Business Development & Marketing

Overview

Business Development & Marketing at TheKey encompasses the full lifecycle of client acquisition, referral partner management, online marketing performance, and community outreach across Canadian and US markets. This function is central to revenue growth, driving new client leads through digital channels, referral networks, and strategic partnerships. With active intake pipelines across Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Montreal, and structured reporting tools tracking performance against targets, BD&Marketing directly determines the health of each site's P&L.

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Key People

• Vincent Gunter — Authors the *Weekly Growth Insights* digest; key voice on growth strategy and field activity [Weekly Growth Insights — 2026-03-25 — Vincent Gunter].
• Sharon Speirs — Manages and forwards referral cluster shift analyses; actively monitors changes in referral source patterns [Fwd: referral cluster shifts — 2026-03-26 — Sharon Speirs].
• Will Reid — Participant in online marketing report review discussions [Re: Online Marketing report — 2026-03-27 — Will Reid].
• Greg Jones — Also engaged in online marketing report reviews [Re: Online Marketing report — 2026-03-27 — Greg Jones].
• Joey Taylor — Manages Montreal Key Referral batches (at least 3 of 5 tracked in late March 2026) [Montreal Key Referral 3 of 5 — 2026-03-27 — Joey Taylor].
• A. Aponte (aaponte@thekey.com) — Issues new client audit alerts flagging open billing balances tied to intake [03/30/26 - Action Required — 2026-03-30].
• Sheila Lively — Involved in new client onboarding discussions for geographic expansion areas (Squamish) [Re: new client - Squamish — 2026-03-25 — Sheila Lively].
• HCL (Home Care Liaison) — Field-facing role responsible for referral account visits, lead qualification, and partner relationship management per multiple playbooks.
• GM (General Manager) — Owns site-level revenue growth plan and community outreach targets per the GM Readiness Strategic Transition Plan.

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Processes & Policies

Lead Intake

• New client leads are generated through city-specific intake email addresses (e.g., calgaryintake, torontointake, winnipegintake, Vancouver direct).
• All leads must be contacted within 2 hours via call, text, and voicemail per SLA [Updated_SLA_Client_Experience.txt].
• HCL referral partner leads are always prioritized over general web leads.
• "Immediate Web Start" flagged leads are routed for same-day scheduling [Immediate Web Start — 2026-03-27 — TheKey No Reply].

Referral Account Management

• Referral accounts are tracked and audited in Salesforce CRM. Salesforce Marketing Cloud integration is active, with email address verification steps underway [Verify your sending email address — 2026-03-26 — Salesforce Marketing Cloud].
• VA Referral Accounts use a specific Salesforce structure: Category = Community Resource, Sub Category = Veterans Affairs, with site-level Parent Accounts [VA_Partnership_Playbook.txt].
• Cogir partnership involves 61 referral accounts in US service areas; rollout steps include Salesforce dashboard launch, stakeholder presentations, and community-level introductions [Cogir_Partnership_Implementation_Playbook.txt].
• HCLs and GMs partner in the field to expand wallet share with top referral accounts [2025 Site Weekly Growth Activity Actions Plans].

Reporting & Tracking

• Weekly Referral Account Activity vs. Target Reports are distributed by tableausupport@thekey.com every Monday (multiple markets receive separate reports).
• Weekly Growth Insights newsletter is distributed by Vincent Gunter.
• Pipeline meetings use a structured facilitation playbook covering lead financial qualification, referral account leverage, staffing concerns, and community partner involvement [Pipeline_Meeting_Facilitation_Playbook.txt].

New Client Audit

• Weekly audit emails from aaponte@thekey.com flag open balances requiring action (e.g., $34K open balance 2026-03-23; $35K open balance 2026-03-30).

Community & Co-Marketing

• GMs are expected to attend at least one networking event or partnership meeting within their first 30 days [GM_Readiness_Strategic_Transition_Plan.txt].
• Educational co-marketing (e.g., co-hosted workshops with attorneys on Alzheimer's care topics) is an identified tactic for Vancouver market expansion [03272026 Comprehensive Strategic Framework — Vancouver].
• Co-branded referral marketing collateral is a priority for building trust and improving conversion rates [Scott V Coaching Call Notes — 2025-07-25].

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Timeline & Key Events

• 2025-07 — Coaching call with Scott V documents push for co-branded referral collateral, tier-one referral activation campaign (30-day sprint), and conversion rate improvement focus.
• 2026-03-23 — New client audit flags $34K open balance; weekly Tableau referral reports distributed.
• 2026-03-24 — Home Health Care News webinar on scalable home health growth engines circulated internally.
• 2026-03-25 — Weekly Growth Insights issued by Vincent Gunter; Squamish new client expansion discussed; referral cluster shift report for March 25 forwarded.
• 2026-03-26 — Salesforce Marketing Cloud email verification initiated; referral cluster shift analysis forwarded by Sharon Speirs.
• 2026-03-27 — Online marketing report review thread active among Will Reid and Greg Jones; Joey Taylor submits Montreal Key Referrals 2 and 3 of 5; Vancouver strategic framework document dated.
• 2026-03-28 to 03-31 — New client leads active across Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg.
• 2026-03-30 — New client audit flags $35K open balance; weekly Tableau reports distributed; live AI CRM growth engine webinar promoted.
• 2026-04-02 to 04-03 — Calgary intake pipeline continues generating leads; Vincent Gunter responds to Weekly Growth Insights thread.

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Key Decisions

• Salesforce Marketing Cloud adopted as the email marketing and CRM platform; sending address verification was in progress as of 2026-03-26/27.
• Tableau selected as the reporting tool for weekly referral account activity vs. target tracking across all markets.
• Referral partner prioritization formalized in SLA: HCL-sourced referral leads always take precedence over web leads in the contact queue.
• Co-branded collateral identified as a required asset to accelerate trust-building and conversion at referral accounts.
• Vancouver market expansion documented in a comprehensive strategic framework (2026-03-27), including educational co-marketing and influencer partnerships as growth levers.
• Cogir partnership structured with a defined multi-step rollout process covering internal alignment, Salesforce audit, and community introductions.

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Open Questions & Gaps

• The online marketing report discussed by Will Reid and Greg Jones (2026-03-27) is referenced repeatedly but its contents, metrics, and conclusions are not captured in available excerpts.
• Referral cluster shift reports forwarded by Sharon Speirs are not summarized — the nature, causes, and business impact of these shifts are unknown.
• Montreal Key Referrals (Joey Taylor, 3 of 5 batches visible) — unclear what the full set of 5 referrals comprises and whether all were processed.
• Open balance audits ($34K–$35K) appear weekly but no resolution or responsible owner beyond aaponte@thekey.com is documented; unclear whether these are billing failures or intake delays.
• The Squamish expansion discussion is active but no formal decision or service launch date is recorded.
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud verification status — unclear if setup was completed and campaigns are live.
• GM Readiness revenue growth plan items (3 near-term revenue opportunities) are listed as "To Do" with no completion dates or assignees documented.

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Related Topics

1. Referral Partner Management

2. Client Intake & Onboarding

3. CRM & Salesforce Operations

4. General Manager Onboarding & Readiness

5. VA Partnership Program