HIGH TURNOVER IN MARKETERS

Healthcare Marketing Professionals
High Turnover Poses Major Problems for Census Growth

A growing industry – turnover is out of control among the care staff. But it’s also a major issue among the lifeblood of census – the marketing/admission directors!

Everyone wants to get ahead in life. Why? Because it makes you feel good. Statistically, only 5% of the population actually have the drive to achieve it. Should you hire a marketer who is driven to “move up” in the industry? Remember, these are among the best at their game – great census growth, great retention of census and wonderful relationship people.

Far too often when trends (bad weather, economic downturn, vacations, etc.) make census numbers drop, companies focus on a good marketer’s inability to meet quotas. Instead of understanding the trends, they believe they need to cut the marketer and hire a new one – usually one that costs much less and truly can’t meet the quotas. Several months of relationship-building and critical marketing time is lost.

What can a company do? You know the difference between a bad hire and a good marketer suffering through a “slow” period of referrals. If you’ve got a good marketer, treat them like gold. It’s not that difficult - simple human laws of employee retention work best – pay them well, provide incentives and keep praising them.

If they’re good, it’s worth it! Too many times companies will hire the best only to fire them once the census stabilizes and then replace them with a less qualified marketer for, you guessed it, less money. In almost every case, this strategy fails and census ultimately drops below budget. When will they learn?

So, as an administrator, what should you look for when hiring a marketer? Drive, ambition and a great attitude. Save money somewhere else. You should spend less time worrying about how long a marketing person will stay loyal and on the payroll – your employee retention and bonus plan should take care of that.

Paying a premium for a good marketing director is just smart business. Why should you have your census fluctuate due to a stupid hiring decision? Find a good marketer, feed them well, pay them well and keep your facility filled on a consistent basis.