They Chose Another Home Care Agency. Now What?
Dawn FialaHome Care Expert, Sales and OperationsSeptember 29, 2026
You spent time with the family. You answered their questions. You explained your services and thought you made a genuine connection.
Then you get the call.
They chose another home care agency.
In this episode of Home Care Marketing Unfiltered, Dawn, Lisa, and Annette start with something anyone who has done this work understands: it hurts. Even when you know families are comparing providers, hearing that someone else got the client can feel personal.
But what happens next matters.
Do you ask what influenced their decision? Do you leave the relationship open? Do you learn something useful—or carry the disappointment into your next assessment?
The conversation is about handling the loss without letting it become the end of the opportunity.
Ask Why—Without Arguing With the Answer
Annette describes a response that keeps the conversation professional while giving her a chance to learn.
After thanking the family for letting her know, she asks:
“Would you mind please telling me why you chose them? What was the reason?”
Sometimes the answer was price. Sometimes another agency offered something her agency did not. Either way, asking helped her understand the decision instead of simply guessing.
The purpose is not to make the family defend its choice. It is to find out what mattered most.
Later in the conversation, the hosts point out that price may not have been the deciding factor at all. The family might already know someone at the other agency, have received a personal recommendation, or have a relationship you did not know about.
Before deciding that your rates cost you the client, ask what actually influenced the choice.
That answer gives you something useful to evaluate. An assumption does not.
Did You Connect With the Person Receiving Care?
An assessment can involve a lot of conversation with adult children. But Dawn emphasizes not overlooking the older adult who will actually receive the care.
She recalls families telling her they chose her agency because their mother or father liked her. She had spent time building a connection with that person—not only discussing services with the family.
Dawn also describes continuing to speak directly with a person living with dementia, even when an adult child suggested the person would not understand the conversation. Her emphasis is on including the individual, rather than talking around them.
That is an important question to take into your next assessment:
Did I connect with the family, or did I connect with the person who needs our help, too?
Explaining what makes your agency different matters. So does helping the person receiving care feel seen and included.
Don’t Disappear After the Family Says No
Lisa’s advice is to avoid immediately disappearing after a family chooses someone else.
Instead, she would ask whether she could check in after a couple of weeks to see how things were going. Depending on the connection they had made, she might follow up once more after that.
She is describing a thoughtful follow-up—not pursuing the family indefinitely. Lisa also shares that some families eventually started care with her agency after those continued conversations.
A follow-up can be simple:
“I know you chose another agency, and I hope things are going well. I’m checking in as we discussed. Please keep us in mind if you need anything.”
The episode closes with a similar approach: check in, ask how things are going, and remain available. The phrase the hosts use is “pleasantly persistent.”
You are not asking the family to admit it made the wrong decision. You are keeping a professional connection open.
The Next Opportunity May Be Only Part of the Schedule
Dawn shares an example of what that follow-up can uncover.
A family had chosen another provider, but Saturday and Sunday coverage was not working out. During a check-in, the family asked whether it could work with two agencies.
Dawn’s agency began covering those weekend hours. In some situations, additional days followed, and the agency eventually took on more of the care schedule.
The opening was not necessarily a request to replace the other provider completely. It was a specific need that still had not been met.
That is a different conversation from trying to win back everything at once. It starts with understanding whether the family needs help now—and where.
Know What Makes Your Agency Different in That Comparison
Dawn, Lisa, and Annette repeatedly return to understanding the competition.
Not because you should spend every assessment talking about another company, but because you need to know what makes your own offering relevant.
Dawn gives a straightforward example: your agency has a three-hour minimum, while another agency the family is considering has a four-hour minimum. That difference may matter to the family’s desired schedule.
The hosts also discuss specialized caregiver training as something worth explaining when it relates directly to the person’s needs.
The lesson is to move beyond a general statement about being different.
What is different, and why should this particular family care?
The same question applies to referral relationships. The hosts discuss understanding how agencies compare both in a family’s living room and in a referral source’s office. Your explanation needs to make sense to the person hearing it.
They also make an important distinction: knowing where another agency struggles is not permission to bad-mouth it. The conversation should stay focused on the strengths and capabilities you can explain about your own agency.
When Your Rate Is Higher, Explain What Is Behind It
Annette shares that she knew her agency was among the more expensive options in her market.
Rather than avoiding that conversation, she explained what the agency was doing for its caregivers, including benefits and other investments intended to attract good people.
In her experience, some families became more comfortable with the rate difference once they understood that explanation.
That is more useful than simply telling a family, “We provide better care.”
It gives them something specific to understand about your agency’s approach.
And it connects the price conversation to the service they are considering—not just the number on the rate sheet.
Look at What Happened Before the Assessment
A disappointing outcome can send you back through every sentence you said in the home.
But Lisa raises another question: were you the person who handled the original inquiry?
If someone else answered the call or completed the intake, you may not know the full experience the family had before meeting you.
The hosts discuss reviewing how quickly the agency responded, how soon someone called back, and what questions were asked during intake. That broadens the review.
Instead of only asking, “What did I do wrong at the assessment?” ask, “What did this family experience from its first contact with us?”
The assessment is part of the conversation, but it may not be the whole story.
Learn From the Loss. Don’t Take It Into Your Next Visit.
The emotional side of the episode is just as practical as the follow-up advice.
Dawn describes how one difficult referral relationship could occupy her attention despite having many other positive relationships. She also recalls arriving at another visit still carrying that frustration—and having people notice that she seemed off.
Her point is that disappointment can follow you into the next interaction unless you find a way to let it go.
There is a difference between reviewing what happened and replaying it all day.
Ask for feedback. Consider what you could improve. Then give the next family or referral partner your full attention.
The next conversation deserves more than what is left of your confidence after the last one.
A Referral Source’s Favorite Agency Is Not Necessarily Its Only Option
The hosts also discuss referral partners who already have a favorite provider or a strong personal relationship with someone at another agency.
They acknowledge that those relationships exist. They have benefited from them, too.
But they share examples of eventually receiving referrals from people who had previously favored someone else. A familiar contact might leave a company, be unavailable, or go on vacation, creating an opportunity for another agency to help.
Their advice is to remain friendly and stay in the conversation rather than treating an existing relationship as a permanent rejection.
That does not mean every family will return or every referral source will eventually choose you. It means a decision today does not tell you everything about what may be needed later.
They Chose Another Agency. You Still Have a Next Move.
The takeaway from this episode is not that you should win every assessment.
It is that losing one does not have to leave you with nothing but disappointment.
You can ask why. Understand the comparison. Review the intake experience. Follow up with permission. Stay available for a need you may be able to meet.
And you can do all of that while respecting the family’s decision.
Learn what you can, keep the relationship open, and move into the next conversation with confidence.
Listen to “They Chose Another Agency. Now What?” on Home Care Marketing Unfiltered for the full conversation with Dawn, Lisa, and Annette.