offers top quality, dependable service in the following areas:
• certified nursing assistants;
• personal companions;
• cleaning services;
• fill-in personnel for vacations;
• sick time."
Hampton says the brochure targets day care centers, including those in the YMCA and YWCA, nursing homes, and other businesses.
"If I really only get a couple more interested parties to use our services, then I have a good marketing strategy," Hampton says.
Try personal contacts
Hampton says her second strategy is to personally call each of these businesses to try to arrange an in-person interview to discuss the program.
A big selling point is how the service may relieve stress for a company’s staff, she adds.
"When a company runs short of staff it adds stress to employees, and this causes burnout," she explains. "Hopefully our helping people with their staffing needs will help other companies retain their employees."
Hampton says she hopes Heartland Private Duty’s business will continue to grow as more companies hear about it by word-of-mouth.
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