It’s not a myth the Adult Home Care Industry has suffered from bad publicity – bad news spread quickly. Seeing our elderly being mistreated, exploited and sometimes killed goes against our feelings and moral values. As well, is hard for reputable Home Care Companies to overcome that sticky stigma. As a Home Care Agency we found the importance of networking meetings in a small and tight market to alleviate that public relations challenge.

In a world of stars, ratings and online feedback, the task of keeping your business reputation at the highest level becomes a priority within the million of other things required to operate a small business. The footprint you leave in your market, other than your quality of service, comes back down to the corporate impression left to colleagues, neighbors, partners and collaborators who are not either prospects or direct clients. So, why spend time, money and effort targeting those who are not going to be your clients?

Big question bigger answer; the human factor is something you can’t include in any corporate metric available out there and it’s one of the main focus of networkers when they are attending these meetings. Humans perceive the most significant or insignificant things out of the most random situations in life. When you network you are truly facing your business model and culture to others like you. If they feel your passion they will share referrals and strategic information you won’t get by paying any media or marketing outlet out there.  There are cases in were money for leads is offered but, most of the time, people share their leads because at some point they will get something valuable in return. It’s not an easy task, it’s also time consuming, most of these meetings are either before or after business hours. Perseverance and discipline is completely necessary and you don’t have to be Mrs or Mr Universe to create an impression. Being yourself and honest will do it, remember humans perceive things you can imagine.

It’s relatively easy to spend money on advertising and drive a lot of people to your business but almost impossible to explain how amazing your company culture is in those :30 seconds, half pages or gazzilion of views over the socials. What your future prospects perceive is just a fraction of your goals and passion for your services. Networking meetings helps by adding trust to any advertising effort you are doing because you are touching the fiber of your community. Those hard working guys are the same guys reaffirming your values when a possible referral comes to their day to day. They are their neighbors, friends, family members and colleagues who are closely attached to that networking partner and are also affected by the advertising message you are deploying. It’s the only panorama in were double dipping is accepted because that’s the best description of the effect in your business.

We are clear of what we want to achieve in the Home Care industry, we want our market to understand that we will never hurt or mistreat yourself or a loved one while giving you the best of our service list. We strive to lift the bar in community involvement and we found that we multiply our message by networking with our neighbors. There are hundreds of Network Meetings in your market, the best place to start researching is always with the local Chambers of Commerce. They have the tools and resources to connect people and businesses like ours. You may know, you will find competitors trying to do the same. Take the opportunity to learn their approach to the market and capitalize on your values. Overcome Shark Tank situations by being creative and diplomatic.

At the end our company Assisting Hands Home Care Palm Beach ™ supports networks, networkers and the business relationships that comes from it. If you are interested in tying your brand and efforts to ours, let’s plan for a “One on One”. We will assess your approach and will help you thrive as much as we can, in conclusion you will be bringing a lot more to our plates and we appreciate that.

Marina Ramirez, our CEO, leads the South County Leads group for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach. As general misconception, people think you need to speak Spanish to attend these meetings but you will be amazed by the diversity of companies you will be networking with and in plain, simple English. For more information visit the Chamber’s website or send an email request to attend the next meeting by clicking here.

Happy networking!

Contributor: Hector L Rodriguez

 

Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach

Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce

Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beaches

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach 

Black Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach